Melbourn Brothers Apricot

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

Bottle. Pours a clear, golden body with a nice, white head with pour retention. A good deal of carbonation is going on. The aroma is dominated by the apricot, but sourness, yeast notes and some barnyard shines through. Some sweetish notes as well, guess that’s related to the apricot juice. The flavor has a good deal of apricot, but here as well, the sourness and some barnyard steps forward, and it is certainly sweet too. It is a bit thin, so it would probably do better only with apricots soaking in the fermenting beer, and not having juice added. A bit sticky on the palate as well. The apricot flavor, and a little sourness stays all the way to the finish, leaving a little astringent feeling. I guess it will do as a refresher in the summer heat, but the sweetness would probably make you stop after the first bottle. Quite nice. (070928)

Bottle. Pale amber colour. Slightly cloudy with a fair amount of carbonation. Aroma of slightly tart apricots, yeast and a hint of farmyard - a bit like a commercial lambic. Sweet fruit flavour with a dry lambic finish. Good.

amber body with no head..aroma of apricot, sourness, must, and yeast..nice and sour apricot body that is more flemish than lambic...similar to a sparkling champagne..very nice overall...better served as a dessert than a beer however at 3.4%

Bottle. Creamy white excellent mostly lasting head. Yellow colour. Powerfull apricut aroma. very sweet and full og apricut notes. A little sour. Average finish. Syruply palate.

Bottle, aroma, is of fruit juice not in a great fresh fruit way but a rather stale juice. With no head to speak of and a cloudy appearance. Tart, some what sweet, finishes dry but sweetness is more dominate at the finish than the tartness. Taste is definately better than the aroma, not too bad but still a bit sweeter than I would like.

Date: 02/02/2005
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting

slightly hazy dark amber, headless, sweet wild tart fruit aroma, rich tart fruity flavor, lots of sweetness, lots of tartness, lots of flavor

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 5/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Score: **4
-------- /> The score was calculated based upon the notes and an old scoring system.

Pale copper pour, hazy and sparkling. Light carbonation forms a small white head, slow to recede. Adequate lacing. The aroma is so decadent it seems as if an entire apricot orchard and a few apricot pies were crammed into the bottle, then filled to the brim with sugars. This is going to be intense. Also present are lovely brettanomyces notes(though they are quite timid), wheated malt, light dough, powdered sugar and simple syrup, light peach nectar, Champagne and earthiness. The flavor is outrageously sweet, so much so that this is as much like dessert twice-blendered as it is a beer. Light tartness does seep through, yeast, farmyard nuances and sugars following. The finish is extraordinarily sweet, syrupy and of medium duration, fading softly until only apricots remain. The mouthfeel is sticky, thick, well carbonated but smooth. This could be half this sweet and still feel over the top. Nonetheless it is a quality offering and a good option for dessert. This tastes wonderful, it’s just not too easy to tear into and lambic qualities(that were so reserved to begin with) fade away all too fast, what a pity.

Melbourn Brothers beers are classified as fruit lambics, though that is solely due to a base lambic beer, a beer that sees little light of day in the experience of the final product. The reality is that these beers are fruit beers, and when enjoyed as such, are very rewarding: intense flavor, true flavor, a dessert without peer. No implication is made that these are the best fruit beers, just that there is really nothing else available that is like them, and that is something that deserves commendation, as the aroma and flavor are wonderful - real wrecking balls of intensity.

Poured a golden orange color with a champagne-like, fizzy head that disappeared fast. The nose was of apricot and malt with some clove and nutmeg hiding beneth. Taste was sweet and slightly sour of apricot juice mixed with a good appley Chardonnay. Doesn’t much resemble beer, but that doesn’t bother me much. It’s brightly acidic and finishes fairly dry, but has some lingering flavor stickiness that could get annoying if you have too many. Drinkability is medium/high. It has a great flavor but i don’t expect everyone will love it. A great dessert beer.