It’s Monday night here in New Hampshire. It’s 30 Degrees outside and I’m in the mood for some beers. I rarely buy Dogfish Head beers anymore given their unpredictability but these were long overdue. Along with some of the very last 10 WorldWideStout I could find, I picked up these three. Side-Note: If you do see any Dogfish Head WorldWideStout beers out in the wild, BUY THEM! WWS is on permanent hiatus and it’s the best and most cell arable shelf stout you can get. If you don’t want it, mail it to me! I decided to post the reviews all in one post. Enjoy!
Dogfish Head Raison D’Etre
AROMA 9/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 15/20
adamjackson (202) – Canaan, USA – JAN 31, 2012
A – 3-Finger tan head with a mix of big and creamy bubbles. Decent head lacing on the edges of the glass. Subsided after about 3 minutes. The beer is a deep amber brown color. It’s dark but you can still see light coming through.
S – Lots of dark fruits like figs and raisins. I’m getting a very sweet scent of cane sugar and bready yeast. very little hop profile and a lot of wood like burnt cedar. I get a hint of black berry.
T – Wow. An eruption of Belgian yeast and wood. This taste like an “on oak” beer with smoked wood notes. The belgian yeast and roasted malts really dominate the beer. The dry and dark fruits take a backseat to everything else. Raisins and figs are still present but very muted.
M – There’s about 60% carbonation on the mouth feel. Lots of lingering wood and earthy bits that stick around for a while.
O – I had this before and previously rated a 3.8 and that was on tap at the ale house in Fairfax VA. My rating stands but I’m able to add a few more notes this time since I’m at a computer. On tap, it was a bit more carbonated which covered up a lot of the wood notes. I like it better bottled.
Dogfish Head Saison du Buff
3.4 AROMA 8/10 APPEARANCE 5/5 TASTE 6/10 PALATE 3/5 OVERALL 12/20 adamjackson (202) – Canaan, USA – APR 9, 2012 Picked this up at Bert’s Better Beers for $3.95 for a single bottle. Stuck it in the fridge for 2 days and poured into a Mikasa Tulip glass. A – Poured a 4-Finger creamy white head with hints of gold. The beer is a beautiful hazy gold at around a 2.1 on the SRM scale. Gorgeous beer! Head lacing is pretty serious leaving creamy bubbles on the glass as the head subsides. S – Huge spice on the nose! Lots of rosemary, cloves and basil! I LOVE basil so this beer smells wonderful. Very well done wild ale / farmhouse funkiness scent. Yeah, the scent reminds me a lot of Hill Farmstead’s Arthur. Wild and Spicy. Very pleasant. Let’s hope the taste lives up to the scent. T – It tastes like I’m drinking a garden. Last year, I grew Rosemary, Sage, Basil and Thyme in my garden. This tastes like all of those were crushed up and thrown in a beer which is what the label suggests. It’s very interesting. The wild funk of a farmhouse saison is there but completely dominated by the spices that were added. I wished it wasn’t so garden-like but it is. The sage is the clear loser in this beer. It’s just too in your face and takes away from the rest of the beer. M – Big 80% carbonation explosion on the mouth swish. Light-bodied and lingering spices for about 20 seconds after swallowing before subsiding just as a Saison should be. O – I like the approach but I don’t like the final product. I LOVE Saisons and this is a great attempt. More wild and less spices and this could be a great beer. |
Dogfish Head Aprihop
AROMA 7/10 APPEARANCE 3/5 TASTE 8/10 PALATE 4/5 OVERALL 16/20
adamjackson (202) – Canaan, USA – APR 9, 2012
A – 3-Finger off white lightly tan head with great lacing that stuck to the edges of the glass. Subsided after 3 minutes to a quarter-finger in height. Lacing persisted. The beer is a 3-4 on the SRM scale or dark brown to light amber in appearance. Looks a lot like a 60 Minute IPA.
S – Very solid Cascade hops hit the nose. I’m getting another hop profile but can’t quite pinpoint it. It doesn’t smell as dry-hopped as I would imagine. Maybe less hop profile than DFH’s 60 minute which is surprising. In the smell, there’s not much apricot.
T – Very tasty. 60 Minute and a Pound of Apricots got together and fermented for a while. Remarkable how the apricot balances so well with the Cascade hops. There’s this dry trail mix taste with raisins and apricots and bit sof salty peanuts and a terrific DFH IPA which they do so well! Well done. No booziness at all.
M – 50/50 carbonation, medium bodied and dry hop linger with some dry fruits like (you guessed it) apricots!
O – I was hoping for the best but not expecting much. This beer didn’t let me down. Very good and drinkable. It makes me wish Summer was here.
THAT was a lot of fun! Time for bed. Thanks for reading!