Hidden Barrel Apricot - AC Golden Brewing Company

MighHighBrewer

Colorado

3.13/5  rDev -21.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3

Enjoyed on 3/29/13 from the tap at Rackhouse.

A: Pours straw-colored and hazy. Not quite golden - more yellow than that. It's very hazy - almost like a Hefeweizen. My from-the-tap sample had no head, but moderate lacing. Overall, it looks like a light "lite" beer.

S: To my nose, it smells like musty apricot. As expected, apricot aroma dominates with a background of mustiness/earthiness. Some citrus fruits present and a very slight grassiness opens up after the initial smell.

T: Citrus fruits - especially lemon - up front followed up by intense sourness. Mouth-puckeringly sour. Surprisingly, my sample didn't taste much of apricot. The apricot aroma is certainly there, but I dont get any powerful apricot flavor. In fact, I'd venture to say that if I blindfolded myself, I wouldn't even guess this was an apricot sour - just a plain sour.

M: As expected, dry. Moderate carbonation.

O: This was a disappointing sour to me. When compared to sours from other well-known producers (i.e. Crooked Stave, RR, etc), this beer's sour character is just too harsh and one-note IMHO. It all hits the back of the tongue and isn't as well-rounded as the best sours. The apricot, while present, is not powerful enough to me. Just too one-note.

Serving type: on-tap

04-01-2013 22:24:04 | More by MighHighBrewer

Mebuzzard

Colorado

3.35/5  rDev -16.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A sour beer from AC Golden. Let's see how this one is at $21.99 per bottle.

Pours a murky light golden color with a light foam cap. Decent lacing, but piddles at the end.

While the aroma isn't bad, it is rather simple. Very light hint of pale malt, some funky spice, then a whiff of fruit...apricot to be sure.

As with the nose, the taste isn't bad...a bit simple. While the apricot is noticeable and nice, it hides behind a thin layer of malt, and a farmhouse style funk that is still pretty light. The pucker hits in the middle and suggests to hang around, but it does fade into the fruit finish.

An good beer using good fruit ingredients. Not very complex and leaves a somewhat empty palate.

Serving type: bottle

05-27-2012 08:08:56 | More by Mebuzzard

Thorpe429

Illinois

3.78/5  rDev -5.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle courtesy of forgetfu. Served in a snifter. Pours a slightly-hazed light orange color with a good white head and nice lacing. Nose has a really impressive apricot presence with a touch of grain and nice acidity. Flavor has really nice apricot with good acidity and a very mild funk presence. Would be better with more funk, but I can’t complain about this. Light body with medium acidity. Quite nice.

Serving type: bottle

12-15-2012 18:30:56 | More by Thorpe429

Domingo

Colorado

3.88/5  rDev -3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This is one of the first bottle runs from the AC Golden “Hidden Barrel” sour series. I guess these sold out pretty quickly and they’re time consuming to create, so there might not be any more for a while. Hopefully the others are as good as this one.
Pours a slightly hazy peach color. Carbonation is mild, but present.
The nose is citric with lemon extract character. A little bit of wild yeast funkiness creeps in, and a faint note of apricots. As this warms to room temperature, the apricot comes out a bit more.
The flavor profile is similar to the nose. Citric sourness that sweetens in the middle, and fades with a little bit of peppery yeast and a kiss of wood. At first the apricot flavors are a bit sour and unripe tasting, but as it warms, they normalize. I actually think this beer is far better completely unchilled. My bottle was only moderately cool, but I think this one’s best at room temperature.
For a first major release, this is quite good. It reminds me a little of NB’s epic Eric’s Ale, although it’s not quite there yet.
I’ve had a few ACG sour items here and there at various tasting events and this is another solid beer from them. The only real knock is that because these are so limited, prices are steep and availability is almost non-existent. Hopefully this program will expand a bit to fix that problem.

Serving type: bottle

05-30-2012 15:16:47 | More by Domingo

UCLABrewN84

California

3.9/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Thanks to GRG1313 for sharing this one at his tasting.

Bottled 11/12/12. Bottle # 1641.

Pours a murky light orange with a foamy bone head that fades to nothing. Small dots of lace drip into the remaining beer on the drink down. Smell is sour and tart with apricot and acidic aromas. Taste is much the same with apricot and apricot skin flavors on the finish. There is a medium amount of acidity on the palate with each sip. This beer has a lower level of carbonation with a slightly crisp and dry mouthfeel. Overall, this is a good beer that is quite sour and tasty.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2013 01:13:28 | More by UCLABrewN84

Cody

Colorado

4.01/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

25.4 oz bottle served fresh from the refrigerator at 35 degrees F.

Batch 2 Bottled 11/12/12 Bottle #230

Appearance: Bright golden; same color as a peach. Even with aggressive pouring the beer garnished only a modest head which quickly dissipated to a centimeter worth of retention. Poured into a Unibroue Tulip; beer clean.

Aroma: Sour apricot notes, possibly lactobacillus. Soft notes of peaches and grains

Taste:
Cold: Mild acidity/tartness and slight fruit flavor. Not as prominent as expected from the bottle.

