ApriHop - Dogfish Head Brewery

    ApriHop is an American IPA that is brewed with apricot juice. This fruity and hoppy beer is brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware as their Spring seasonal. It also seems to be craved by psychotic, albino rabbits, so that's something.

    The apricot IPA pours a clear, brass color with a half-finger head with great retention.

    ApriHop's aroma is strongly fruity as the hops and apricot juice form their own unique smell. Citrus notes as well as the stonefruit scents can be picked out, as can an earthy undertone. Light malt sweetness lies underneath the fruit and hop scents.

    The fruity IPA is medium bodied and sports a medium level of carbonation. Overall, the beer feels nicely creamy on the tongue. Dogfish Head's love of higher-than-normal alcohol levels makes the beer's alcohol content of 7% ABV unsurprising.

Stay away from my beer, or I'll devour the little one's soul!

    ApriHop's flavor is actually kind of disappointing. I was expecting a nice, lightly fruity, hoppy beer. Instead the flavors I'm getting are mostly earthy and herbal hops notes with a strong ale flavor at the end. There really isn't much apricot OR hops flavor in the beer, especially when you consider that the beer's label describes it "massively hopped". The label goes on to describe that the majority of the "massive hopping" was dry hopping after fermentation, which explains why there is lots of great hops scents and not so much flavor.

    This beer's label has me really concerned that there is a population of apricot-crazy albino rabbits somewhere out there. Just looking at that thing's eyes tells me that it would stop at nothing to enjoy its sweet, sweet apricot nectar of the gods. Plus, it's a widely accepted fact that albinos actually consume the souls of their victims. All I know is that if I run into one of these things on the street, I'm outta there.

    I was very interested in Aprihop at first. I could easily see how apricot juice would go well with hops and was excited to give it a try. As previously stated though, I ended up being disappointed in it. The beer was still decent, but not at all as advertised..

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Hell or High Watermelon - 21st Amendment Brewery

    Hell or High Watermelon is a Wheat Beer brewed first with watermelon concentrate, with even more watermelon juice added at bottling (well, canning). This fruity concoction is brewed by the 21st Amendment Brewery in San Francisco, California. Artificial watermelon flavoring used to really turn me off in candy and other foods as a child, so I have...low hopes..for this one to say the least.

    The beer pours a pale, translucent straw color. There is a bit of haze to the beer, and watermelon particles are visible floating around in the glass which tells me that this is likely an unfiltered beer.

    Surprisingly, Hell or High Watermelon doesn't smell much like watermelon at all. There is definitely a fruity scent to the beer, but it's more of a tart, berry smell, than that of melons. Light scents of malts and wheat are discernible underneath the fruitiness.

    The watermelon brew is light bodied and has a low to medium level of carbonation. The beer feels very watery when swallowing, and has an alcohol content of 4.9% ABV.

Explosive watermelon flavor?

    Ah, there it is, the watermelon flavor I was expecting to smell, I can definitely taste. I'm actually surprised that the fruit flavor isn't just the chemical tasting, artificial watermelon of my youth, but actually more of something in-between the real and artificial flavors of watermelon. The wheat and pale malt flavors are very subtle, possibly overpowered by the watermelon.

    I don't know what kind of watermelons the scientists that invented artificial watermelon flavoring were eating, but I can guarantee they weren't the same fruit that we grow here on earth. Either that, or the scientists assigned to the watermelon artificial flavoring research group just happened to be the exact few members of the human race whose tongues didn't work correctly. Luckily 21st Amendment apparently at least had two people working on the potential flavors for their watermelon beer, one of whom obviously had actually tasted watermelon in his or her lifetime.

    Hell or High Watermelon is extremely light bodied. If you're a fan of watermelon and light, summer beers, definitely try it. If you want a light tasting beer with flavor that isn't nearly-artificial watermelon, look elsewhere for your summer refreshment.

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Redd's Apple Ale - Miller Brewing Company

    Redd's Apple Ale is a Fruit Beer brewed by the Miller Brewing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. You've more than likely seen commercials for this beer, as it seems to be one of the most advertised beers I have ever seen. With the growing popularity of cider in the United States, I'm interested to see if Redd's leads to Miller looking into brewing their own brand of hard cider.

    Redd's Apple Ale pours an extremely clear, apple juice color. Surprisingly, there is no head to the beer whatsoever. The beer's appearance is very similar to hard apple cider, which concerns me since this is supposed to be an ale.

    The apple ale smells strongly of sweet apples that are a few shades farther than ripe. It basically smells like an apple does once it has fallen from the tree and sat on the ground for a week. This rotten smell is the only real aroma given off by the ale.

    Redd's Apple Ale is very light bodied and has a low level of carbonation. The ale has no real beer-like body to it at all. Redd's has an alcohol content of 5% ABV.

Beer has fallen so far, and begun to rot.

    The Apple Ale's flavor is mainly that of sweet, rotting apples. After the apple flavor settles down, the tiniest bit of malt can be briefly tasted before all flavor fades quickly away. The overall flavor is very similar to alcoholic apple soda. The sweetness seems to be separate from the apple taste, as though Miller backsweetened the beer with another type of sugar.

    There really isn't anything "ale" about Redd's Apple Ale. I feel like Miller would have much more success if they would purposely brew a cider instead of trying to make an ale similar to a cider. If Redd's were just a bit dryer and less rotten, it would actually taste like a pretty decent cider, since there is no hops detectable and only the slightest bit of malt flavor. I really can't recommend this as a good Fruit beer, but it doesn't taste too terrible if you are just after a sweet, alcoholic, apple drink.

