Pisgah Dancing Hobo

Brewed by Pisgah Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Black Mountain, North Carolina USA

Date: February 07, 2009
Mode: Growler
Source: Tasting
Appearance: hazy dark red, wispy white head, drippy lace
Aroma: sweet fruity aroma with an edgy raspberry tartness, light oak, a bit musty
Flavor: sweet fruity flavor, raspberrys add a nice tartness to offset the sweetness, light earthy oak helps to balance the sweetness and adds more complexity, finishes tart, not alcoholic but warming
Overall: dangerously drinkable
Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

Sampled on draft at the brewery. Pours an orange pink color with a large head. Good head retention and lacing. Aroma is tart cherry, oak and plum. Taste is sweet cherries, oak, vanilla and some other faint fruit notes. Full bodied and the alcohol is not noticeable at all.

On Tap at the Brewery - Pours an "apple cider" color. (I could not see the clarity due to the fact that I was drinking from a plastic cup as Pisgah’s new dishwasher was on the fritz.) Smells of sweet raspberries and some fermentation and spice notes. First sip was all sweet raspberries at first, then a lovely spicy bitterness takes over. Eighteen months of oak aging really added to this somewhat weird but glorious brew. No doubt this concoction is complex. There is a whole lot going on here. The champagne yeast somehow works adding to the flavor and getting this puppy up to a whopping 13% ABV. That high ABV is extremely well hidden. Very unique, very yummy...WOW!

[November 7, 2008]
On tap at Thirsty Monk as "Dancin’ Hobo". Pours a cloudy dark red with just a whispy trace of head. The aroma is powerful and flexes strong tanins. Much vanilla and oak are evident with hints of wood, ice cream, and earth. There is an interesting raspberry character blending with the tannic sweetness. The raspberry character translates into the flavor well, it seems quite natural and seedy. Again, complexity from apparent oak aging is tastefully done. This is hot, but not intense. This is palatable for me and I would assume for the masses as well. I’d like to note I had no idea this was a barrel aged raspberry beer at the time of tasting. I don’t feel the fruitiness is the most dominant qualitiy, but I suppose it’s close.

on tap @ Pisgah brewing. Apparently just tapped when I visited. Pours a medium raspberry red. Huge rasppberry aroma with some oakiness. Taste is raspberry fruitiness, mild oak, some booziness but not nearly as much as one would expect in a 13% beer. Extremely drinkable, hence the two beer limit per customer, seek this one out