Melbourn Brothers Apricot

Brewed by Melbourn Brothers (Samuel Smith)
Style: Lambic - Fruit
Stamford, England

Nice little bonus bottle from Cork and Keg. Medium gold, little head. Aroma sweet and sour and faint apricot. Flavor had hints of mustiness, very faint barnyard, and an undefined fruity quality. Sweet, but not aggressively. Not bad, just sort of there.

I expected very little of this beer, being an English Lambic. How wrong I was. Fair enough, the strength is a bit on the low side and the sweetness is a little cloying, but the underlying flavour is pretty accomplished with the De Troch yeast easily noticeable. Straw in colour with a sweet apricot nose but horsey lambic undertones. The flavour is a touch too sweet and fruity (probably the late addition of juice is the culprit) but a strong musty dry Lambic flavour is present and gets stronger in the finish with more sweet apricot and some bread-like wheat, although the beer is lacking the acidity and lacticity that makes real Lambic so special. I can't say how impressed I was with this beer compared to my expectations, and if it were a bit less sweet and unpasteurised then who knows..... (Bottle from Beers of Europe, Kings Lynn)

White wine-like in aroma, with the presence of grapes and yeast. Looks decent with its crystal clear body and barely a head at all - more like a champagne really. This is a decent lambic, though. The perfect combination of sweet and sour. Mild malts in the background, of course, not enough alcohol present. The apricot is authentic and refreshing. Definetly a dessert beer or an appertiff.

Straw colored, moderate lacing, high carbonation - yeasty aroma, with a general fruitiness that I probably wouldn't identify as apricot if I didn't know what it was supposed to be - the same can be said of the flavor, generally fruity - a sweet/tart combination very much like a cider, but a grainy malt character lets you know it's a beer - crisp and delicate - well-balanced considering the fact that tart and sweet are two characteristics that are easy to get out of whack - not my thing, but recommended for those who like the style. (loses some points for the $7 price - sorry, it's not worth that much)

Regal looking gold crystal clear under a medium size shortish lasting off white head. Initial aroma is perhaps more peach than apricot with a touch of overipe fruit yeast . Medium thinnish body. Lightly sweet and bitter start becoming more fruity cidery sweet and sour in the middle and yeastier at the finish. Really nice but not much apricot character.

Clear golden color with a small white head. The aroma was very tart, with grassy, earthy, barnyad tones mixed in...some fruitiness. The flavor was delightfully tart and fruity...apricot, cherry, and some orange peel with a nice earthy/soil character. Crisp and dry feel.

Clear yellow color with a white head. Fresh apricot aroma. Sweet apricot with a bit of lambic tartness and earthiness. Light tingly feel. VERY good!

Dark orange gold color. Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is apricots and peaches, with touches of yeast, tartness and malt. A medium bodied fruit lambic. Fruity and sweet with the apricot flavor being very prevalent. It has a lot of the lambic like tartness and sourness to it, but the fruit sweetness shines though. Bright and lively carbonation. Not as much malt backbone as the cherry, but still a nice English lambic. Mouthfeel is full. Finish is clean and sweet. Aftertaste is sweet.