Dogfish Head Immort Ale

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Milton, Delaware USA

Tree bark, soil, dark fruit and big ABV taste are the main drive of this beer’s flavor. There’s a minute hint on vanilla but it’s overshadowed by the smoky campfire taste. Can’t say I care for it. First Dogfish I didn’t like.

Quite a unique beer. Ruby with gold tinge and a small white head. The nose is has strong smoke and molasses with lighter vanilla, and pepper The taste is right in step with vanilla, smoke, and molasses, bread and salt in the aftertaste, alcohol warming it a little. As it warms, a hop/malt battle ensues, sweeter elements like cookie dough playing off of the newfound bitterness, balance following through to the finish. The palate doesn’t lag either: velvet smooth yet alive thanks to the alcohol, however it is slightly over-carbonated. Still, a diamond in the DFH rough.

In bottle at Jerry’s. Dark red-amber with good, foamy tan head / Sweet, malt & berry nose / Full-bodied, sweet, syrupy malts, good carbonation and finish, with alcohol well masked / Bourbon-like flavors of smoke (peat), oak, burnt sugar, maple syrup, and vanilla, with only undertones of juniper berries / Fruit buried beneath the malt and smoke layers, but very good as such. Very bourbon/scotch like.

2008 bottle on 8/8/09... 1 year of age has done this one well... very soft palate with creamy vanilla, oak and smoke flavors... I get a lot of grape and deep plums through the body as well.... I’ll check in again next year.... bottle. quite excellent. pours a deep red with a bit of a white head which makes a nice lacing throughout. Huge aromas of vanilla, oak, smoke, brown sugar and dark fruits. Very complex. It is truly "vast in character." The oak really comes through as you take a sip and on the finish. Medium body over the palate with a very balanced malt character. Slight bitterness on the finish as well. The vanilla and oak dominate the beer. Very enjoyable beer that I will look for again.... extremely well done.

Pours a deep brownish amber with a one-finger off-white head that dissipates almost immediately leaving very good lacing. Very sweet smells of caramel, vanilla and dark fruits. I also got a nice whiff of alcohol and molasses in addition to the wood smells. Big brown sugar and molasses flavors with a nice sweet malt base. The oak is also evident along with vanilla and toffee. This one is pretty complex and I have to admit that I probably didn’t parse out all of the tastes. Very nice though. Medium mouthfeel, creamy and smooth. Syrupy would probably be the right word. This a really big, syrupy beer, so it’s definitely a sipper. This is one of my favorite beers from DFH.

Thanks to wetherel for sharing a bottle of this great stuff at the PP Bottle Shop. Seriously and underrated beer. Insane aroma that kept me quaffing the glass for a good 10 minutes even before sipping it. Vanilla extract, tones of smoked applewood and caramel. Hazy amber color with beige brown swirling. Flavors follow up with tons more vanilla, molasses, wood and chocolate-covered cherries. The oak really rounds things out well. Thick and velvety palate that is incredibly easy to drink considering the alcohol. This is like Third Coast Old Ale with two-fold complexity. Pretty fantastic.

Draft @ Brewpub: Pours brown w/ garnet highlights throughout. Small biege head, nice lacing. Slight smoke w/ some sweet vanilla & a bit of alcohol in the aroma. Flavor is smokey oak w/ what I guess is the juniper berries coming on strong, there’s alot going on w/ this one. As it warms you get a bit of the maple syrup in the finish. Very smooth. I’ll be trying this again. Sadly, I didn’t have enough time to really get into this one. Very good though.

12 oz bottle from Mr. PJays. Pours a darkish reddish brown body. The aroma is vanilla ad some fruit maybe. The taste is a little vanilla, alcohol, and something smoked. I would like to try this one back to back with Old Horizontal.