Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu

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

750mL courtesy of Cavie. Pours clear orange with a small fizzy head. The aroma is big phenolic spicy grape juice - reminds me of a grape homebrew old ale. The flavor is big sweet grape and esters and a big dousing of alcohol. Very high soda pop carbonation and medium body. This is a lot like Midas Touch, I’m not gonna lie...

Wow.... dated 7000 BC! If true, this is the earliest beer known. Orange. Fast head. Aroma: Fruits, malt, floral. Flavor: Fruits, malt, spices, honey. Its like a Mead teamed up with a soda to kick my ass. I can imagine a Stone Age Chineese brewmaster serving this and singing "For all you do, this Jiahu’s for you!" No wonder China had some of the earliest empires...and has the worlds largest population!

Serving: 750 ml bottle. Appearance: It pours like a sparkling deep, rose wine. Deep pink with a small, foamy, white head. The head is gone pretty quickly. Aroma: Grapes, funk, honey, old socks, and a little vinousness. Sweet smelling too. Very odd. Taste: Honey, crackers, earthy, light grape notes, a bit of spice. Sweet yet slightly dry. Very unusual. Palate: Medium-high carbonation with a medium-light mouthfeel. Medium-short, grape laden finish. Overall: This one was just plain strange. I appreciate what DFH is going for, but I am not even sure I would call this beer. Sort of a mead/wine/beer hybrid. Rebuy: No. Not worth having again.

Location: 750 ml bottle from Gilly’s, 8/30/09

Aroma: Honey, grape, spice, pear, fruity and sweet
Appearance: Clear golden-orange color, minimal head, some spotty lacing
Flavor: Sweet and spicy, and not much else, yeasty
Palate: Decent amount of body, an alright mouthfeel, and a well hidden ABV
Overall Impression: Not my favorite of the DFH "weird beer" line (no that’s not a real line, but you weren’t sure for a second, were you?). If anyone was going to have a line called weird beer it would be these guys. This was probably my first beer that has been aged 9000 years, I believe they call that archaelo-cellaring, but I could be wrong. (Wait, its a 9000 year old recipe, not a 9000 year old beer? I need to learn to read gooder!) Shouldn’t this be an Old Ale...9000 years, that is darn old. OK, enough bad jokes (he said sarcastically, knowing there is no such thing), anyway, I thought this beer was just not quite right, and couldn’t quite put my finger on what I didn’t like about it, so my score vacillated greatly. I could honestly have rated this all over the board, so I settled here.

According to the label this was brewed following an ancient recipe which on my opinion resulted on a nice parallel floral citrus and honey taste, with a small crest and a crisp viscose elegant finish.

Dark golden yellow body with some amber tints, sizable head and spotty lacing. Sweet aroma with some mixed fruits and sugary malt. Smells very nice and inviting. Sticky mouthfeel that drinks with greater ease than I was expecting. Gritty grains and pale malt flavors followed by juicy fruits and dry honey. Out of the ordinary and a fairly grand drink.

A pale golden body with thin white head, unusual notes of grape and honey and alcohol, you really notice the honey as you swallow this uniquely fine ale.

$2 draft, GTMB pre-party. I didn’t know the style. I really enjoyed the bubblegum flavors, nicely done, would have another one.