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Derailed Black Cherry Ale - Erie Brewing Co.

    Derailed Black Cherry Ale is a Fruit Beer made by Erie Brewing Co. which is located in Erie, Pennsylvania. I find the beer's name interesting, as a train derailing seems like something that people would like to avoid, rather than enjoy...

    Derailed pours a semi-hazy, brown-orange with little to no head at all. There are a huge number of bubbles present in the ale, so I expect a high level of carbonation.

    The ale smells unsurprisingly like cherry juice. There is also the presence of bready malts. The beer also has a strange metallic scent to it.

    Derailed has a medium body with a medium-high level of carbonation. The beer leaves a slick film in the mouth after swallowing. An alcohol content 5% ABV is present in the ale.

Drink Derailed! The only beer responsible for multiple horrible deaths!

    The Fruit Beer tastes mainly of sweet cherry juice. There is a light flavor of the same bready malts that were present in the ale's aroma. There is a slight metallic aftertaste to the beer which is in stark contrast to the sweet fruit flavors.

    I can't get over that the beer is called Derailed. The word "derailed" brings nothing but negative connotations to mind. I don't see why anyone would name their product after a disaster, especially something with such sweet flavors.

    Derailed Black Cherry Ale has good fruit flavor blended with mild malt character. I'm put off a bit by the beer's metallic aftertaste and smell, though. There is a slight sourness to the beer that fans of Sour Ales might enjoy, though this is by no means a Sour Ale. If you've never had a Fruit Beer before, this would be a decent one to start with!

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Purple Haze - Abita Brewing Co.

    Purple Haze is a Fruit Beer brewed by Abita Brewing Co. which is located in Abita Springs, Louisiana. Purple Haze starts out as a Wheat Beer but has raspberry puree added to the mix once the beer has been through the filtering stage. The beer has an alcohol content of 4.2% ABV, which tells me that the fruit was, indeed, added after fermentation. This beer was graciously donated to Amulets and Ale by Emily Hohman.

    The Fruit Beer pours a hazy red-orange color with a strange thin, bubbly head which quickly dissipates. It is obvious by the sheer number of bubbles which cling to the glass that this will be a highly carbonated beer.

    Shockingly, the raspberry wheat beer smells like raspberries! There is also a slight sour smell to the beer. The scent of wheat lies slightly hidden underneath the fruitiness.

    Purple Haze is light bodied with a high level of carbonation. The beer is very crisp and refreshing.

'Scuse me, while I drink this beer!

    Abita's Fruit Beer's flavor is majorly fruit forward. There is only a small amount of wheat flavor beneath the fruit, though it becomes more pronounced as the beer warms. No hops flavor is present. Surprisingly, Purple Haze is not a super-sweet beer, and instead has more of a dry finish than I would have expected.

    I'm pretty sure that Jimi Hendrix didn't write Purple Haze about this beer, though it very well fits into the song's lyrics. Have too many of these and I could totally see you saying "Purple Haze all in my brain" and "actin' funny but I don't know why"! Have WAY too many, and you might even say the misheard lyrics of "'scuse me, while I kiss this guy!"

    A lot of beer fans hate Fruit Beers. Personally, I really don't have a problem with them as long as they are well crafted. I feel as though Purple Haze is a bit too light on the hops and malt flavors to be an incredibly good Fruit Beer, but it is still surprisingly refreshing. I really think that the brew could be improved with the addition of more wheat flavor.

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#9 - Magic Hat Brewing Company

    #9 from Magic Hat Brewing Company in South Burlington, Vermont, describes itself as a "not quite pale ale." This description seems to be quite accurate as the beer is hardly a pale ale at all.

    Magic Hat's #9 pours a light amber color with a half-inch white head on top. The beer smells slightly spicy and somewhat like fruit. The bottle offers no ideas as to what type of fruit might be in the beer. The smell is very sweet, but not overly so.

    The beer feels light to medium bodied in the mouth with a small amount of carbonation. At 5.1% ABV, Magic Hat's beer has a standard level of alcohol for a beer. The alcohol flavor is imperceptible against the other flavors in the brew.

    All flavors in the beer come off as very mild. No flavor stands out more than any other, making it quite a balanced experience. The taste is sweet, just as the scent promised, though not sweet to the point of being syrupy and unpleasant. The fruity notes are much more prevalent in the taste than they were in the smell. I can't quite put my finger on what fruit the beer tastes like, but I'm thinking it's along the lines of apricot. There are also notes of spices that go amazingly well with the fruit. It's almost as though #9 were some type of apricot cobbler or crisp in beer form. There is barely any bitterness at all in the beer.


    The name of Magic Hat's beer brings many questions into one's mind, and this air of mystery seems to permeate the brew. Why is it named simply #9? Was it the ninth beer that the company brewed? What spices and fruits go into creating this brew? I can't help but be reminded of the song Love Potion No. 9 by the Clovers when I think of the beer's name. Maybe Magic Hat Brewing Company had this song in mind when mixing up their brew, hoping that we would fall in love with their creation.

    Overall #9 is a mild beer with interesting flavors. Unfortunately I find it to be a bit too mild. There is nothing bad about the beer, but at the same time it is nothing special. The beer is very drinkable but the novelty of the flavors will only be interesting the first time one experiences them. One should look elsewhere for his or her love potion, and not in #9.

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