Dogfish Head Burton Baton

12 oz. bottle - clear and dark, reddish amber; thick, soapy cream colored head settles to the edges; aromas of soapy hops, wood and sweet malts; slightly hot as it drinks creamy and mostly smooth; bitterness is nicely muted by the malts; flavors of vanilla and oak; malty sweet over the bitterness; pretty nice

12 oz. Nice deep choco/mahog pour. No head, very still. Savor that green oak addition on top of intensely sweet toffee/vinous/caramel/slightly boozy nose. Warm on the tongue tasting like toffee/caramel/oak thick and sweet. Hop presence is felt, but not highlight. Slightly boozy bitterness in the finish. Finishes very nice if not a little sticky. Nice, but the process seems overkill for such a good/not great beer.

Bottle: Clear amber w/ a minimal off-white head. Aroma is a blast of sweet malts, alcohol & a little whiff of hops. Sweet up front followed by citrusy hops, finishing bitter. Alcohol is present, but in a pleasant warming sort of manner. Honestly, I was expecting more...

12 oz. bottle. Sweet and hoppy aromas. Reddish copper color with a decent beige head. Near full bodied with very creamy carbonation. Flavor is hop overcome by sweet malt sugars. Some smoke or peat comes forth, and the hop seems to be citrus. Wood develops into the finish. The finish is neither sweet nor dry. It seems to be rather complicated. Incredibly pleasing in the mouth. Try this one by all means. Down with the non-believers.

’05 Bottle: Courtesy of the man himself, mgumby10...thanks! As soon as I popped the top on this I received a rush of exquisite aromatics. Murky brown/orange with no head. Sweet malts hit the nose immediately with a strong oak tinge...caramel notes, dark fruits (raisins, etc.) and amazingly enough finishes with a smoothed out blast of hops. Very smooth mouth feel...starts off slightly sweet leading to an oaked malt base with a dry, hopped up finish. I’m astounded that this is still holding some hop essence in it after 2.5 years. Very good stuff...now I just need to try it fresh.

Bottle: Copper in color with a medium head of fine off-white bubbles. Aromas are of citrus along with a smokey/woodsy edge plus some caramel and vanilla. In the mouth it is full-bodied and concentrated with the citrus from the nose balanced by some caramel malt. The finish picks up some dryness but remains concentrated. Due to the alcohol I would think this would age well.

’09 bottle - 2 months old. very similar to my rating below of the ’06 bottle, with a more pronounced hop profile... although not as bitter as most IIPAs... the malt really shines here along with the oak and vanilla. absolutely wonderful. ’06 bottle - thanks to TBC! pours a deep hazy orange / amber with a 3 finger thick white head... which settles down to a nice 1/8" head which lasts throughout. wonderful oak, vanilla and citrus aromas... medium body over the palate with a slight bitterness towards the front and back. notes of caramel, vanilla and oak shine through with the oak really finishing strong. A very well balanced and excellent oak aged beer. The malts really come through after aging for a couple years. I’d like to try a fresh one to compare the bitterness.

Bottle @ home. Pours deep amber color one finger off-white head. The aroma was citrusy hops (a la 90 minute) with sweet maltiness and some notes of vanilla and oak/wood in the back. The flavor is definitely hoppy, but really nicely balanced with a caramel malt backbone. Into this potent flavor profile I detected notes of vanilla and mild notes of dry oak woodiness and a hint of barrel char. The finish is mildly bitter from the massive hops. The alcohol is definitely present and has a nice warming effect although it is much more subtle than the 10% ABV would lead you to believe. This beer has a medium body and is very smooth on the palate. This is without a doubt my favorite oaked IPA/DIPA.