They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but if you were going to judge a beer by its label, you have pretty damn high expectations for Aegir Project’s latest release. Lucky then, that it’s pretty damn good beer.

Hopricot is an IPA infused with whole apricots. I must say I didn’t get a massive amount of apricot notes from this beer – no more than I’d expect to get from certain aroma hops. In fact I wouldn’t be surprised if Rory, Aegir’s owner-brewer, came up with the awesome name and designed a beer around it. And there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s exactly what we did with the recent Brewmistress/Savage/League of Beers collaboration brew, ‘Tis the Saison to be Hoppy’.

That said, there is some peachiness on the nose here, backed up by great big whiffs of freshly mown grass. That, along with the haze, suggests generous amounts of dry-hopping. Rory doesn’t scrimp on hops, hence the fairly high price of his beers (this one came in at R55 for a 440ml bottle at Banana Jam). Actually, I hesitated before forking out for a bottle. But I’m glad I did, and I recommend you do the same. It’s a wonderfully crisp and refreshing hop bomb, one that has you draining the bottle before you realise it. Luckily there’s a loooong finish of tropical fruits and a touch of damp, dank pine that keeps you enjoying the beer long after the bottle is empty.

Hopricot is a seasonal beer, available at select outlets throughout the summer. The next time Rory brews it, I’d love to eat the apricots that had the good fortune to take a bath in this beauty. That’s my kind of fruit salad.