Apricot Ice Cream Ale
Barbarian Brewing

nothing much about this one saying cream ale, unfortunately. its hazy and thick and while the apricot part is great and natural and forward at all, the base beer isnt a cream ale to me, and its almost an afterthought or something, not because the fruit dominates it, but because the level of refinement is an expense of the fruit perhaps, like the base beer is just forgettable, especially as a cream ale, so much so that i dont even really like the beer, well done as the fruit part is. it looks like an east coast ipa, muted rusty orange, dense, sure there is an inch of pretty head from the tap, but it came to the table and had already lost visual appeal as an example of the style. the nose is the best part of this hands down, fuzzy ripe little pale orange apricots in all their glory, pulpy and juicy and all, they really got this right. in the flavor its there too, just a little less robust, degraded by a little more residual sugar than this needs and of course the all too obvious fact that this isnt much of a cream ale, objectively speaking. its a little malty, a lot sweet, and perhaps with some lactose gumming up the works too, and its just sedimented and heavy for the style, not crisp and clean or refreshing in anyway at all, misleading to even call it that, unless it is meant to be ice cream ale, not cream ale, but even still, its frustrating. these guys have so much potential make great beer, but sometimes their ambition gets the best of them. if they would have packed this apricot nose into a dry bright yellow snappy summery cream ale, they would have a gold medal winner, but it doesnt come together anywhere near as well as it should. tasty still, dont get me wrong this is still solid beer, but the execution compared to the potential leaves a lot to be desired...

16oz crowler from the brewery split into snifters.

A: Pours like a murky fruit puree with minimal off-white head and lacing.

S: Lots of fruity apricot; impressions of vanilla and lactose.

T: All apricot on the palate, fruity and thick like a fruit puree, finishing with a clean and mellow sweetness with a ghostly kiss of fruit tartness. Hints of a milky refined/brown sugar note.

MF: Smooth, fluffy, and thick for the abv.

O: Overall this is more of a fruit beer than a decadent Ice Cream ale; its good, but not as good as I'd hoped it would be.

16oz crowler from brewery. I'd go with a milkshake IPA rather than sour. Pours out thick like apricot nectar, flat. Aroma too, mostly straight up apricot, small tart edge. Taste is full and fruity, thick, milky, sweet and a tiny amount of tart. Nice end to the day.