Dogfish Head Immort Ale

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

The pour is not thick; it has a dark mahogany color and a reasonably big head, creamy. Malt aroma; I think actually that it’s quite slim. It has medium body strength, quite good malt and caramel flavor, partially sweet; I surely expected a more massive beer, thicker, to start with, and sweeter; the most interesting part is a light smoke flavor; ordinary bitterness; the final is even quite dry. Some alcohol warmth. Not complex as expected; well, last time I had it it was 11 years ago...

This a dirty, dirty beer. If it is in your fridge it might pollute your body with a whole lot of alcohol in a very short period of time. Basically, we start off with a creamy beige head and a cloudy light brown color. Maple syrup and aged wood in the aroma, along with a little bit of booze. The taste is rather heavy on the sweet side of things. Thick and syrupy, with a ton of malts throughout. A bunch of fruity flavors are also really present, along with a smoky undertone throughout. Although this a complex and well put together beer, it is a little bit overkill and not really suitable to my tastes.

12oz bottle, thanks to fata2683, poured into a trappist glass produced a dark amber body and thin, off-white head. Aroma was slightly sweet. Taste of spices, maple syrup, and citrus with a slight alcohol burn.

Bottled. Red/orange with no head. Aroma is sweet caramel malty with notes of alcohol, hops, vanilla, and sugary syrup. Flavor is similar but add molasses, wood, and maple syrup, also resin. Kind of tastes like cough medicine but in the best way possible. Not one of my favorites by dogfish but interesting. Still a good brew

There is a raw aroma in this barley wine. I poured it a little too cold and my first reaction was one of dread. The oakieness has a truly raw character both in the nose and taste. There is a distinct sappy odor in freshly cut red oak that is seldom pleasant even to a woodworker. In oak aged beers, this flavor is usually mitigated or transformed by smokey flavors of roasted grains or by the residue of the barrels’ previous life aging sherry or bourbon. Not so here. The sappy oak flavor was so strong that I at first thought of cumin when I tasted it. So I set this one down for 20 minutes and let it warm a bit.... And that helped some. There is a slightly sweet caramel flavor that is just offset by a yeastieness. A little smokieness helps with the oak as the beer warms up. All in all, I’m a little surprised at how indifferent I am toward this DFH brew, and I will admit that I am drinking a 2009 bottle that is probably less than two or three months old. I will put the remaining three in the cellar and report back in a few years.

Has a pretty strong nose of alcohol and vanilla. Pours a reddish brown with a cream white head. Pretty thick beer, and the tastes of vanilla and alcohol are overwhelming upon the first sip. Not overly impressed considering what I paid for a bottle.

BOTTLING DATE: 2008 Very nice dark amber/ruby color. One finger head that leaves a film and some nice lacing. Tiny little bubbles effervesce from the bottom of the glass to the surface. Smoked malts and vanilla intermingle with dark fruit smells. Almost bourbon like qualities. A little touch of maple. Lots of sweet, dark fruit flavors. Smokey vanilla and a touch of oak. Dark cherry and raisin/fig flavors. Light maple sweetness. Nice, smooth mouthfeel. Very pleasing. A little highly carbonated, but not distracting. Warming effect not unlike bourbon or cognac. If not for the high alcohol content, this could be my number one beer. As it is, that makes it all the more enjoyable, since I’ll only drink it every now and then.

Very light red color with a brownish tinge. Finger of flat, off-white head. Thick and cloudy; very murky. A ring of lace. The smell is some big, serious roasted malt. There are some oak accents. Strong nutty quality. Lots of maple sweetness in the second wave. Touch of vanilla extract. The smell (like many of the DFH offerings) is big and complex. The taste: Wow. Major, strong alcohol. Maple and vanilla playing good cop/bad cop, but with both blunting the oak (and that’s a good thing, dawg). The alcohol is obviously very strong and heavy. The maple really comes out. Boy is this baby thick. Like a milkshake. Slow whiskey burn on the way down. It is super-heavy. Maple & vanilla really do balance not only each other, but also the alcohol, and the oak as well. It’s delicious, but I can have one basically every 6 months.