RateBeer
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."


DrnkMcDermott's rating

3.9
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 15/20
DrnkMcDermott (2621) - Downers Grove, Illinois, USA - SEP 24, 2010
Big ol’ bottle, shared with mowz. Thanks! Chocolate and bitter coffee smell starts as we pour. The glass shows a nearly solid black body, with a parfait type brown head. In tasting, the texture is like a Coke, nicely bubbly. Dark and bitter impy stout taste with the expected chocolate roast. Honey is well established, as well. Don’t know if the gesho adds to it, but the total sweetness is like buckwheat honey. Finishes a little lighter than most overdone strong stouts. Ends up more like a strong porter, or even a braggot/mead. When the neighbors came over—even if they did bring a Berghoff—they helped us drink this and found it very interesting. So enjoyed by geeks and neophytes alike.


most recent ratings

4.1
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
boxofrane (1180) - pottstown, Pennsylvania, USA - MAY 16, 2013
Draft at craft ale house. Pours pitch black with a medium sized brown head. Tons of retention. Gorgeous beer. The aroma has chocolate, dark fruit. The taste has a huge milk chocolate flavor early, dark chocolate following. Awesome flavor.

4.1
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 16/20
scoth (437) - Fort Collins, Colorado, USA - MAY 3, 2013
2010 batch. Pours inky dark brown, completely opaque in the glass, medium brown head, very fine clinging lacing. Chocolate, coffee, honey, dark cherry, vanilla, and grass notes. Medium-full body, very smooth, moderate carbonation, lightly dry. Medium sweetness, lightly sour, lingering mild bitter finish with a honey aftertaste. Big and strong yet mellow.

3.9
   AROMA 7/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 17/20
NikkTwist (881) - Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA - APR 29, 2013
Draft at Monks in Philly. Opaque dark brown with a brown foamy head. Very dark roasted French coffee. Smoked oak. Chickory. Burnt chocolate caramel. Dates. Cigarettes. Liquorice. Medium full body. Dark and bitter but still a bit juicy.

3.4
   AROMA 6/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 5/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 15/20
olr1984 (285) - fort wayne, Indiana, USA - APR 28, 2013
750ml pours pitch black with dark tan head. Roasted malt and coffee aroma. Coffee honey and chocolate taste.

3.5
   AROMA 3/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 3/5   OVERALL 16/20
JBVatkeens (47) - Florida, USA - APR 23, 2013
Had this from a bottle. Good amount of head and dark in color. Not clear at all. Tastes like malt.

4.2
   AROMA 5/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 19/20
unclemattie (3706) - Georgia, USA - APR 23, 2013
Drinking to all my Bitches out there, you know who you are...

750ml bottle. Bottled in 2010F, first batch. Very dark, dark brown color. Pours like a Russian Stout. Dark brown head. Immediately there is an aroma of booze. Smell of alcohol & rum. Tastes of toasted malt, burnt sugars, charcoal, a touch of licorice root, mostly burnt malt flavors. This beer is a sipper for sure. (3679)

4.2
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 5/5   OVERALL 16/20
artmcd8 (641) - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA - APR 19, 2013
Pours a deep black with a tan head. Smells of chocolate malts. Extremely smooth. Malty caramely notes. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

4.3
   AROMA 10/10   APPEARANCE 4/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 17/20
jflopsu (92) - New Jersey, USA - APR 19, 2013
A dark black appearance with heavy brown head. A strong, dark coffee aroma. Taste is rich in coffee and coffee. Leaves a lingering coffee taste.

4.1
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 9/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 15/20
Beerenberger (787) - Fischer, Texas, USA - APR 19, 2013
Aroma of dark roasted malts with hints of dark fruit and coffee. Pours an opaque black with a rapidly dissipating khaki head and no lacing. The taste is much like the nose - roasted malts, coffee, with notes of chocolate and hints of dark fruit. There is a nice hoppy finish and aftertaste. Medium-full body with moderate carbonation. Overall, an excellent beer. Will drink again. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

4.3
   AROMA 8/10   APPEARANCE 5/5   TASTE 8/10   PALATE 4/5   OVERALL 18/20
kilbaner06 (11) - - APR 16, 2013
Very faint roasty aroma with a dark black pour, very strong smokey taste and after taste


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