Country of Origin: United States
DISCLAIMER .... DRUNK REVIEW.
Availability: Limited edition (2003 vintage).
Price comparison: About 2½ times the price of everyday beer.
Alcohol percentage by volume: This year's offering is 21%, so, sort of the opposite of 12% Beer.
Cute bottle/label? Standard 12-ounce brown glass with a matte label proclaiming the contents to have been brewed with "a ridiculous amount of barley." Dogfish Head never fails to amuse me.
Appearance: Pours as dark and thick as yesterday's coffee, with a deep beige head that disappated quickly with no lace.
Scent: The first aroma I detected was booze, pure and simple. On closer inspection, I still couldn't decide what it was that I was smelling: sort of like caramel, sort of like banana, sort of like plum-flavored Jelly-Belly® brand jellybeans.
Flavor: Rum, black grape, and malt, with a more-pronounced alcohol burn than the 120-minute IPA.
Impressions: My first taste of this caused me to take the Lord's name in vain, and subsequent tastings made me commit repeat blasphemy. I don't care what the label says, this isn't stout. It's hardly beer - I think it's more of a barleywine. Not that I care so much.
Will I buy this beer again? Not now. 'Cos I'm, you know, drunk and things. I will buy more as soon as I can, and I so owe Laura a bottle.
But for now I shall just sit quietly and hum to myself.
Rating:
Beyond the cute beer glass. You know what this means, don't you?
5 out of 5 GOLD CHALICES
Reviewed: November 28, 2003
