Dogfish Head World Wide Stout 2002 (23%)

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

Beer pours pitch black not allowing any light to penetrate. Just a beautiful ebony colour with no visible head, yet small amounts of bubbles continuously percolate to the surface. It’s a distinctly beautiful beer. Smells like dark fruits (plums, raisins, etc.), barley, coffee, malt and of course, alcohol. The flavour is extremely complex, its best to drink this where your other senses will not be distracted. The beer appears thick but it is not. It wraps a thin coating of sweetness around the tongue along with massive amounts of barley, malt and chocolate and lesser amounts of coffee and caramel. Finishes like a dessert wine with a lingering aftertaste of sweetness and alcohol. Overall, a thoughtfully crafted brew but a little too syrupy sweet for my liking. I poured the 12oz. into a glass and wanted no more than half. I’d recommend enjoying this in 3-4 oz. portions, perhaps sharing it with some friends. There’s definitely enough alcohol for 2 or 3 people.

holy &%*&@#... this is one on the most intresting beers that I’ve had in a long time. Thick, black, dark... no head at all. The first taste is amazing, sweet beyond all belief. It’s like drink pure syrup. The only thing that keep it from being a 5 was that it got harder and harder to drink. A must have in any condition.

Pitch black color, small head, burnt smokey chocolate-coffee aroma, Strong alcohol flavor, dark malty and burnt sugar flavors. Full and thick mouthfeel, kind of syrupy, more alcohol in the bitter-sweet finish.

For me, this review has to make comparisons with the 18% WWS. First, this beer is not just 5% stronger, it is a million percent better in every way. First, the ABV. I honestly drank the 12 oz. bottle of the 18% and didn't really feel it. On this one, I drank it in one sitting, 4 oz. at a time in my GABF glass, and I was buzzed after half of the first glass! Now I am about halfway through the last 4 oz., and I will admit to being ripped. Now, the taste. It is incredible. There is so much going on here, fruity tastes, sweet sugar tastes, malt, some hops, and of course the alcohol. And an intangible taste is there as well, one that only this combination could produce. It has gone beyond the world of beer, yet it is so very much a beer, unlike the Sam Adams Triple Bock which did not taste like anything that you would ever want in a beer (a soy sauce maybe, but not a beer). And this stuff actually has some carbonation and head to it! I have had Utopias too, and this is SOOOO much better. I won't even start on the price of the Utopias. This cost me $7.99, and I had one bottle and don't need any more beer for the night. It will be bedtime soon. I can't bring myself to rate any beer as a 5, but I am going to rerate the 18% WWS that I had at 4.9.

Amazing beer. I thought this would be too strong. The 2003 was almost too strong for me, but this was better. The initial flavor is a little rough but the finish is sweet and delish. Tremendous. BTW, I am drinking this in Jan 06.

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.

Pours extremely dark black...opaque, with hints of red at the edges. The aroma is very sweet. At times I really smelled sweet plums, cherries, and bananas. At other times I got a hit of alcohol...strong alcohol. The flavor was sweeter than I had predicted. I think it needs to be that way for the alcohol to be bearable. Strong fruity flavors, sweet, with just a hint of alcohol (sometimes that hint became a hard thud on the tongue). Malty character throughout this beer, no hops bitterness to speak of. The body was thinner than I had predicted, but very nice. Smooth, silky feel on the tongue. Long warming feeling down the throat and in the stomach. As the beer warmed, I actually picked up much more alcohol in the flavor and aroma. The beer became sweeter and more rum-like in character. I'm still picking up bananas in the aftertaste...nice touch. Truly unique beer. I will never forget this experience.

Nose is sugary, with hints of chocolate, licorice, and prunes. Clear, dark dark brown with little to no head. Flavor is extremely sweet, but balanced somewhat by some oaky, musty notes, a pleasant dry bitterness, and some vinous flavors. Most impressive, perhaps, is that it masks the alcohol entirely in the flavor--one only finds it in a warming sensation as it goes down (and a marked abandon in coherence after 9 oz. or so). I’m unfortunately driven to compare it to 3Floyds Dark Lord, which, though perhaps very close in the level of sweetness, throws in some more balancing flavors to counteract that sweetness and come off as the more interesting brew. But this is damned fine nonetheless.