American

I'll admit it, this beer was sitting in my fridge for quite a while. There aren't a whole lot of foods I like to pair with pale ales and given that this is a Double IPA I just didn't know what to do with it. Well, I've finally opened it up and I'm absolutely amazed at the flavors in this beer. Great Divide brewed this as their 15th anniversary so it comes with all of the typical commemorative perks like a special label and oak aging. The label is a bit of snoozer, not that I base my beer purchases off of looks but it just doesn't scream "special release" to me. Honestly though, it's all uphill from there. Everything else about this beer is absolutely amazing. This beer has many great aspects, you could almost call them contradictions. Contradictions of what the established India Pale Ale style is.

Apricots, they are sort of a guilt pleasure of mine. Apricots by themselves are delicious, you really can't go wrong. Apricot jelly? Delicious. Apricot Jolly Ranchers? Delicious. But what about apricot beer? I'd never heard of such a thing until a couple months ago when I saw some at the store and I figured, "well I like apricots, and I like beer... so why not."

I was apprehensive at first, I mean - it's apricot beer... In theory it should be really awesome, here's the math:

• Apricots (which are delicious) + Beer (which is delicious) = Apricot Beer (which should, by virtue of the transitive property, be delicious)

Unfortunately this formula isn't universal.