Melbourn Brothers Apricot

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

The flavor of this on surprised me in comparison to other ciders. This one is alledged by others to be sweet and fruity. I found it to be tart, made my mumps hurt. It reminded me of homeade suppernong wine instead of a sweet cider. Not bad, but surely not the best. I really did not recognize that is was apricot either.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 4 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 5

An average pour produces a three finger thick, pale, cream colored head. The beer is a pale amber, copper color that shows a brilliantly clear, full gold color when held up to the light. The aroma smells of tart apricot flesh up front, but then gets a full, concentrated almost jam like, apricot character in the middle and finish that really dominates the nose. Perhaps a hint of toasty grain is noticeable, but I may just be imagining this last bit. Definitely a one-dimensional character to the nose.

Quite sweet with an accompanying sticky, fullness and body. Of course the dominant flavor here is of apricots; ripe, sugar added, apricot preserves just about describes the flavor of this apricot soda, errr I mean beer. This only has a faint tartness that seems to accentuated the apricot notes a bit. The apricot flavor, while one dimensional in its focus on the fruit, still has a nice full fruit flavor to it.

Obviously there is not a lot going on with this beer. Apricot is the name of the game and it does a good job of delivering that specific character. It is too sweet and too thick though to be refreshing, which might not have been half bad.

Purchased: Papago Brewing, Scottsdale AZ

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Bottle: Poured a bright golden color ale with a large pure white foamy head with good retention with some lacing. Aroma consists of real apricot without any fake syrup as well as some subtle sour notes. Taste is again dominated by some nice real apricot taste without the domination of the fake syrupy fruit stuff you sometime find in those beers. Great carbonation with a somewhat full body. I really enjoyed this for what it was and wouldn’t mind having a more regular access to this beer.

Aroma: 5 | Appearance: 2 | Mouthfeel: 3 | Flavor: 4 | Overall: 4

Well when I first smelled the beer once I removed the cap I noticed a skunky musty odor. YUCK! A golden colored ale with an auburn colored head. A very fruity, sweet flavor that had a bubbly effervescent taste almost like a fruit wine. There were no malt or hop characteristics present at any time when I drank the beer. A nice wine but not worth it as a beer.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 5 | Mouthfeel: 5 | Flavor: 3 | Overall: 3

This was a hard beer to rate. It shared some characters of a lambic (the dry finish, albeit a slight one), some acidity in the nose and palate. But overall it was incredibly sweet and syrupy. It had some dried apricots in the nose and the palate and not much else. It was very one-dimensional and unfortunately that one dimension isn't very good. It really reminded me of a syrupy fruity white wine. While I thouroughly enjoyed the Strawberry version of their beer, I will stay far away from any other purchases of the apricot version.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 5 | Overall: 5

WHERE’S THE BEER!?!?!?!?!?!?!? I know this is a fruit beer but come on you can trick your under aged Mormon girl friend into drinking this stuff, this is pure fruit punch. Looks decent enough crystal clear golden orange, with just the slightest skiff of pure white head. And I shall review the smell taste and feel in two words, fruit juice. WHERE IS THE BEER? This stuff is extremely easy drinking and refreshing but I like my beer to have a beer taste and includes when I reach for a fruit beer, it still needs some beer in it.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

pours a golden /apricoty type color with a decent sized white head for a fruit beer. seemed to always have a lil head during the beers life too... really odd... cant recall a fruit beer being like this!! the aroma of sugary apricots is the most dominant. the only taste i get is apricot. incredibly sugary... too much for my liking. the mouthfeel is syrupy at first but really freaking dry after 5 seconds!! its ok... probably wont ever drink it again... unless for free!

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 7

Crystal clear apricot colour, poured hardly any head (white) and left only a ring. Barely any lacing too. Lots of syrupy apricots in the aroma along with some cereal. Actually, this smells just like girly cider! I'm convinced. This is a cider. Really tangy and sweet...its cider! I dropped 6 bucks for cider?? Sooo tangy! Some sourness, some yeast and not nearly enough apricot, although, maybe a soft flavour is a good way to go. What do I rate this - a 3 or a 9? Mouthfeel is awsome, but is this a beer or what? All tangy aftertaste, lots of carb on the swish, a little syrupy and dry. It's a cider. Give this to the freckled girl you brought home from the chess tournament.

Update June 2, '08: Original review is dead on except that I got a good pour with a long lasting surface cover and some slippery ropy lacing.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This brew will complete my tasting and tour of Melbourn Bros. brewing and it seems fitting given the fact I have never had a lambic/fruit style brew that has adjuncts of apricots so I have high hopes for this one. The aroma truly showcases a boutique of apricots and is sweet and very fruity and smells as if you had a dish full of perfectly ripe apricots sitting on a table filling the room with aromas of sweet goodness; very nice. The appearance is a glowing yellow-orange when held to the light and is much lighter than the other Melbourn Bros. products I have had and has a thin head on top that is bleach white in color and remains on top only diminishes a bit leaving stringy lacing on the glass. The mouthfeel is light-bodied and nice with good sweet complexity balanced very nicely with a crisp and clean palate that is dry-like and discipates quickly. The flavor is of sweet and ripe apricots with some nice tartness as well as sourness but lesser to some extent than the strawberry lambic or the cherry lambic with an aftertaste that is sweet yet clean and very crisp and sharp with a finish that offers a final tartness that rounds this beer out. Overall, very nice brew here yet very dry and sweet and very easy to drink and would be nice to drink on a sunny and hot day while loungeing on the back deck catching some rays from the hot sun; nice Summer lambic brew here in my opinion and I would not hesitate to buy this one again--or any other Melbourn Bros. product for that matter.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 6 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 6 | Overall: 6

Pours a light amber color with a very thin head. Aroma is sweet with a definate apricot scent. Flavor is good, but odd: It’s really sweet with a sour Lambic presence, definately apricot. Not much more there, though. Palate is crisp yet a bit sweet. Overall, it’s a nice fruity change, but not something I’d reach for very often.