Capitol City Apricot IPA

Brewed by Capitol City Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Washington, Washington DC USA

Chill haze orange, creamy off white head. Straight up fresh apricot nose with hints of grassiness. Very fruity throughout, but sweetness stays in check with a nice back end hop bitterness. Light to medium bodied, medium carbonation, dry, semi-bitter, fruity finish. A good summer thirst quencher...

Draft at the Union Station location during the RBSG DC Pub Crawl. Copper bodied. Nose has a strong apricot aroma. It’s probably artificial, but damn, it smells nice! Also, some light hops and sweet maltiness in the aroma. Taste is equally fruity with lighter hops, and semi-sweet malts. Body is medium and creamy. Mild carbonation feel to this one. Finishes somewhat sweeter with more apricot notes, light hops and creamy malts.

Sampled at Capitol City, Capitol Hill, DC. Soft, very slightly cloudy orange and amber color. Somewhat faint nose of creamed apricots and almonds, yeasty too. A bit rind-like, mildly tart like peach and apricot skin, lightly sour. Uses the hops really well with the apricot fruit, making the fruit character almost transparent in this beer. Flavors tend to blend well between fruit, sweetness from the grains, and the hops.

The color is a pale copper with a large eggshell foam head. The apricot in the aroma melds well with the hop choice, although I wouldn’t cal this a particularly hoppy IPA. The moderate crisp lingering bitterness melds well with the light fruity sweetness left over from the malt and apricots. Apricots IPA are one of the few fruit beers where the fruit can be visible and yet the beer still is a beer. Not a bad one this.

Tap. A sweet floral aroma of appricot. Taste is quite fruity then the hops hits you at the end. Finish is just as strong as any IPA.

At Cap City, Capitol Hill location. Pretty clear dark amber with an off-white head. Aroma of apricot hand lotion from The Body Shop or something like that. Flavor is mostly of apricot then comes grapefruit and a touch of caramel. Somewhat artificial tasting on the apricot side. Plenty of hop bitterness in the finish. Doesn’t really feel like an IPA but more like a fruit beer with more bittering hops than usual. Medium bodied with moderate to lively carbonation.

(Draft, Capitol Hill) Small white head atop clear copper body. Aroma is medium sweet, apricot, some earthy/grapefruit, caramel. Taste is medium sweet, apricot, grapefruit/earthy, some caramel. Medium body with some stickiness, light acidity. Moderate bitterness -- sure the apricot is the primary flavor, but this is an IPA, and anyone who isn’t into hops (no one here) is going to be disappointed.

Draft @ the Capitol Hill Brewpub. A good combination of an American IPA and a fruit beer. Nice job, but the lavors don’t blend together very well and aren’t well refined.