Dogfish Head Au Courant

Formerly brewed at Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Fruit Beer
Milton, Delaware USA

Aroma...odd...smelled like a skunky pilsner...combined with honey and some berry...color was golden, and hazy... flavor was uh, well, sweet ... any currant was well hidden, which is unfortunate. Decent for a golden ale but I expected at least a bit of currant flavor.

color is lightly hazy deep golden. head is medium frothy white, but quickly diminishing. aroma is berry, and metallic as hell. flavor is wheaty, and berries, also it has a lively mouthfeel, and it's lightly spicy.

Head is initially small, frothy, off-white, mostly diminishing. Body is light amber. Aroma is lightly malty (cookie, toasted grain), lightly yeasty (cobwebs), lightly hoppy (flowers, lemon), with light notes of cherry and cassis. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter, slightly husky. Light to medium body, watery texture, lively carbonation, slightly metallic. Flavor is a bit unbalanced, aftertaste seems a bit grainy and metallic, and the aroma isn't all that enticing. Lackluster and instantly forgettable.

If anything, Dogfish needs to work on getting their beer labels a little more symmetrical (see pic at left). Nice apple/currant aroma followed by a mild berry flavor but mostly just golden ale taste. To its credit, Au Courant has a darker and cloudier body than I expected. A little on the tart side (moreso upon retasting), and lacking much complexity. I'll pass on this in the future, as it's only mildly refreshing.

2004: Brilliant purple red. reminiscent of Welsh’s grape juice. Scant head aside from a few wisps of purple foam. Nose is mild, kinda musty. Not much on really despite the fine color. There’s some vaguely grape notes that remind me somewhat of the kiddie champagne (sparkling grape juice) my folks used to give me at holiday dinners. I liked the old version much better.

2003: Golden amber with a ring of head, fruity aroma--raisin and cherry. Light and spritzy. An almost-raspberry tartness. Very refreshing. (3.8)

(Bottled 2003) I poured the beer rather violently and I still got a dreadful head. The nose starts out with a pleasant currant aroma that turns into a fruity breakfast cereal aroma. The palate is medium in body with a slightly sweet and fruity middle. In the end, the beer reminds of blending of fruity pebbles with a Belgian style golden ale. This probably would have been a better beer without the use of currants. Dogfish has a neck for not leaving things alone.

Frothy head... a little small and mostly diminishing. Clear light gold body. White grape juice aroma. Flavor is light. A very slight bitterness, and some white grape-like flavor. Not much else I can tell. Aroma good, flavor lacking.

Au courant is a hazy orange beer with not much head. A flowery hop aroma. The flavor is tart but little other sensations lasted on the tongue. The malt and currants give off an almost cherry aroma. There is mor ein the nose than in the flavor of this beer. The currants leave quickly leaving only a tartness.