Dogfish Head Black and Blue

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Fruit Beer
Milton, Delaware USA

The body is a deep, brilliant red with a touch of violet and pink. The head is thin and off-white, also with a touch of pink. The head fades to nothing and leaves no lace - leaving the beer looking like a still rose wine. The aromas are dominated by malt with sweet caramel. But the nose also detects some alcohol, some acid (like from a sour pear), and some fruit (though not particularly like blackberry or blueberry). The flavor starts off malty and fruity. It is quite sweet. The middle of the tongue detects some sweet berries - much more blueberry than blackberry. There are also flavors of yeast with hints of spice. The finish is full-bodied, sweet, and full of yeast and spice with just a hint of berry. The mouthfeel is full-bodied with a tingle from carbonation that complements the spicy yeast flavors. As the beer warms a soft, earthy hop bitterness can be discerned in the middle and finish. Also discernible is an almost wine-like, dry fruitiness on the back of the tongue. Overall, not bad - but nearly as special as their other beers (like the similarly-named Red and White).

Big thanks to Quake1028 for sharing this brew.

Pours plum wine in color with off white head. Fruity aroma notes and some sweetness. The aroma is kind of light and tough to discern. The taste has fruitiness all over the place that seems both sweet and berry like. I also get some wine grape notes as well. Pretty good and pretty sweet too.

Medium sized offwhite head, fair retention and minimal lacing. Hazy dark amber hued brew, light red glow. Nose is light berries, light malts ,maybe some caramel. Body is medium, a touch coa5ting on the palate. Faint berry flavors with a medium sweet maltiness. Flavors remind me of the Zwaanendale(sp?) more malty than anything. Alcohol is not noticeable. Finish is sorta sweet and lightly fruity. Berry beers dont do much for me even at a 10% alc. level.

Ruby-toned amber body with a receding, sudsy white head. Sugary DFH signature yeast characters, with plummy raspberry notes in the nose. Notable alcohol, like a liqueur. Medium-high sweetness with ample, underlying vegetal, fruit characters. Syrupy texture on the palate. Okay beer, but fails to achieve.

Bottle. Pours amber with rose highlights. Pretty! Quickly disappearing white/rose head. Struggling to find any complexity on the nose. Vaguely reminiscent of a dry rose wine. Creamy with decent carbonation. Malty on the palate. Hint of blueberry. Dry. Hides the 10% well. Slightly disappointing.

Dry, somewhat ashy aroma with some sugary plums. Very light aroma. The color is ruby red, filtered and nearly no head at all. The flavor is ever-so-slightly tart,but mostly it is sugary, and not much else. I taste no berries f any sort, although this beer is world’s better than Fort. Syrupy-sweet finish and too much alcoholic astringent burning as it goes down.

Date: 4/28/2007
Event: DarkLord Day 2007
Location: Three Floyds Brewing Co. Parking Lot
Serving: Sampled from 750 mL bottle.

Tasting Notes
Aroma: Light berry.
Appearance: Dark coppery color with a foamy peach head..
Flavor: Lightly sweet overall with some light malt and berry flavors on top.
Palate: Medium-light body; pretty smooth.
Overall: An interesting brew, but somewhat disappointing. Maybe I was expecting something more in the flavor from this extreme brewer for the price...

Fairly smooth and easy to drink fruit beer. Suttle fruit beer, with no over powering black raspberry or blueberry flavors. Nice head with lacing that disappears quickly. Poors a deep copper color.