Country of Origin: United States
Availability: Nationwide in the US, year-round.
Price comparison: About the price of everyday beer.
Alcohol percentage by volume: 5.2%.
Cute bottle/label? Twelve ounce standard brown glass bottle. Labeled in earth-tones with a background image of coffee beans, presumably because roasted chicory roots are visually unattractive, and chicory leaves, while very pretty indeed, are actually radicchio, which has nothing to do with this beer and would therefore be very misleading indeed.
The above information has been provided by the Department of Useless Knowledge.
As always, the copywriters at Dogfish Head have provided a folksy description of the bottle's contents on the label, in this case, reading "A rich, dark brew smoothed out with a touch of roasted chicory and organic Mexican coffee. Goodness beneath a bone white head."
Appearance: The stout itself is a luxurious dark brown, with a dark, old-gold luster when held to the light.
As to the "bone white" head, apparently this is some strange definition of "bone white" with which I was not previously familiar, said definition being "dark tan".
I thought perhaps my eyeballs were dirty, so I called for a color confirmation from others in the vicinity, but by the time they reached me (about twenty seconds from my hail of, "Hey, come here for a minute"), the head was dissipated. So they didn't get to see the head, but we all agreed, from the threads of brown lace clinging to the glass, that my eyes were as clean as they are ever going to be, and bone-whiteness, by our standards, was simply not present.
Scent: Definitive espresso prominence, but also whiffs of strong black tea and an easy, toasted maltiness.
Flavor: The richness of the aroma loses in translation with the comparitively thin mouthfeel. The first flavor characteristic I was aware of was chemical carbonation, always a disappointment after such a promising scent, but it opened up a little once it warmed; black coffee and a bit of bitter chocolate, with maybe a hint of the promised chicory at the finish.
Impressions: The "bone white head" thing threw me for a loop, as I mentioned. Leaving that out of the equation, I felt the overall flavor profile was just not all that balanced. By far not the worst beer I've ever tasted, and certainly superior in my opinion than domestic macrobrews, but the mouthfeel would have had to be a little creamier for me not to feel a bit let-down by the whole experience.
Will I buy this beer again? I probably won't. The flavors are strong, but not pleasant enough to enjoy on their own, and other stouts - in fact, other Dogfish Head offerings - are as readily available and better executed.
Normally I'd say this is "worth a try, once", but I'd really prefer not to encourage the brewery to stick with this formula. If this is the only Dogfish Head beer carried by your local packaged goods store, ask them if they'd mind check their distributors' catalogs for other varieties.
Rating:
2 out of 5 cute beer glasses
Reviewed: April 2, 2006
