Dogfish Head Golden Era (Shower)

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: European Strong Lager
Milton, Delaware USA

Pours a hazy golden/amber with sweet, citrus aroma. Wait a second - there’s a face with a big afro in the foam! Maybe that’s the patron of golden showers. Sweet flavors (honey, bubblegum, syrup) with hops. Not really a pilsner but a very enjoyable beer. And now I have to pee...

Very dark urine colored, maybe really on the verge of being copper. Nice sustained head. First sip is very aggresive- a lager version Arrogant maybe. The dry hops are very forwward. Alcohol causing a bit of burn on the tongue and it really lingers. Hot.

I don’t get too much from the aroma... mainly just hoppy. Very unique golden and amber appearance though with a very nice, foamy off-white head. I’m generally not much of a pilsner fan but the finish on this was really nice.... great balance of hops and malt. Very refreshing despite a bit of alcohol taste in the finish.

750ml and served in my Unibroue tulip: Poured a nice deeper golden hue topped by a mostly lasting frothy head and left good lace in it’s wake. The aroma has notes of heavy aromatic noble hops, grainy malts, a bit o’ honey, and some pear esters.

The taste is part heavy-handed continental bitterness and part light fruit undertones supported by a sweet bread and acidic undertone. There is a ongoing sugary sweetness at play as well. The finish is moderately alcoholic and warming. I liked it for the first glass but then it lost me after a while. Good beer but not something I would want to much of, unlike many quality big brews. (Very much reminds me of the style, so one bonus point there)

(05.21.06) One pint, 9.6 oz brown bottle from DiCarlo’s, Mundelein, IL. Bottled 3/21/06. Poured clear golden amber with giant white head. Average carbonation. Toasted, sweet malt aroma. Medium bodied with moderate malt sweetness and malt and fruit (grapes?) flavor. Finished with light hop bitterness. Quite good, but styled more like a Belgium-style trippel than an imperial pilsner. Compare Sam Adam’s Imperial Pilsner 2005 and Rogue Morimoto Imperial Pilsner.

Golden body with a large white head. Light hops aroma, some muskiness. Very sweet taste, heavy hops and malt, light honey with some fruit accents. Smooth, if bland ending.

ORIGINAL RATE (7-9-2006): Smells somewhat sweet and rather hoppy. Looks good - dark amber, almost to the point of being red or brown body with initially thick (2" thereabouts) head that took a little while to dissipate. Tastes a little like your standard lager, but with more alcohol and more hoppy, with a hint of citrus maybe. Though I generally like pilsners alright, this really is not my thing. Nevertheless, I’m glad to have tried it once - it’s a decent beer.

RE-RATE (2-7-2007): Large brown bottle from Florian’s - one of the last of this year’s. Pours crystal-clear orange-yellow-amber body with about an inch of off-white head that dissipates slowly leaving a fair bit of lacing. Smells of citrus hops and caramel malt. Tastes like citrus hop, having almost an apricot quality, with some caramel malt and a hint of alcohol warming. Mouthfeel is about medium, though it’s a bit sticky. Having said that, it’s not as sticky as many DFH extreme beers, and has a relatively clean finish (characteristic of the style). While it takes a little getting used to, this turns out to be a pretty damn good beer. Glad I snatched up a few.

(750 ml bottle (bottled 3/21/06) from Downeast Beverage Co.) This one poured a clear light amberish gold with about 4" of light orangey-white head in my willibecher. Head eventually recedes to about 1/2" of sloppy foam. Lacing is sloppy foamy patches. Aroma is strongly hoppy - pine with a little bit of grass. Mouthfeel fairly full and smooth. Taste is pure pine and almost nothing else. I couldn’t even taste any malt until I was almost done and the beer had gotten pretty warm. Hops overpower. Strong piney bite in the finish. Way too one-dimensional.