Dogfish Head Burton Baton

Bottle. Pours a clear, dark brownish orange, 5cm off white head. Aroma is fruity, passion fruit, pineapple, vanilla, burnt sugar, some alcohol. Flavour is quite alcoholic, and quite malty. Toffee, sugar, citrus hops and resin. Body is medium to thick, carbonation is smooth. Good, but I had hoped for more somehow. A bit too sweet and alcoholic.

Bottle from Calvert Wines. Pours a clear, deep amber color with a small off white head. Aroma of a grassy field, laced with flowery hops, and a dusty old room. Great, smooth body that reveals a robust hop character. Oaked flavor comes out in the finish; a hint musty. Nice malt backbone, levels the beer out. Good beer from DFH.

With the exception of two of their beers, I have been 100% pleased with Dogfish Head beers. Next up in my Dogfish Head journey is their Burton Baton, a barrel-aged blended Imperial IPA.

She poured a deep brilliant mahogany, looking as if the sun in all her brilliant ambers, garnets, and molten oranges had just settled into my glass. A soft copper head slowly decompresses into a thick bubbly pillow while clumps of copper decorate her glassy confines. Immediately the sweetness of her wood pierces my heart like Cupid’s arrow. I’m only about ten seconds into this beer and I am already hopelessly smitten. Caramel, maple, vanilla, and oak tannins seep into my senses. A fresh forest of pine trees and a floor decorated with crushed, sappy, resinous needles and fir match the freshness of hop cones and green vegetation perfectly. Orange, lemon, and pink grapefruit skins snap and crackle with fresh acidity and verve. Permeating her whole nose though is the thick sweetness of maple, wood, and tannins. Mmm. A moment please… diving right in, her mouthfeel is sweet, lightly thick and mouth-coating with vanilla and caramel woven together in lip-coating perfection. The bitterness of orange, lemon, and grapefruit skins come in last while the oak permeates her whole palate. A touch of juicy orange and mango sweetness mingles nonchalantly. Totally different from what I was expecting for a blended IIPA aged in oak-barrels; this is fantastic. Her pine needles and green vegetation is a whisper on the winds while her oak character continues to ground her sensibilities, and mine. The dryness of her tannins starts to linger while brown spices tinge my breath. Mmm. Another moment please… truly quaffing bliss, Burton Baton is not a session beer when you judge her on just ABV and Gravity, but her palate is pure quaffability. It’s almost a shame she only comes in 4packs. While her IPA personality weaves in and out of her oaky nature, I am left with a satisfied aura about my whole being and a wistful smile on my face.

Don’t believe me? Buy a 4pack and see for yourself just how damn good this beer is. I’m not sure if the original English IPAs were anything like this, but if there truly was as much oak involved as there very well may have been, it is little wonder that it excelled at the forefront of beerdom.

12 oz bottle from Oak Tree. Pours a clear orange/amber body with a good amount of clingig carbonation and a large frothy white head that leaves a nice slick of tight foam. Aroma is probably the best part of this beer with lots of oak, pine resin, vanilla, orange and grapefruit. Body is fuller with a good dose of carbonation for a beer that sat in a barrel for four months and some noticable alcohol heat but still not that much considering this beast is 10%. Original flavor is all cat piss but luckily that quickly fades and other notes emerge like fermenting orange, vanilla, wood, some more fruitiness, and caramel round out this one. The flavor takes a little while to develop and luckily it did otherwise I would have been real let down for the price tag on this one is definitely on the wrong side of the bell curve.

(bottle) Amber body with a thin off-white head. Wonderful, expansive floral hop aroma: pine, grass, citrus, very sweet fruit. Sweet and malty flavor with underlying hops. Hops seem to to gain strength on the way back, until an unexpected surge of sweet at the end. Lingering hops and alcohol taste. Overall, very sweet with most of the hops in the aftertaste. Peculiar but good. Very full-bodied.

Strong Oak aroma, some strawberry, citrus, and bitter hop aroma. There are more layers of aroma as the beer warms: tangy alcohol that tingles the nostrils. Completely translucent burnt orange color with a very consistent filmy head. Full thick body with strong oak and caramel flavor. I also pick up some berries and bitter hop finish.

bottle, dark orange color with no foam, slight off white foam, aroma of vanilla and citrus, flavor has a good oak, vanilla presence with hoppy citrus and malt as well, nice smooth finish

A truly good brew. Clear brown color. Aroma is strong on hops with some citrus and a little pine. Taste is full of hops and a little bit of sweetness too. I can pick up some honey. Leaves a bite in the end. Another great brew from Dogfish Head.