Dogfish Head World Wide Stout 2002 (23%)

Formerly brewed at Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Imperial Stout
Milton, Delaware USA

Really dissappointing. Sorry obxdude. There is something about DFH trying to exceed the 20% ABV on there beers. They take on a bad vermouth flavor wiht a wilted begatable feeling to them. Can'twait to get to the Blithering Idiot

It was The_Beer_God that hooked me up with this ravenous Imperial Stout! I’ve had it sitting for about 4 months now…… I wonder how sloppy I’ll be when I finish this bottle? It’s basically the equivalent of what, 5 B/M/C’s?

Oh, For the Love of God! This isn’t beer, this is a GD bottle of tawny port mixed with Kahula!
The body is motionless, nearly opaque but with edges of crimson.

I am stranded in an inflatable lifeboat in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico. It’s a moonless night, and the water is more tranquil than death. I have only a chunk of pure Belgian milk chocolate, a bottle of Porto Ramos-Pinto, a handful of raisins, 6 tablespoons of brown sugar, 3oz of Lebanese Espresso, a small jar of smoky Grade-A Vermont molasses, my bulbous but thinly blown Hapkin Snifter glass, and all the time in the world. I’m World Wide 23, and I’ll rock your socks off baby!
I’m sweet as the havens, but more toasty than Hades. I arrive with ellipse of the sun…. but you don’t remember my exit. I will ravage your brain and impair your sanity. I’ll end your day without warning, but leave you your vanity.

Man this is Great…. And I’m getting Zamboozled!

Black with a biege head. Aroma is sweet and roasted with lots of alcohol. Dark fruits, chocolate, and alcohol on the tongue. Not as good as the 18% but it's still pretty damn good.

Oil Black. Roasted, chocolaty aroma. Considering the syrupy nature of this brew, its sweetness is not overwhelming. Of course, at 23% the alcohol is noticeable both aroma and flavor, but not distracting for the most part. Sweetness greater than roastedness in the flavor. The thickness of this brew seems to leave it with more of a "flat" palate, but the carbonation is present and adds to the flavor, but is muted by the thickness. The paramount of sipping beers.

Bottle. The alcohol is definitely a little over the top, but this is very good nonetheless as I like high ABV beers. It poured a small sized tan head with fine sized bubbles that fully diminished. The body was opaque and uncarbonated with a black hue. The nose was chocolate and pure alcohol. The flavor was warming and lots of alcohol. The mouthfeel was tingly and had a burning sensation in the throat, but oh so yummy! The lacing was fair. Well worth the try despite the strong alcohol presence.

Thanks to thedm and hotstuff for this. Black as the night. nice lacing. Head is a light brown that dissapates quickly. Aroma is alcoholic as hell. Not much else. Flavor is strong and warming. Aftertaste has some roasted notes. Not bad, could use some years in the dark.

Chocolate liqour aroma, insanely dense appearance, thin tan head, woahh... that first sip was intense, wow, the 23% really comes across, thick mouthfeel complete with an alcohol burn, the kind that warms your throat like whiskey, surprising amount of carbonation, smooth and syrupy, sweet chocolate, kind of like irish coffee in beer form, this is good for sure, but the alcohol kind of distracts from the stout... so whats goin on with that black line over the label? That's pretty sketch huh?

Originally mistakenly put in as the 18%. My bad. Sigh. I'm just not a fan of the ultra-heavyweight beers. They seem like a brewer's stab at making a port, and I can't help but compare the two while I am tasting. Unfortunately, I greatly prefer port. Black with a tinge of brown in the glass, virtually no head. Sexy legs hint at the alcohol content. Aroma is massive, but overly dominated by ethanol. The flavor improves as it warms, but it is ultimately out of balance. The alcohol is incongruously out of place, like a Hammond organ playing alongside a string quartet. The notes of chocolate, raisins, and figs, which again bring to mind port are nice, but are only in the front of the palate. Alcohol overwhelms the middle, and some hop flavor creeps into the finish. Don't get me wrong, I generally like alcohol flavors. Give me a nice bourbon and I am quite content. But I don't feel it worked in this case.