Hopricot Sour
Short's Brewing Company

 

12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, bottled on 10/23/2019. Pours slightly hazy pale golden yellow color with a 2 finger dense and fluffy off white head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Nice spotty foamy lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of big juicy/tart/tangy apricots, fruit fuzz/skin/pits, lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, guava, berries, citrus peel/zest, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread, hay, straw, herbal, floral, grass, light lacto funk, and yeast earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity of fruity/acidic yeast, citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops, and bready malt notes; with big strength. Taste of big juicy/tart/tangy apricots, fruit fuzz/skin/pits, lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, guava, berries, citrus peel/zest, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread, hay, straw, herbal, floral, grass, light lacto funk, and yeast earthiness. Light-moderate fruity/lactic tartness, fruit tang; and light herbal/grassy bitter/spiciness on the finish. Lingering notes of tart/tangy apricots, fruit fuzz/skin/pits, lemon, lime, orange, grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, passion fruit, papaya, mango, honeydew melon, guava, berries, citrus peel/zest, peppercorn, pine, wheat, cracker, white bread, hay, straw, herbal, floral, grass, light lacto funk, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/acidic yeast, citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops, and bready malt flavors; with an awesome malt/tart/tangy balance, and no puckering/astringent flavors after the finish. Fairly crisp/clean finishing. Moderate increasing dryness from lingering acidic/tangy and carbonation. Medium-high carbonation and light-medium body; with a very smooth, moderately bready/grainy/acidic/tangy/tannic, and lightly sticky balanced mouthfeel that is fantastic. Zero warming alcohol for 6.8%. Overall this is an excellent fruited hoppy kettle sour. All around great complexity, robustness, and balance of fruity/acidic yeast, citrus/fruity/tropical/earthy hops, and bready malt flavors; very smooth, crisp, clean, and refreshing to drink with the modestly acidic/tangy/tannic/drying finish; not overly lactic. Feels like a lot of mosaic hops. Very juicy/vibrant hops/fruit, Lacto complexity, with some light dank/earthy notes; and a clean malt backbone. Minimal residual sweetness with crisp dryness. A very enjoyable offering, and impressive style example. One of their better ones. Getting just a hair of Brett funk, but it might be the hops. Sourness is super CLEAN. Really big fan.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to JohnnyHopps for bottle,

Difficult to judge because of so many unanswered questions...
* no bottling date
* unsure which hops were used to dry hop
* unsure if aged or kettle sour.
Anyway... nice off-orange appearance. Fluffy head with lacing.
Initially hoppy smell with some metallic twang. Eventually metal goes away. Luckily not present in taste. Dust and barnyard scent take over with some souring tartness.
Taste is what you’d expect from a good fruited sour. Citrusy notes, vanilla notes, very dry finish. No obvious hop flavors.
Overall it’s pretty good. And by the end of the glass tastes like a straight up apricot wild ale.

 

 

 

 

Not a bad entry into Short's sour portfolio. A few years back, my aunt gave me two buckets full of apricots from the trees in her backyard. Some were eaten fresh, some used for pie, and the rest were boiled down for preserves. This brew tastes almost like those preserves : sweet, jammy, and just a bit of tartness.