After 13 Minutes: The acidity definitely becomes amped up but still maintains a pretty reasonable level and the apricot appears more prominently. There is still almost no noticeable hop characteristic.

Mouthfeel: Astringent mouth feel with a lingering tartness that dances on the tongue. Despite the low head just enough dry carbonation.

Overall: Quite an enjoyable beer. Its probably a 4/10 or 5/10 in the pure acidity factor and the subtly of the sour and apricot notes make this a refreshing take on the ever burgeoning sour category. I definitely recommend letting the beer warm as it's flavors become amplified for the better.

Full disclosure I really did not want to like this beer being basically a MillerCoors product but kudos to the brewers.

Serving type: bottle

04-19-2013 04:11:20 | More by Cody

SkeeterBoganski

Colorado

4.06/5  rDev +1.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Batch 2, bottle #1614, bottled 11/12/12

A - has the anticipated apricot-colored hue with a bit of haze and general cloudiness; the carbonation is exceptionally minimal; the sights on this resemble a dusky sun's efforts to pierce through an afternoon rain cloud

S - sour tang; musky basement; wet feet; a touch of funk and a hint of apricot; like a moist fruit roll-up past its prime

T - the funk is delic; the apricot notes are minimal but present; the sour pucker is a punch to the palate; there are some very subtle hints of the oak it was aged in and just a touch of pepper and barnyard danky that makes it more than a one-note sour

M - lightly tart and sour, the pucker is pleasant; the carbonation is there but it's hard to discern

O - overall, I can't say I'd call this the Fou Foune of the Rockies, but it's a pretty tasty sour apricot ale with the right amount of flavor and funk and all the fruity notes you'd want from this kind of beer; solid effort for sure

Serving type: bottle

03-28-2013 23:53:36 | More by SkeeterBoganski

spoony

Colorado

4.18/5  rDev +4.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4.25

From a 750 ml bottle (batch 2, bottled November 12, 2012) into a tulip.

A-The beer pours quite flat with no real head despite an aggressive pour. The murky brew is apricot in color (appropriately enough) and bright.

S-The smell is full of apricot with a mineral and vinous backbone of tart acidity. There is a light toasted note from the malts to hold things together and a little bit of lactic funkiness.

T-The taste is fruit forward, but the highly acidic nature of the brew keeps things from being cloying or sugary sweet. There is a nice vinous touch from the oak and a mild dose of lactic, earthy funkiness.

M-The feel is lightly carbonated and moderately slick. Medium heft.

O-This was an enjoyable sour beer. The tart-factor was medium to high, which played well with the sweetness from the apricots. Say what you will about craft versus crafty, but this is a pretty good beer with a unique, complex profile. Word of warning, however, if your stomach is sensitive to acid, beware...

Serving type: bottle

03-31-2013 04:15:29 | More by spoony

craytonic

District of Columbia

4.2/5  rDev +5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Bottle shared by forgetfu

Appearance: murky golden apricot color with a bit of haze

Aroma; apricot, lactic sour

Taste: nice fresh apricot, moderalty sour with a touch of sweet from the fruit

Mouthfeel: medium body, good carbonation

Overall: better than the kriek and peach offerings from this brewer, really tasty. Right behind the one from the pacific north east, not as good as fou foune but not that far off either.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2012 18:57:28 | More by craytonic

Huhzubendah

District of Columbia

4.2/5  rDev +5%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Share by forgetfu. Thanks Bill!

The beer is hazy and appears a golden apricot hue (go figure). The aroma is surprisingly good. I am already shocked that a huge macro brewing corporation is producing lambic, let alone lambic I would buy and drink regularly. The flavor brings prominent apricots. Mild tartness balanced with a delicate sweetness. Light acetic finish with a touch of funk. Good stuff. I would have this again.

Serving type: bottle

11-21-2012 00:36:55 | More by Huhzubendah

chugalug06

Colorado

4.24/5  rDev +6%
look: 1.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25

Clouded yellow with a small amount of soapy white bubbles that quickly pop.

Lemon, tart, barnfunk, apricot.

Great tart apricot forward flavor. Rewardingly drinkable, tart, lemon, very small amount of dry carbonation which fits the flavors and style. Not overly acidic.

Highly recommended for the true sour lover. The $28 price is a bit hard to swallow. This one will be one and done for me, I simply can't afford as much as I would like...

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2013 04:13:01 | More by chugalug06

drabmuh

Maryland

4.25/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Bottle shared by forgetfu, thanks. This was the best out of the three and is as good as any fruit sour made in the US currently. Apricot for the win.

Beer is yellow and hazy with a white head, decent retention, moderate carbonation.

Aroma is fruit and lactic sourness.

Beer is nice, creamy, fruity, tart and sour, a great moderately dry finish but not too bad, works well with the fruit sweetness and the tart in the corners. I'd have it again for sure.

Serving type: bottle

06-13-2012 19:56:24 | More by drabmuh