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Score
10093
OVERALLStyle
Serve in Snifter

bottled
common

on tap
common

Broad Distribution

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RATINGS: 719   WEIGHTED AVG: 3.93   SEASONAL: Special   IBU: 38   EST. CALORIES: 270   ABV: 9%
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COMMERCIAL DESCRIPTION
In honor of the 40th anniversary of the original release of Bitches Brew, Miles Davis’ 1970 paradigm-shifting landmark fusion breakthrough, we’ve created our own Bitches Brew - a bold, dark beer that’s a fusion of three threads imperial stout and one thread honey beer with gesho root, a gustatory analog to Miles’ masterpiece.Featuring the album’s iconic artwork, created by the late Mati Klarwein, on its label, Dogfish Head’s Bitches Brew will be unveiled at SAVOR, An American Craft Beer & Food Experience, June 5, National Building Museum, Washington DC. Haven’t experienced the Bitches Brew album? Two 40th anniversary editions of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew -- a Legacy Edition and a deluxe Collector’s Edition -- will be available Tuesday, August 31. The newly created ale is designed, according to Dogfish founder and president Sam Calagione, "as the ultimate partner for chili or spicy curry chicken" and best enjoyed "sipped cool, not cold, from a snifter or red wine glass while listening to the Bitches Brew album." Calagione was drawn to the alchemical spirits in Bitches Brew right out of college, acquiring a copy of the album "within months of the first time I brewed a batch of homebrew in my apartment in New York City. I listened to it when I was writing my Dogfish business plan. I wanted Dogfish Head to be a maniacally inventive and creative brewery, analog beer for the digital age. You could say that my dream was to have Dogfish Head, in some small way, stand for the same thing in the beer world that Bitches Brew stands for in the jazz world. You can imagine how excited we are to be doing this project 17 years after I wrote that business plan." "There’s a spirit of innovation, of creativity and individuality, thats at the core of Miles’ music," said Adam Block, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Legacy Recordings. "Sam and Dogfish Head approach their art from the same place and consequently the marriage is an easy and cool one." Dogfish Head and its "off-centered ales for off-centered people" were the subject of "A Better Brew," an article in The New Yorker (Nov. 24, 2008) examining the rise of extreme beer. "Beer has lagged well behind wine and organic produce in the ongoing reinvention of American cuisine. Yet the change over the past twenty years has been startling," wrote Burkhard Bilger. "Dogfish is something of a mascot for this unruly movement. In the thirteen years since Calagione founded the brewery, it has gone from being the smallest in the country to the thirty-eighth largest. Calagione makes more beer with at least ten per cent alcohol than any other brewer, and his odd ingredients are often drawn from ancient or obscure beer traditions. It is to Budweiser what a bouillabaisse is to fish stock."


most recent ratings

3
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 6/10   PALATE 2/5   OVERALL 13/20
kidmartinek (2446) - austin, Texas, USA - FEB 6, 2013
UPDATED: FEB 14, 2013 You know, I really didn’t want to read the long, probably boring, dissertation about this beer, so I didn’t. Its a really dark brown beer with a really tan, oily head. I’m sure there’s were lots of important and rare ingredients and processes used to make this beer.... or more acurately hobbies. Lets start with the aroma. Its got some kind of mysterious wild berry quality about it, juniper perhaps, or more likely some rare berry that only grows in Chad between the hours of 14:00 and 19:00 Zulu on a Tuesday. So, the aroma is good then.... if you’re hungry. Personally, I’m thirsty, but not really because I’ve had a few sips of this filling beer already. Afterall, they serve it in a small snifter, not because its important, but rather due to its expense, most of which is born by the elaborate poetry of the marketing. At $12 for 4oz of a 3.0 beer I’m a little taken aback. The flavor is pretty good. A little berry sweetness like blackberry and maple sugariness and some roasted malt. Some bittering effect of a rare hop used creeps in but most of all what you notice is the heavy palate.

3.9
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 17/20
Bacterial (412) - Twin Cities, Minnesota, USA - FEB 3, 2013
Bomber pour - big thick tan head with a very dark body. Roasted chocolate and strong coffee in the nose. Really nice balance, with many subtle sweet notes losing out to a lingering chocolate bitterness. Much better and complex as my glass warms up.

4.2
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 17/20
wchesser (664) - Denver, Colorado, USA - FEB 1, 2013
Dark coffee nose with some herbal qualities. Incredibly black with oily, viscous qualities. Slow fading finger thick head with dark coffee crema appearance. Full bodied chewy palate. Oily, espresso. Honey shows as floral notes in the finish and in the roundness. Certain green-ness to it, but very subtle. Reminds me of Mikkeller Black Hole Tequila Barrel, but less vegetal. Feel like this is one of the few from DFH that lives up to its possibilities.

4.8
   AROMA 9/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 10/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 19/20
VALIS (210) - Nashua, New Hampshire, USA - JAN 27, 2013
Pours ink dark with attractive caramel colored foam. The taste is complex and deep and spicy while remaining quite drinkable. Just an amazing beer in tribute to an legendary album; fitting that one is among my favorite beers and the other among my favorite albums.

4.2
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 17/20
TronnyJenkins (76) - Texas, USA - JAN 26, 2013
Bottle from Spec’s in Houston. Pours deep black with a reddish tab head. Really tasty aroma from the honey (and gesho root I suppose). Tastes complex, with a sweet nose, but dry finish. Not much hop aroma it flavor, but balanced bitterness. Really good and different.

3.9
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
jsmerig (798) - Pennsylvania, USA - JAN 26, 2013
Pours a deep black with a chocolate milk like head. Great lacing. Aroma is chocolate mixed with a note of bacon of all things. Taste is sweet with a subtle tartness. Mouthfeel is thick and smooth. Smokiness lasts through the finish which is surprisingly dry. Bottles on special occasions. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

4
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 13/20
eddiem50 (9) - - JAN 26, 2013 does not count
Pours black with a tan head that dissipates rather quickly. Nice choclate coffee flavor that lingers.

3.9
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
Nate (3326) - Indiana, Pennsylvania, USA - JAN 26, 2013
From bottle, courtesy of FiL. Smells like coffee porter, light tang. Dark black opaque with medium foamy-creamy dark tan lacing head. Medium-heavy body with medium carbonation and light fizz. Starts with big roasted and chocolate notes. Coffee and light acidity. Not really that complex but has some vanilla and other esters.

4.4
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 18/20
BeanDip (117) - Florida, USA - JAN 25, 2013
Darft: Just what I would expect from an Imperial Stout. Beautiful in the snifter...deep, dark, sexy, and impossible to see through...like Miles. Slight head of burnt sienna. Nice balance. Aromas of chocolate malt, some vanilla and some spice. Not too sweet and nice hop bite. Palate was rich and creamy with a touch of carbonation to add some jazz. Very nice. Would absolutely enjoy again.

4.1
   AROMA 9/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 16/20
Rcarpenter86 (6) - - JAN 23, 2013 does not count
What is the guy below me saying?? Must have had too much Bitches Brew...which is easy because its not very boozy. Great beer and I concur with other ratings...just not Holy’s.


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