Dogfish Head Brewing’s most popular seasonal is back on the shelves and drinking QUITE nicely. Aprihop is this tasty beer I speak of. Aprihop is an American IPA with a twist — Apricots.
So many IPA’s these days have multiple hops used in the brew. That’s not a bad thing, so many of these multi hopped beers are great. However, for a lot of beginning craft beer drinkers, or even some of the Continue Reading →
First and foremost, this will annoy the Inside The Perimeter snobs, because this cask is outside your realm. Taco Mac Crabapple will be tapping their first cask tomorrow – Wednesday 1/13/10. It will be Heavy Seas Loose Cannon.
Dogfish Head Brewing’s most popular seasonal is back on the shelves and drinking QUITE nicely. Aprihop is this tasty beer I speak of. Aprihop is an American IPA with a twist — Apricots.
Some knee jerk reactions from some beer drinkers is NOT to drink fruity beers. If you want to deny your palette of this beer, fine. However, I wouldn’t recommend it. Aprihop is a unique and tasty blend of IPA meets fruit. Pilsner malts and crystal malts are used with Amarillo hops to create a tasty IPA base. Apricots are then pureed and added to the beer.
Why is this year drinking so well? Dogfish openly admits that Aprihop basically “got away” from them over the last few brewing runs. The apricots and sweetness were becoming over accentuated and for the 2010 batch the fruit and sweetness were scaled back to its original recipe quantities. With the sweetness lessened, Aprihop gets back to focusing on the hoppy, citrus vs. fruit balance. Brewer/Founder Sam Calagione called Aprihop “A fruit beer for people who hate fruit beers.” I think he accomplished it.
Ingredients —
Hops — Amarillo
Malts — Crystal, Pilsner
Adjuncts – Fresh Apricots
Availability — March — May. 12oz/4pks, Draft Offerings
So many IPA’s these days have multiple hops used in the brew. That’s not a bad thing, so many of these multi hopped beers are great. However, for a lot of beginning craft beer drinkers, or even some of the more seasoned ones rarely get to experience the flavors a single hops possesses. Believe me, one single hop can make a huge difference.
Mikkeller Brewing hails from Denmark, started in 2006. It’s a collaboration of two home brewers, Mikkel Borg Bjergso and Kristian Klarup Keller. Since Mikkeller Brewing started, they have brewed a line of single hopped IPA’s focusing each of it’s unique flavors.
This Saturday March 27th, Brick Store Pub hosts Mikkeller Single Hop Mayhem! All 10 single hopped beers will be featured on draft starting at 11 am until they float. All hops contain alpha acids. Alpha Acids are the bittering compound that come out of hops when they are boiled. The higher the alpha acid (AAU) the more bitterness is detected in taste. Alpha acids carry a measurement in percentages, based on total dried weight. Below the hops are broken down by each offering, hop info, and AAU percentage
Amarillo, 6.9% ABV. Developed by Virgil Gamache Farms, AAU 5-11%. Considered a medium bodied hop.
Cascade, 6.9% ABV. Developed by Oregon State University in 1956. Breed from Fuggle & Serebrianker. Cascade is a very successful hop, big on grapefruit/citrus flavor.
Centennial, 7% ABV. Release to public in 1990. First bred, 1974. Lot of common with Chinook & Cascade. 9-12% AAU
Chinook, 6% ABV. Bred in the Washington State. USDA bred variant of Petham Golding bitterring hop. Very aromatic. Lots of citrus flavor. Earthy. Great for dry hopping or used late in boil. 12-14% AAU
Warrior, 6.9% ABV. Bred at Yakima Chief Ranches. High bittering hop. With AAU 15-17% Citrusy, earthy.
Nugget, 6.9% ABV. Bittering hop. Floral aroma. Some nugget IPA described with a resin like flavor. High AAU 12-14%
Simcoe, 6.9% ABV. Very popular hop. Hit the scene in 2000. Lots of pine, bitter. Resembles Cascade.
Tomahawk, 6.9% ABV. AKA Columbus. Very well rounded hop. Obvious bittering hop, with a flavor profile to boot. Spicy, citrusy, light hints of fruit. Earthy, low pine.
East Kent, 6.9% ABV. Named for villages of East Kent in England. Hop first grown in 1790. Sweet flavor. Lower bitterness. 7% AAU
Nelson Sauvin, 6.9% ABV. Bred in New Zealand, released in 2000. It has a wine like fruitiness, like Sauvignon Blanc. Fairly rare in the US. 12-13% AAU.
Food pairings as well. Well, there’s your hop info. It all starts at 11 am this Saturday. Flights of 5 beers each will be available too. Food pairings as well
Tonight, February 26th – a cask of Sweetwater’s IPA – dry hopped w/ Centennial hops will be tapping at Taco Mac Metropolis. Usual time – 6pm
Sweetwater IPA is unpasturized and unfiltered. It’s a very citrusy and floral IPA that is extensively dry hopped. If I understand correctly, this cask has been dry hopped again with Centennial hops.
6.7% ABV
Taco Mac Metropolis 2/26, 6pm933 Peachtree St NEAtlanta, GA 30309(678) 904-7211
First and foremost, this will annoy the Inside The Perimeter snobs, because this cask is outside your realm. Taco Mac Crabapple will be tapping their first cask tomorrow – Wednesday 1/13/10. It will be Heavy Seas Loose Cannon.
Loose Cannon contains more than 3 lbs of hops per barrel and is hopped 3 times. (Thus the hop cubed in the title.) First hopping is kettle, second the hop back, and finally – dry hopped. I have had this cask before, and I can attest it is FANTASTIC on cask. 7.2% ABV
Dogfish Head Brewing’s most popular seasonal is back on the shelves and drinking QUITE nicely. Aprihop is this tasty beer I speak of. Aprihop is an American IPA with a twist — Apricots.
