Name: Aprihop

Brewer: Dogfish Head

Style: IPA

Vintage: 2007

Cellared On: July 13th, 2007

Original Tasting: July 13th, 2007

There’s no surprise when you pop open one of these beauties. The smell hits you right away - apricots and hops are in this brew, no doubt about it. Definitely one of the most fragrant IPA’s I can remember having.

This beer pours a lovely golden-orange color with a crisp head. It looks like summer in a glass.

Slightly bitter upon tasting, about average for an IPA (way below average though for other IPA’s by Dogfish). Taste of apricots comes in for a complex hoppy/fruit finish. Apricots are not overwhelming, just adding another layer of complexity. Hard to drink just one.

Six Month Tasting: January 15th, 2008

What happened to my beautiful and tasty beer?

I can’t believe how fast this brew fell apart. All of the wonderful apricot flavor was gone; the fruity esters just fell apart over the past six months. The hop flavor also took a nose dive over this time, all that was left was a mild bitter flavor. The worst part of all was the cruel tease I got when I first smelled this beer. Most of the aromatic hop smell was preserved, and it ultimately promised much more flavor then the brew could deliver.

I want to be clear that there wasn’t anything that actually tasted bad here. It was just a simple shadow of it’s former self.

One Year Tasting Notes: August 8th, 2008

The downward slide continues.

No apricot (or any fruit) flavor at all. None. Nada.

It’s moderately bitter, and without knowing better I would have guessed it was just your average pale ale. The hops do have a nice citrusy/floral quality to them, and this isn’t a bad beer to drink. It’s just nowhere near as good as before.

Cellar Outlook: The combination of high ABV and hops might give this beer some legs in the cellar. Probably won’t last for too long, but might improve over the next 12-18 months.

Six Month Outlook Notes - Nowhere to go but down here. I expect it to be even less bitter and even more boring. I don’t see any new flavors developing.

One Year Tasting Notes - Nothing new to report. Keep this brew out of your cellar.

Next Tasting: July 2009