Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu

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

Bottle. Pours a muddy gold with no head. Nose is sweet. Honey, grape skins, sweet cinnamon covered apples, and candyish notes. Taste is very similar. More honey, grape bubblegum, pears, light spices, and fermented fruits. Soft wine-like notes as well. Body is light, spritzy and delicate with soft carbonation. Finishes with more grape notes, fermented fruits, honey and sugar water. Light spices and floral notes here as well. Not bad!

Bottle. Poured a medium yellow-orange to light brown-amber with a medium to large, fizzy, white head that quickly diminished to almost nothing. The body was also a little murky with some small particles that could be seen but not felt in the mouth. There were aromas of buble gum, banana, green grapes, pears, honey and white wine. Very fruity but not in the girly fru fru kind of way. There was also an unknown fruit aroma that I was guessing must be hawthorne fruit. The flavor was moderately sweet and had many of the same aspects as the aroma becoming sour fruit in the back of the mouth with a light bitterness with not much aftertaste. It was dry but a little sticky on the lips. This was one of the most unusual beers I’ve ever tried. Even better than Midas Touch. It’s like a combination of beer and wine but still not really either. A must try for those who like to try something different from time to time.

Always fun to try these historical recreations. This was one that I found to be very good to my surprise. Poured a cloudy light gold with orange inflections, slight head. Aroma was a big surprise, dead on to champagne, complete with some of the toast components and light grape that you would find in that beverage. If I had been blindfolded, I would have guessed champagne instead of beer in a heartbeat. Pleasant though. Flavor was remarkably delicate, with faint honey, some undefined fruitiness that I can only guess came from the hawthorn, a bit of grape, and just enough malt to keep things held together. Smooth mouthfeel. Well done, I would reach for this again.

The body is an opaque orange witha faqst fading head. Looks like apricot/peach juice. Aroma holds lots of fruity notes with a dusty tinge to it. Smells dry and dusty while still smelling of both fresh and decomposing fruits. The first sip yields a tart, yet dusty, fore. Like the aroma it is dry which lessens the dfruit sweetness. It kind of tastes like the peach/apricot beer it looks like. Overall though while ok it doesn’t illicit much response from me...it’s very ho-hum.

Bottle at Fort Wayne Tasting courtesy of patrick767. Small white fizzy head that quickly dissipated, no lacing, no visible carbonation, cloudy, and a dark yellow hue. Nose was sweet, honey and berries. Flavor was sweet, some honey, berries and thin tasting. Mouthfeel was tingly and thin. Light-medium body. Overall, my opinion is this one needs more character.

#963, Bottle, sampled at the Champaign Urbana Beer Club meeting in December of 2006. Now I usually love dogfish head stuff but omfg this stuff just does not do it for me. Hazy yellow with a big white head. Big bubbles, nose has some bannnannas yeast and sweetness, taste is very dry and salty malty.

750ml Bottle: Aroma of champagne. No real malt or hop aroma. Smells sweet. Pleasant aroma. Poured golden in color with a hint of amber. Small white head diminished quickly. No lacing. Sparkling and cloudy. Flavor is heavily sweet with strong malt and spice notes. Also tastes of apple, pear, honey, herbs, and a little alcohol. Medium body. Oily. Average carbonation. Short, sweet, fruity finish tingles on the tongue. Overall, very different, but very drinkable. I’m thankful DFH is willing to try something this interesting.

Gold with some floaties. Foamy white head and stringy lace. Yeasty with some wheat. A bit peppery. Ye gods, the flavor is way too sweet. I think they may have stopped brewing it 9000 years ago for a reason.