Devil's In The Apricots
Interboro Spirits and Ales

 

Picked this up at Interboro recently, right after having the raspberry iteration of this. Didn't expect much from this beer and in the end, I didn't get a lot out of it either as it was relatively light and mindless, while being a decent take on the style. Almost felt like a Gose but this had just a bit too much bite and alcohol in it to fall under that category...

Not a bad pour to this as the liquid was a dark plum with more brown than purple in it. Plenty of lively head topped it off as it quickly and loudly settled. No lacing left behind as I worked my through this, as the beer was quite thin and unbalanced. Lots of apricot, light wood, peach, and muddled funk to the understated nose with some acetate thrown in for good measure. The taste was just as light as this needed more of a heavy, musky, and yeasty presence to truly feel like an American Wild Ale. Some tartness, sweetness, and bolder Brettanomyces would have elevated this up a notch or two.

As it was, there was plenty of booze and just enough carbonation in this to keep it lively and relevant throughout my time attempting to pinpoint this beer. If you like apricot or peach flavors and Radler beers with a bit more heft to them, you've found your match here. Not Interboro's best but not bad either, but this could have been so much more with just a bit more depth to it...

 

this one looks a little paler than the original and the raspberry version, maybe it was the wine barrels and not a richer malt complexion giving its color, this one looks more conventionally hued, with a short white head from the tap and a high degree of funk to it, although somewhat new and less mature to me. sweet aroma with the apricots, kind of peachy too, a little bit dried and concentrated, candied or something, and much less tart to me as well, the fruit really balances the acidity well. the oak is there on this one too, but it seems a bit less vinous, the dark fruits were so obvious in the others, but here its much more subtle. the brett is a little messy too, like it needs a little more time to clean up and dry this out, but i like it being kind of different, not the same old brett complexion they all have, which is appreciated here. i wish it had more carbonation, seems a touch underdone for the style, which i like to sing. a cool mix of flavors here, and i think the apricots add a lot, but of the three of them, the raspberry edition was my favorite!