Dogfish Head Golden Era (Shower)

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: European Strong Lager
Milton, Delaware USA

25 oz bottle. Pours a clear gold colored body under a quickly fading fizzy white head. Lots of visible carbonation. The aroma was pretty hoppy and dry smelling, but there was an underlying grainy malt base that wasn’t really pleasant. Some alcohol notes as well. The flavor was just a sharp bitterness up front with that grainy pale malt base pushing through. The finish featured mostly alcohol and alot of sweetness with a moderate level of bitterness. Mouthfeel is medium bodied with a thick texture and prickly carbonation. It finishes slightly sticky. Overall, this was not so good really. There was nothing to get excited about and no depth or complexity. Just straightforward bitterness with not enought maly to balance things out.

750 ml bottle. Poured a clear effervescent gold with a tall fluffy white head. Sweet aroma of grapefruit, lemon candy, peppery alcohol, and orange peel. Taste is piney hops with some grapefruit citrus and quite a strong alcohol burn, with a touch of sticky sweetness. Very dry finish with some bitterness to it. Body is definitely larger than most pilsners but not quite as large as most big beers. Amazingly I taste nothing "pilsnerish" in this... no corn, no real grassy hops. It almost has a bit of a European Double IPA feel to it. Didn’t knock me down with hops like Sam Adams, but is a nice dry big beer that has an almost dry champagne-like quality to it. I’m not sure how this label made it through in the state that thought Seriously Bad Elf was "morally questionable", but I’m glad it did. A pleasant experience indeed.

1 ping 9.6 fl oz bottle. Golden orange (of course) coloured. Somewhat hazy, but absolutely possible to see through. Throws a tall thick white head. Rich hoppy apricot aroma. Bold oily malty sweet and fruity aroma. Notes of caramel. Full-bodied with a potent malty sweet body. Not really cloying either, but with a great oily hoppy infusion. Clearly quite high in alcohol and that is noticed early when the beer enters the mouth, but is soon covered by huge amounts of malt and hop flavours. Some burnt notes. Impressive balance and flavour profile. This is a very well-made beer.

Pours a med golden with a quickly dwindeling head. Aroma is all malts, really no sign of any earthy/spicy hops. The body is thick and in no way spritzy. The flavors are sweet malt. Very underattenuated. Not very hoppy per se. This was in no way a pils at all. Just a really poor maibock that I paid $15. What a rip.

Cloudy orangey amber body wears a nice white head, mostly lasting. Highly malty nose offers watermelon, apricot, mango and pear notes, a rather tropical medley, while the alcohol remains restrained. The hops do appear in mouth, but very low in the aromatic department, imparting a grainy bitterness, slightly earthy and not quite slicing through the heavy syrupy malts. Growing sticky honey and dough flavors. The lips feel stuck together after just a few sips. Thick body bears that cereal feel once again, punctuated by minimal carbonation and giving it an almost worty feel as low in attenuation as it stands. Not tight or crisp enough. I’m a bit saddened as I had been looking for this as prescription pils for as long as I remember. Some interesting aspects, but globally unbalanced toward sweetness and low attenuation.

25.6 oz bottle, brought back as a gift from parents from vacation. Quite good. Tastes strong and quite hoppy.

Thanks to Sam & Mariah Calgione and their DH Newsletter, I wouldn’t have known to look for this beer. Poured the color of drawn butter supporting a massive white rocky head with lots of retention and lacing. Unfortunately, the beer went a bit downhill for me from there. I kept getting a distictively "Rolling Rockesque" skunky wave in the aroma although there was also a formidable hop note. The flavor was entirely too influenced by alcohol and the hop profile was not balanced. The mouthfeel was very silky and the finish was clean but had a lingering alcohol bite. Overall, I was disappointed. Perhaps I had Rogue’s Uber Pilsner in mind as a comparitive brew and that may be unfair.

This was a good beer, but extremely hoppy. I, eventhough I am a hophead, found this to be really over the top. Not my favorite offering from this company, but I have to give them creative points for this beer. Recommended for those who love the bitter bite of hops without the juiciness reflected in most IPA’s.