Another week down, another weird flu bug obtained.
It's possible that, because my house is larger now, Abe and I have entertained more and have more people filtered through out humble abode (aka more germs), but I have been sick more times than I am in an entire semester in the two months we have lived here. It's starting to feel excessive.
It might also be because I don't really have enough hours in the day to accomplish everything I need to do. Ever. Bottom line. At the beginning of this week I was flipping through a GRE practice test on the treadmill only to come home to an email asking me to pick up two more shifts at one of my jobs.
So again, I have been off beer for health reasons, but as my sinuses begin to clear up six days later, I decide to crack open something that sounded equal parts unique and celebratory.
I recently acquired a bottle of Samuel Smith's Organic Apricot (5.2% abv), which is USDA certified organic. This is only the second apricot beer I have had, the first being Dogfish Head's Aprihop. The two are not really comparable by any means, being of two totally opposite styles.
Poured into a classic pint, this beer is a beautiful sight. It's exactly what you'd expect. Nice white head holds steady with great retention. It's a gorgeous orange, translucent exactly like a dried apricot. Not too much haze.
It smells fantastic. Like stone fruit nectar and a plethora of malts, from caramel to biscuit. There's certainly some honey laden sweetness as well.
The taste is... well, it's a too sweet for me to finish the entire pint, so I split it with my boyfriend. It's really impressive how much concentrated apricot flavor they have in this beer, though. Really spot on without any sort of fake, syrupy sweetness. I'm getting the slightest touch of marzipan with provides the extra sweetness for an otherwise fairly tart fruit beer. At the finish, there's a touch of metallic on the very tip of my tongue. It's not unpleasant.
Mouthfeel is full of great carbonation, which lightens the thick, sticky sweetness that would otherwise make this a fairly heavy drinking beer.
I'm definitely a fan, but this is a dessert beer. It would be great to drink with a cup of vanilla bean ice cream or panna cotta. There's a creamy element to this beer that is dying to be emphasized by food.
