RateBeer
Score
10093
OVERALLStyle
Serve in Snifter

bottled
common

on tap
common

Broad Distribution

Add Distribution Data
RATINGS: 719   WEIGHTED AVG: 3.93   SEASONAL: Special   IBU: 38   EST. CALORIES: 270   ABV: 9%
Share this beer with friends!
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

4
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 17/20
boFNjackson (3570) - Portland, Oregon, USA - SEP 8, 2010
Bottle (shared with Angeloregon)... Poured jet black with a thin, light brown head. Aroma of anise, roast, and whiskey grains. A lot heat on this one, should age just nicely. Licorice, ginger, molasses, cookie dough sweetness. Light roast, thick and sweet with a honey-like, cereal finish.

4.2
   AROMA 9/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 17/20
Taverner (1044) - San Ramon, California, USA - SEP 8, 2010
Awesome beer! Pours dark as night, with very little head. Aroma is malt, chocolate and chocolate malteds. A little smoke in there. You can taste the honey in the body, and it finishes clean. I’d buy again.

4.4
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 18/20
poisoneddwarf (1303) - Rathdrum, Idaho, USA - SEP 8, 2010
750 ml bottle poured into snifter. Some black coffee, anise, molasses, some kind of herb and alcohol in the nose. Pours a completely opaque black with a fairly large tan head that dissipates in a few minutes, leaving a blanket of foam and nice lacework. Taste is bittersweet with a touch of sour and umami in the finish. Fan-frikkin-tastic. Carbonation is soft, body is very full with a creamy mouthfeel and a long finish. Very good. Sock another to me, as Miles might have said back in the day.

3.8
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
StefanSD (1793) - Lakeside, California, USA - SEP 7, 2010
750 ml bottle from bev4less. Pours an opaque black color with a medium tan head that has fair retention and some lacing. The aroma is moderate in strength with dust, dark fruits, coffee and sweet malts. The flavor is complex with sweetened coffee, black licorice, raisins, vanilla and earthy roasted grains. The palate is full and smooth with soft carbonation. The finish is medium in duration and semi-sweet. Overall: A very tasty big RIS.

4.4
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 18/20
slowrunner77 (186) - reno, Alabama, USA - SEP 7, 2010
3 parts imperial stout, one part honey brew w gesho root replacing some of the hops. roasty chocolate on the nose, some sweet semi-bitter cocoa, a hint of coffee, molasses licorice. feel is awesome. super super smooth and highly drinkable at 9%. easy drinker, so be careful. flavor is quite nice, similar to the aroma w just a hint of bitterness in the finish. a very nice brew, that i’m sure the haters will hate, so i’ll keep an eye on RB and BA to see how people really feel about it. excellent. put an early 09 or late 08 Lion Stout and a 2008 Ten Fidy to shame tonight!"

3.7
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 16/20
dogfish120love (720) - Westfield, Massachusetts, USA - SEP 7, 2010
Smells of chocolate, vanilla, cream and milk with honey. Additional aromas include coffe and faint brine. Slight burnt flavor. Coffee, caramel and faint chocolate notes. Alcohol shines through and the boy is a bit thinner than expected.

3.9
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 3/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 17/20
JohnC (3000) - Mission Viejo, California, USA - SEP 6, 2010
750 ml bottle shared w/ elnadeau & gstoad I thought that this was a nice take on an imperial stout. Tasty & different

4
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
keepersj12 (2233) - Sicklerville, New Jersey, USA - SEP 6, 2010
Pretty good stuff and a nice tie in to the album. I had this with a burger and spicy Jersey corn and it went very well indeed. I can see how the smokiness would be a nice companion to a bowl of chili. Probably good with a plate of hot wings too.

4.4
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 17/20
wavers1 (872) - Notown, California, USA - SEP 5, 2010
enjoyed out of my new dfh chalice, terrific pour, pure opaque black with an ample multi hued dark brown head that offers great retention and lacing, spot on. the aroma is not what you would expect with such a beer, the roasty malts take a back seat to sweet honey and an earthy sweetness that i suppose may be from the gesho root. the taste is much lighter(and less sweet) than i had expected, a pleasant surprise! there is a huge roasty porter like backdrop to it with a unique sweet and spicy profile on top of it. it has an almost clove like aftertaste, but its not at all bad. the body is pretty light, medium fullness and very creamy. more of an oily finish. if i tasted it blind would say it was a porter or regular stout, it goes down very easily and is strangely refreshing. its unusual and pretty unique and complex. lots of unusual flavors so its hard to pick them out, but the complexity is there. great stuff, i am really glad they didnt make this one too sweet. awesome tribute!

4
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 7/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
Slipstream (1775) - USA - SEP 5, 2010
UPDATED: DEC 8, 2012 Thank you to Adrian for sharing a bottle of this hard-to-find recent release. I had wondered, sometimes out loud, when DFH would finally release some exciting stouts, seeing how they had already proved themselves with IPAs and historical type releases. Well, here it is, and it is no letdown, not at all!. Midnite pour A lightly soapy and sweet coffee-malt aroma, with a little cola too. Cool label based on the classic Miles Davis fusion album. I like that Sam Calagione wanted to make beers that are on the same level as Miles’s music. BB is a very rich, roasty, smoky stout! It has gesho in it - and what is that? Bark? A root? The aroma gets more floral as it warms, and it is a touch astringent too. Unfortunately I am taking a few points off with subsequent releases - the quality seem to have declined a bit - harsher and dryer, weaker in the unique flavor characteristics that grabbed me the first time around - but still very powerful.


We Want To Hear From You



Join us! RateBeer is made by beer enthusiasts for the craft beer community. Your basic membership is free and allows you to read all beer ratings. Click here to create your account... and give your opinion!

Join Us »




View Page
1 « 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 » 72


Tick this beer

for your profile
  • Currently 0/5 Stars.
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5


tags




Copyright © 2000-2013,
RateBeer LLC. All rights
reserved.
about us
About RateBeer
FAQ
Contact/Feedback
New Beers
add
Advanced Search
Add A Beer
Add A Brewer
Add A Place
Events
membership
Log In
Edit Personal Info
Buy Premium Membership
Your Messages
the best
RateBeer Best
100 Beer Club
The Top 50