Dogfish Head Aprihop

Dogfish Head holds a special place in my heart. If I had to pick the one brewery that sparked my interest in craft beer it was them. The Eastern Shore of Maryland didn't have any micro breweries when I was growing up. The closest one in Maryland was a three hour drive to Baltimore. So instead we turned to our neighbors of Delaware to get our craft fix in from Milton. 


The first craft beer that I tried was Dogfish Heads "Raison D'Etre"with my buddies Jon, Dennis and Rachael. We were sitting in the garage of his parents house playing Cheers to the Governor while splitting a sixer. Maybe it wasn't the best choice to start of with a Belgian Strong Dark Ale as our first craft beer.

Today we will be reviewing something a little lighter. Dogfish Head once a year, around spring time releases Aprihop. A sure sign that warmer weather is around the corner. They refer to this brew as "our fruit beer for hopheads" so I'm pretty excited to try it.

A: Comes out of the bottle a deep amber color. With a semi aggressive pour you get a solid 2 inches of frothy white head that dissipates rather slowly, leaving a nice lacing around the glass. It appears to be fairly clean and clear.

S: Big notes of sweet malt up front. You can definitely smell the apricot in the background, present but not dominate. The hops are in there as well, giving off notes of citrusy grapefruit and tangerine. 

T: Sweet malty flavors roll off the tongue that are followed by a slight hop bite. Like the smell, the apricot is definitely present but not dominate. The combination of apricot and sweet malts gives this beer a fruity characteristic. Its difficult to isolate one flavor over another. Everything blends together nicely making this beer very drinkable.

M: A medium bodied beer that has moderate carbonation. The sweet malt gives this beer a silky sweet mouthfeel. On the backend the hops remain present as a reminder, that it is in fact an IPA. 

O: Once again Dogfish Head takes its "Off Centered" approach and comes out with a unique but extraordinary brew. This isn't a kick in the pants in any category, not overwhelmingly sweet, hoppy, or fruity. Its a well balanced beer that explores a new approach to the American IPA. 

Drink Locally, Enjoy Everywhere! Cheers!

-Taylor

The famous Bell's Hopslam Ale

First off I would like to introduce myself being that this is my first post.  My name is Dunn.  I grew up on Long Island, NY and am currently living in one of the major beer capitals in America in Grand Rapids, MI.  I love the craft community and trying all and any kinds, especially West Michigan crafts.  I'm really excited for this site and to see where it takes all of us in our experimenting of different crafts from all over the country.  My excitement for craft beers started when Joe and I found an amazing liquor store; (D Schuler's fine wine and Spirit's) definitely check it out if you are in the West Michigan area.  They have a great selection of wine, liquor, but most importantly craft beers from all around the country.  Anyway, Joe and I would often visit and each make our own six packs to try new beers, thus my love began.

The beer I'm reviewing today is Bell's Hopslam Ale.  I'm a huge fan of hops and had never had the pleasure of this beer until this year.  I had read reviews about it and how amazing it was, and fortunately I'm in an area where it's not all that difficult to find.  Although it is highly sought after and disappears from shelves quickly, I managed to get my hands on a couple sixes.  I also tried it on tap at a local restaurant.  Although Bell's is within an hour drive of the more popular Founders, they still produce some excellent beers that happen to be some of my favorites.  Let's jump into this fantastic beer shall we...

Bell's Hopslam Ale
ABV: 10%
IBU: 70
Double IPA

A: It pours a light copper color with some haze to it.  I slow poured it into my mug and there wasn't much of the foamy white head; I'm sure there would have been more with a more aggressive pour.

S: It has a fantastic smell to it.  One of the greatest I have encountered for this style of beer.  A blast of hops, honey, and citrus hit you all at once.  There are other fruit smells that hit you (pineapple, grapefruit, etc.), but the hops, honey, and citrus are definitely what hit you the most.

T: Where to begin!?  Hops, hops, hops!  It's quite an interesting beer in the sense that the hops really bite and are apparent in every sip, but at the same time this is not the most bitter IPA I have had.  I excpected more bitterness out of it.  I didn't see the 70 IBUs before trying this out, which is the same as one of my favorites (Founders Reds Rye).  The bitterness is definitely on par with Reds Rye.  The first notes are citrus and hops mixed with light bitterness and then the finish is where the hops bite you with the honey finish.

M: A very smooth beer for a DIPA and for being 10%.  There is medium carbonation to Hopslam with a medium body.  Again very light for an IPA, but still probably quite strong for a non-IPA drinker.  Steer clear domestic fans!

D: I'm all about the hops, and this beer quickly moved into my top 5 favorites overall.  To give you an idea of how good this beer is, I received a six pack for my birthday a few weeks ago and I swore I would just have one and enjoy the rest at a later date.  At the end of the night they were all gone, I couldn't keep from drinking them.  This isn't one of those beers where you can only have one.  Enjoy multiple and enjoy responsibly!  If you like IPA's and a smooth but hoppy taste, then look no further.  You will not be disappointed with this beer at all.  You may have to take a trip to West Michigan to try it out though.

Happy reading and tasting!
Feel free to follow me on instagram @Craftadventures

Dunn