Dogfish Head World Wide Stout 2002 (23%)

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

It's... it's... TOO MUCH! My GAWD, the alcohol is like an assault. The overall palate is just raw... harsh. Reminds me of the "rocket fuel" effect I get out of my pre-aged meads. The aroma was great, the appearance was great, but overall, this one needs a time out in a dark, cool corner for a few years. At least.

Bottled. Another shared bottle with the "Coallition Of The Swilling" At GBBF2003- 2 Americans (Nuffield and Beer Limey), 2 Australians (Duff and Spiesy) and 2 Brits (SilkTork and me), sampling weapons of mass destruction like WWS. Jet black, no head and minimal condition. packed with fruit, licorice and roastbarley, but far too strong and sweet for my taste. The alcohol numbs the senses, I think you realy need a long time to age and try this beer before it reveals any true greatness.

Those who had not yet met the beast slapped their money down on the table as if they were playing poker and were now raising the stakes. It had been a long hard day of drinking serious beers, and now we were ready for the big one. I went off to make the deal - one opened bottle of the world's strongest beer. The man from BeerAdvocate, fully sober and in charge of the Bier Sans Frontiere bar, stood with his hands on his hips and shook his head. "I can't give you an opened bottle of a beer that strong." No amount of logical arguement, passionate pleading nor drunken sobbing would change his mind. "Bring me four glasses and I'll pour it out, but I aint giving you an opened bottle." Defeated, I went back and told the others the sad news. Nuffield swept to the rescue. He plucked the money from my hand, stormed up to the bar and returned a few moments later with a bottle of the beast clutched in his fist. Obviously, being American, he was judged able to handle his beer like a man....oops, to be continued...
Cont/... Celephane, alcohol and vinyl aroma. Not pleasant or encouraging. Sweet and tingly up front. Warming - in fact hot as it goes down. Lots of caramel, toffee, fudge flavours. very pleasant - in fact very yummy, but only in small portions - the alcohol have provoke a gagging reaction. Nice - but way too powerful!

One mother of a beer. Jet black, no head, a bit of lacing. No color highlights either. You can hold it up to a spotlight and the light will not penetrate. Strong alcohol aroma. Lots of sweet malt, molasses, and roasted aromas. Big alcohol burn but others that are not as strong have burned more on the way down. Quite sweet, lots of licorice and sugar. Somewhat oily mouthfeel. Needs to be tried by all for the experience, needs a repeat performance because it's actually really good and one bottle will make the beast next to you look attractive.

Rock, Rock, Rock! I Would take this beer home to Mama. Mr. Nixon (see rating below) is sadley mistaken when he says I poured my portion in his glass, that was the Pete's Wicked Strawberry Blonde. I loved the feel of this beer in my mouth. Thick and smooth, it coated my mouth like carbonated molasses, and I like molasses. The alcohol was a sharp bite in the sweetness which helped to balance it out. I was a bit tanked at that point so I wasn't paying much attention to subtle undertones and secondary flavors so I'll Have to try this one again. Maybe I'll make sure I'm swimming in the drink next time too so I have a perpetual reason to make Eric buy this one for me!

Maybe it was a mistake to save this for the last beer of a rating night with friends. Maybe it was a mistake of downing my glass within 5 minutes (after TogBean dumped her third of this beer into my glass). Ok, so i was kinda toasted to begin with by the time i even got to this one, but i managed to take some notes..."sweet moleasses...heh, mole asses, hahahaha; almonds, burning like burbon". maybe it was a mistake to try and take notes while i was already loopy. i dunno. what i do remember of this beer before it sent me to bed was that it was yummy. damn yummy. i remember wanting more when it was gone. i remember staring up at the stars thinking, "hey, that star is moving! that's a satellite!" and then realizing that it was my perception of things that was moving, not the objects themselves. anyways, despite the big kick in this one, it's very tasty. i'd have it more often if it weren't almost $10 a bottle.

7/11/03: bottle.
there is a plethora of alcohol abounding from this brew with other notes of licorice and chocolate. opaque, red-black body with no lacing or head. offset slightly from the center of my glass there is a slight cyclone of a whirlwind spin going on in the carbonation department (possibly a piece of yeast at the bottom of my glass getting a little wild). well, ...here goes... WOWZERS! there is a tonnage of flavor going on here. sweet malt, lots of alcohol, medicine, vanilla, black cherries, somewhat oily, somewhat sour and lastly, even a hint of danger. this beer even makes my head a little bit dizzy.

I did not like this beer. The aroma was forwardly alcohol, with malt and complex roasted flavors. Residual sugar was too high for my taste, I found it very cloying.