Dogfish Head Bitches Brew

This beer was brewed for the 40th anniversary of Bitches Brew, an album by Miles Davis that was considered groundbreaking, as Miles Davis' first gold record, one of the first albums to use complicated studio recording techniques, and because of the unusual instrumentation the album contained. The owner of Dogfish said that he made this beer because of the parallels he wanted to create with his own business plan, something radically different that could change how beer was made.

The aroma is actually kind of faint considering how dark the beer is. I'm used to a strong roasted quality that's fairly overwhelming in any type of stout or porter. There is a definite roasted malt quality to it, with an underlying sweetness of caramel and toffee. There might be a touch of grassy hops to it, but not much at all.

The beer pours a dark, black color, almost completely opaque. It has a quarter finger coating of pillowy foam that's deep tan. The foam dissipated slowly, leaving a solid coating of lacing on the glass.

The taste is smooth and velvety, with a strong roasted quality. It's somewhat like chocolate and coffee, but there isn't much bitterness to it. I'd say it's a little creamy. Since Dogfish recommends that the beer be consumed cool, not cold, I decided to let it warm up and see what changed if anything. If anything, I felt that the creamy quality of it came out more. The flavors also seemed to get more robust, with the roast and bitterness building up in the mouth.

In the mouth the beer was surprisingly light. There were tiny bubbles, with a decent but not overwhelming level of carbonation. Again the beer felt extremely smooth, and left a bit of sticky coating in the mouth. There was no warmth to it either, a little unexpected since it's 9% ABV.

I'd say this beer is overwhelmingly, possibly even dangerously drinkable. Considering how strong it is I don't think I'd have any problems putting away entirely too many glasses of this brew before I realized what had happened. I really did enjoy drinking it, but it certainly was not what I had expected. Considering that it's supposed to be mostly an imperial stout, I'd say it was too easy to drink. I can definitely say that the beer needed to warm up to be appreciated fully, and to actually get the imperial flavors to come out. Still it's not the strongest imperial stout I've had, but it does stand on it's own. I don't think it's trying to be the ultimate explosion of roast flavor and bitterness, but rather a strong, good tasting beer.

- Adam