Dogfish Head: World Wide Stout

Mmm….is there anything Dogfish Head can’t do? Probably not. This World Wide Stout is absolutely fantastic–a perfect winter warming beer.

Style: American Double/Imperial Stout. Inspired by Russian Imperial Stouts, but bigger and better! More sweetness, more hops, and more alcohol!

Overall Impression: Mmmmmmm…..this is fantastic. It went really well with the spicy food I was eating at the time–almost quenched it in a way. This beer is what stouts aspire to be.

Appearance: Black with great head retention (the picture was taken after it sat for awhile.)

Smell: This beer had a very strong roasted aroma.

Taste: Lovely roasted malt flavor with a kick of barley. There isn’t much bitterness but there is enough to cut back on the malt and give it some bite.

Mouthfeel: Smooth and creamy. Each sip made me want more.

Try this if you like: Founder’s Kentucky Breakfast Stout, Goose Island Bourbon County Stout, Southern Tier’s Creme Brulee

Dogfish Head: Raison D’Etre

Dogfish Head makes some great stuff–I’ve had a quite a few wonderful beers from that brewery. Drinking one right now as a matter of fact–watch for a review of World Wide Stout coming soon! Now, while I may have only reviewed one Dogfish Head beer previously, I really do love this brewery.

I will, however, be completely honest with you. I took one drink of this beer and hated it. So in the interest of non-bias, today’s review is brought to you by Eric, aka the boyfriend.

This one is called Raison D’Etre, and in a bit of a play on words, the primary fruit used in brewing this is: raisins! Dogfish Head bills it as the answer to “what beer should I drink with a wood-grilled steak?”

Style: Belgian Strong Dark Ale. A dark beer with a fairly high alcohol content. Quite fruity, and usually pretty light on the hops.

Overall Impression: Pretty decent beer. Definitely NOT a session ale, mostly due to the high alcohol content.

Appearance: Cloudy reddish-caramel color. Decent head but not great retention.

Smell: Has a fruity and mildly hoppy aroma. Kind of smells like a brown ale.

Taste: Fruity with slight hop notes. Medium body.

Mouthfeel: Smooth. The taste of the beer hangs around on your tongue for a while.

Try this if you like: Tröegs Mad Elf, Hell Hath No Fury Ale

Dogfish Head: Festina Pêche

Dogfish Head is probably one of America’s best craft breweries–not necessarily because everything they brew is fantastic, but because they are willing to try new and exciting things. Sometimes they succeed in incredible ways. Bitches Brew, anyone? Unfortunately, sometimes they also fall short, like tonight’s selection.

Festina Peche did just about everything a BerlinerWeisse beer is supposed to do–I just didn’t like it. Too much peach and not enough of anything else.

And the bottle was so pretty too...

Festina Peche is a mildly cloudy, golden yellow beer brewed with peach extract in the BerlinerWeisse style, which basically means an intensely sour light beer. Traditionally these beers are served with raspberry syrup to combat the tartness, but the extremely strong peach flavor more than eliminates the need for extra sweetness.

The aroma is VERY peachy–it was a little overpowering. The taste of peach was also a little overpowering. According to Dogfish Head, the beer is “delicately hopped”, which evidently means you won’t taste any bitterness whatsoever. I really could have gone for just a hint of hops. Something to combat the peach.

Did I mention peach? That’s really the only word you need to describe this beer. Ignoring the intense flavor, which by the end was making me a little nauseous, Festina Peche did have some good points. It’s incredibly smooth–almost silky, in fact. It is also highly carbonated, but low in %ABV (only 4.5), so it’s a good summer refresher.

I really, really didn’t like the taste of this one, but based on what I know about the style, it does what it is supposed to do–so I’ll give it a higher rating than I really want to.

Try this if you like: Bell’s Oarsman, New Belgium Lips of Faith

Old Dominion Brewing Company: Oak Barrel Stout

I’m always a little wary of true American Stouts. They just don’t seem to have much flavor unless you are specifically having a chocolate, coffee, or oatmeal stout. Though, every once in a while you find some fantastic gems amongst the roughage. Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout comes to mind.

Old Dominion’s Oak Barrel Stout, however, was not one of the aforementioned gems. Don’t get me wrong, it was by no means a bad beer. However, it left a lot to be desired.

http://www.theperfectlyhappyman.com/uploads/old-dominion-oak-barrel-stout.jpg

The aroma of this beer was faint roasted malts and coffee. It tasted about the same. A friend said it reminded him of Guinness (the kind you buy in America) and I agree. It was just too plain for my tastes. Oak Barrel Stout does, however, have an excellent mouthfeel: smooth and creamy.

It was a good stout, but I wish it had just a little bit more.

Try this if you like: Guinness