Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu

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

Pours a golden-orange with a soda-like, white head. Fizzly, gone in 10 seconds. Completely orange and still, with no forseeable carbonation. Smells of grapefruit rinds, honey, malted grains, grapes, oranges and cherries, dry though. Taste is simple, crisp, dry, fruit, orange, corn, rice. Light, something like a sweeter carbonated, light saki. Actually reminds me of China. Not sure if "Traditional Ale" really captures this style. I’ll just say its different, and definitely worth experiencing.

750 ml bottle (’07 Vintage). quickly receding head, though foamy and airy at onset, reminiscent of champagne; the body has a hazy/muddy dull orange hue. aromas are mostly of yeasts and bright fruits, similar to a belgian strong style or more specifically, a unibroue 16 or seignuriale. there is also an odd salty tartness that lingers around the glass, as does ginger. the ginger and tartness carries over to the flavor, but is overpowered by mellow honey, melon, and slight citrus. the finish is subtle and smooth with notes of white pepper and white grapes. it’s a good beer, and it seems like a strange blend of a witbier, a wheat, and even a belgian blond. definitely a unique ale.

(From bottle @ DFH event in Boothbay, ME 8/23/07) Cloudy yellowish amber body. Aroma of white grapes. Mouthfeel lightly fizzy, relatively smooth. Fine curtain of lacing inside glass. Tastes grapey, sweet, white grape juice in particular. Only slight hint of alcohol. Has sort of a novelty feel to it but good.

Aroma is very enticing, notes of citrus and honey. Appearance is a hazy orange color, medium head. Flavor is sweet, honey, citrus, a slight hop bite. Leaves a sweet fruity tatste on the palate. Medium thickness. Good beer overall. I would recommend this beer no matter what, as I am very interested in ancient methods of brewing beer.

Comes out of the bottle a nice clear golden-amber with a hint of orange. Aroma is crisp and hoppy with a bit of an alcohol bite and a touch of citrus. Flavor is hoppy, crisp and edgy, with some malt element and a strong orange hint - rather different from other beers I have tried, perhaps because the recipe is supposed to be 9,000 years old. It is smooth with just a little bitterness and a hint of orange flavor in the aftertaste.

On Tap at Capone’s. Cloudy honey color. No head, though streams of bubbles rose to the surface. All of the named ingredients made their flavors quite evident ; honey sweetness hit the palate immidiately, followed by tart grapes and citrus character. The finish was light grains, yeast-spiciness and, as the the beer warmed, a slight alcohol twinge. Not terribly complex, flavor-wise, but I greatly enjoyed it; it was impressively refreshing for such a strong beer.

Draft at Capone’s. Cloudy amber/orange. Tangy fruits; grapes and oranges and something else. Unknown spice; sort of like clove or cardamom. Couldn’t get much honey, just intense fruit tanginess. I’ve passed by the bottle for so long, maybe just because I’ve had mixed success with Dogfish’s ’art beers’. But this was unique, interesting and drinkable.

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this beer before trying it. I view most of these "ancient recipes" with skepticism (Midas Touch included), as I believe there is a reason we’re not walking around festivals drinking flat beer through a long straw from urns. Nonetheless, I was intrigued by the ingredient list and wanted to give it a try. It pours a slightly hazy lemonade color, with lots of densely packed tiny bubbles (typical evidence of secondary fermentation). Aroma is slightly sour fruit. Flavor was of white raisins, with a layer of candy sugar atop them (must be the honey?). I didn’t find this beer to be as complex as I’d hoped, and it didn’t really score huge points with me for drinkability either. Mouthfeel was quite nice. However, I would call it unique, and it definitely wasn’t bad. I guess based on the uniqueness alone, I’d weakly recommend it.