Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu

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

This didn’t stink but it wasn’t anything I’d have again. Cloudy yellow body beneath a champaign type fizzy head that evaporates quickly. Faint notes of grape skins, honey, and something I guess is hawthorne fruit. The flavor was semi-sweet, fizzy, and dry. I like that Dogfish Head tries these unique things with some historical background, like Midas Touch. This one just didn’t leave any significant impression.

What a thick syrupy looking muddy drink. Cloudy orange with big white head. I definitely did not anticipate the slight funk and yeast aroma. Incredibly full bodied and the honey and citrus fruit flavors come through big.

Flowing like the waters of Yangtze before the Three Gorges Dam, it fills the glass with a slightly hazy orange, the head a huge pile of frothy white, which erodes slowly, the resultant lacing, a complete coat to hide the glass. Nose, a phenomenal blend of aromas, honey, grapes, barley, rice, Hawthorn fruit, Chrysanthemum flowers, yeast, what a lineup, and they all blend perfectly. Ambrosial start, with a twang at the back, top feels moderate to the palate. Finish is modestly acidic, sweet, flowery and dry aftertaste nails itself to the taste buds, what a brew, what a marvelous concoction of grains, flowers and fruit, a true one of a kind masterpiece of the brewers’ art.

Pours golden with a bit of cloudiness and slightly off white head. Aroma is very sweet with definate honey and spices. Body is medium to light and the taste is sweet. Again with lots of honey and hints of grapes. A bit unusual but I found it very enoyable.

Tap at Pizzeria Paradiso. Thick pour of a bright orange, sprightly apricot color. Aroma of lavender and saffron initially, more like a shampoo than a meadow. Honey, pineapple, and passion fruit spark with lively sweetness; alcohol pushes a bit of heat out the back. Flavor components are rice pudding, riesling, and saffron dust on lemon meringue most dominantly. Almond, green apple skins, some paper and simple sugar; cloyingly sweet, especially as it begins to warm. Slick, with syrupy legs coating the sides of the glass. Carbonation is sparkly and saves this hot and viscous melted candy from being basically unbearable. Smacks intensely with the progressive increase of heat, spicy yeast, and sugar. Though it shows interesting signs and plenty of potential, it turns quite blunt and simplistic too quickly.

12 oz bottle from slob. Pours cloudy, honey-amber color, with little to no head. Aroma of malts, wheat and honey, with flowers and some spice along with succulent fruity notes. Very sweet in the flavor, honey, wheat, lavender, soap, warming spice and alcohol. Medium to full body and gentle carbonation.

Cloudy orange with almost no head. Aroma is a hint of apricot and wet dog. Taste is of a strange fruit, and finishes biscuity. Mouthfeel is supple, and well carbonated despite its placid appearance. $12/750ml

Bottle (750ml). Cloudy gold, large fluffy lasting white head. Dry, sharp aroma - smells like papaya, wheat, rice, candy sugar and dry, peppery yeast. Taste is quite warming, and very very fruity - tart apricot, papaya, dehydrated pinapple, sweet yeast - not much bitterness apart from the alcohol and some grapeseed in the finish. Thick, syrupy body, mild carbonation, long fruit-sweet finish, enough tartness to avoid being cloying. Very good - and very warming indeed - my ears are red!