Dogfish Head World Wide Stout 2002 (23%)

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

"Vim and Vigor" marked out. Bottle pours quite black with no head and no lace. The aroma is raisin and alcohol. The flavor is of sweet malt, raisin, sweet sherry, port, woody, pepper, and alcohol. The palate is thick, especially considering how much fermentation occurred. Overall, this is a strong sweet beer. I really like it. I think I will hang on to the other two for another year or so and see what happens.

Very dark, no head, thick. Anise, raisin, molasses. Huge mouthfeel, sweet towards the finish, almost too sweet. My wife was supposed to help me with this, she backed out. Messed me up! I'm glad I have a few more of these.

Dark black with no head. Intensely vinous and thick. Sort of a sweet port wine crossed with stout. Notes of molasses, raisin, banana, and grape. Syrupy with a strong alcohol presence and a touch of bitterness.

Pours almost black, try as you might, you won’t get head (sound familiar)? Malts and fruits cannot hide the 23% ABV. This stuff is the mother of most Imperial Stouts.

Pours out a blackish cola color settles inky black with thin little brown highlights at the edges, no head or lace was produced but not necessarily anticipated due to the 23% ABV. Aroma is largely warming and candy sweet alcohol, port-like dark fruitness within; between each breath of heat resides some raisin, dark cherry, dates, currant, molasses, cocoa, and chocolate, touches of spice too but the sweetness of candy-like oakyness and brandyish alcohol retains on top with strength maintaining a nice portly bouquet. Taste is super full and oily thick with nice deepness of sweet port-like alcohol, very warming and soothingly rich, lots of barley sweetness, candyish and strong, playful but with a certain flare of aggresion that lets you know if you get out of line it'll lay you out flat. Flavors are sweet, deep, rich and invigorating, good amount of dark fruityness with more raisin then anything, mixing with some dates, black cherry, and currants, molasses and vanilla notes with oakened sweetness and some touches of chocolate, cocoa, and espresso. Oh...and the warming, oh the warming, so very nice... meltingly nice. Feel is rich and full, warming, somewhat puckering sweet but maintains a great smooth oily-like creamyness with a favorable punch of good Ol' alcoholic burn and sweetness in the end. Quite a ride with this one, lots of everything; surely a major sipper but it has a dangerously smooth chararter that thankfully keeps its alcoholic edge as to keep you in check. Great, great stuff, akin to Sam Adams Triple Bock.

Flat. Black. Soy. Full bodied. Sweet! More soy, slight roast, LOTSA ALCOHOL! Sweet sumbitch. Shame. Would it age well? Would it ever dry out? Can only imagine?

Pours dark as night and almost zero head. What little head did poor evaporated in record time. This beer is so sickeningly sweet with a thick syrupy and alcohol taste, that i could only stomach two sips of it, before i had to pour it. What a shame...

This would have got a higher rating had I not just sampled the 2003 18.8%.This one pours out with the faintest of a head/no lace.It's black w/ tinges of mohogany.Smells like alcohol w/a sweet chocolate/some roastiness.This is quite remarkable for being 23%(the strongest beer we might ever drink?)The taste is nice but very sweet.It is still quite smooth considering.Sticky palate.Some hops and a tease of carbonation.Does act like a liquer at times.Rugged but worth the trip.This was bottled in the month of october/2002.Could use some more aging.But the 2003 is ready now!As this gets warm it also gets sweeter(not in a good way)This is actually hard to finish!Glad this one is retired(and also improved!)