Apricots, they are sort of a guilt pleasure of mine. Apricots by themselves are delicious, you really can't go wrong. Apricot jelly? Delicious. Apricot Jolly Ranchers? Delicious. But what about apricot beer? I'd never heard of such a thing until a couple months ago when I saw some at the store and I figured, "well I like apricots, and I like beer... so why not."
I was apprehensive at first, I mean - it's apricot beer... In theory it should be really awesome, here's the math:
- Apricots (which are delicious) + Beer (which is delicious) = Apricot Beer (which should, by virtue of the transitive property, be delicious)
Unfortunately this formula isn't universal.
Case in point, mint flavored ice cream:
- Mint (which is a pretty decent gum flavor) + Ice Cream (the most delicious of all creams) = Mint Ice Cream (which should be palatable at least, right?)
Brong! Mint ice cream is basically frozen tooth paste, and the mini-chocolate chips don't help either. But that's another post all together. Back to the apricot beer.
Ok, so we've established that apricot beer is good in theory. How about in practice? Well first impressions are possitive; it has a nice dark orange-almost red color. I should point out that this is an apricot weizen actually, it's a wheat beer (thus making it a notch better than any apricot pilsner that may be out there). So the beer isn't clear, it's got a thick cloudy look to it. The aroma is fantastic. I'm the furthest thing from a beer expert and I couldn't tell any two beers apart based on smell alone except for maybe this one. Like most wheats, it has a mellow smell to it and of course a light hint of apricot. I bet it smells awesome when you throw up too...
Finally, the taste test. It's important to note that this isn't a wine spritzer or martini. There was nothing tart and fizzy about this. It's a beer, not a cocktail. If you drink this from a pint glass (like a civilized human being) you'd think it's any other ale, lager, or red wheat by looking at it. The taste is fantastic, it's rich and warm like a wheat and it has a subtle sweet twist of apricot. It's very refreshing and there is no tartness at all. Think of this is as a wheat you get at the bar, or a restaurant - only instead of getting a slice of lemon, you get a slice of apricot. I'm not a big fan of the wheat + lemon pairing to begin with. I don't like my beers to be tangy or sour.
The one downside to the apricot beer I got was the packaging. Sold by the ambiguously named Pyramid Brewery, it comes in pleasing dark glass bottles with orange and tan labels. Nothing threatening here, right? Take a close look, the label identifies this as a "Flavored Ale." Not exactly a slap across the face, it's not really a compliment. This gave me flashbacks to the end of the Jack Daniel's Distillery tour where they 'proudly' displayed the premixed abominations their marketing geniuses frankensteined together. A more fitting end of the tour would have been a guided excursion to Jack Daniel's gravesite where teenagers get ripped on Mountain Sippers and piss on his headstone. But it doesn't stop with the 'Flavored Ale' remark, the label also points out that this beer won the "Best of the Northwest/Pacific in the "Fruit Beer" category," at what I can only imagine was a ceremony put on by Pyramid's competition in an attempt to belittle them. But seriously, who would market their product like this? The answer, unsurprisingly, is Fruit-Beer-Brewing-Pacific-Northwest-Hippie types. I can only image what mind-altering drugs lead to this brilliant packaging decision.
So there you have it, despite the poor marketing of it's acid-crazed hippie creators, the Apricot Weizen from Pyramid is surprisingly delicious, humble and it smells good.