Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Traditional Ale
Milton, Delaware USA

Sample at the Dogfish Head/Cheese tasting at Blacklick Wine & Spirits on 08/21/08. This beer is a light orange color with Champagne-like bubbles and a medium frothy white head that dissipates quickly. Spotty lacing. Vinous aroma with touches of yeast and honey. Medium-bodied with a fruity character. Flavors of malt, honey and yeast. The finish is grapes and sweet honey with a lingering earthy fruit aftertaste. Interesting overall but not necessarily something I would come back to any time soon.

On draft at RFD, D.C. Despite the bartender’s outright skepticism, I wanted to give this one a go. Dogfish’s experimentalism is hit and miss, of course, as is the nature of such things. But you’ve gotta try the stuff, right? Golden color, well settled with very little carb. My initial thought was that this was related to mead, which wouldn’t be at all surprising given the pedigree of the recipe. The mouthfeel was very smooth, and the dominant flavor initially was honey, and lots of it. Some slightly tart notes emerged in there as I got further with it, along with a slightly harsh note that I couldn’t place (ginger?). Again, not much body to the thing and I found that the flavors didn’t cohere as well as they could have. A noble failure? Maybe not, but certainly not for me.

Purchased at Tops Liquor in Tempe last winter. Appearance is a super-clear bright orange hue, white layer of light head dissipates quickly, minimal lacing. Smell is light fruits (apples and pears) with sweet honey, grassy/earthy tones, range of spices (cinnamon, allspice, vanilla). Taste is very sweet, initial dominated by sugary sweet honey and fruits, grassy hops linger with spices, finishes dry and sweet. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied, thick and viscous texture, prickly carbonation. Drinkability is fair, this tastes like a hybrid between a mead and a cider with the focus on honey and fruits, interesting in small doses, better suited for after-dinner sipping than social drinking.

Bottled. Poured dark yellow, with a fizzy white head. Nose was spicy, vinous, lots of grape. Flavor was wine-like as well. Tart, spicy, with a little honey flavor under it all. The finish was rich with a slight alcohol warmth. Not as bizarre as I thought it would be. I can’t speak to the hawthorn fruit part, as I have no idea what they taste like.

Pours orange with minimal white head. Aroma of white grapes and green apples. Tastes like carbonated white grape juice with a touch of honey. Very strange beer. This is almost really good, but something about it is bothering me.

Pours a clear honey gold with a small white head that fades quickly. Very champagne aroma from the grapes and the honey sweetness. Taste is also very similar to champagne although with a thicker body. Easily distinguishable grapes, lighter honey then I thought, also some herbal flowery flavors. Finish is a little tart but crisp.

Bottle. Light clear amber with a small fizzy and quickly disappearing head. Aroma of white grapes and spice. Flavor is overall sweet. Smooth, rather light bodied, and fizzy. Not much aftertaste. This wasn’t very impressive or great. It gets points for being different but it has some similarities to champagne.

750 ml bottle courtesy of lb4lb. Pours a cloudy dark yellow color with a small white head that soon fades to a fine film. The aroma is unusual and spicy, there are fruits in here that I can not identify. The flavor is rich with honey and spicey white grapes, there is also an odd vegetable taste. The mouthfeel is full and malty. The finish is long with lingering honey. Overall: This is a most unusual tasting ale, one that is an acquired flavor, and a flavor that I have not yet acquired. I do however, appreciate the effort to boldly brew new(and old) beers.