AROMA 6/10 APPEARANCE 4/5 TASTE 7/10 PALATE 2/5 OVERALL 12/20
adamjackson (274) – Canaan, USA – MAY 20, 2012
A – Poured pitch black into the glass. 2 Finger coffee coloured head with big and tiny bubbles. It subsided fairly quickly. SRM of 70? Pretty much black.
S – Gigantic malt backbone. Huge coffee notes, honey, flowers, ginger and mild bits of dark fruits. Dry cherries?
T – Very sweet taste. Roasted malts, coffee and a very boozy burn in my chest. the alcohol is very noticeable.Mild chocolate and a middle of the tongue hop bitterness that took me by surprise.
M – 60% carbonation on the mouth swish. Heavy body (of course) and very high coffee malt finish.
O – This is a standard Imperial Stout. It’s good and the honey and coffee is nice but it’s a bit too spicy, maybe too fleeting in the taste after swallowing. It’s just falling short in some way. nice but not memorable.
I’m always of the mindset “it was OK” as far as DFH goes. I’ve never been amazed, not even a little. Raison de Etre is good and unique, but especially from their 750s… always way over priced for what’s inside. I can get any beer at the price, and these ones just don’t hold up.
Are there any DFHs that particularly amazed you?
The $15-$20 a bottle on every DFH 750 along with the fact that half of their 750s I didn’t care for has made buying DFH beers a difficult dilemma. This was bought back when I was buying up everything slightly “ageable” but I’ve stopped buying their beers for the most part.
Favorite DFH beers:
Squall IPA – All time favorite. So delicious.
75 Minute – On tap at DFH and Bottle Conditioned with Maple. Both great.
120 Minute IPA – Had an ’07. At year 5, the booze is gone and this beer shines. My 2011 and 2012s…WAY too hot.
World Wide Stout – Also had an ’08. Smooth and delicious. The 2011s I have are intense and undrinkable.
Festina Peche – No one likes this beer. I did.
Aprihop – Enjoyed this as well.
The rest weren’t very memorable. Of course, this is just from memory. Here’s a screenshot of the DFH beers I’ve had and what I rated them – http://i.imgur.com/rmV9B.png. The “MyG” column is my rating.
Oddly enough, I’ve reviewed DFH more than any other brewery just ahead of Hill Farmstead.