Dogfish Head Immort Ale

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Barley Wine
Milton, Delaware USA

Serve in Snifter

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2011 bottle. The appearance is of a dark hazy amber color with a very thin head in my glass. The aroma is of oak, fruit, lite carmel roasted grains, booze, lite yeast, and I picked up on a smokey scent. As for the flavor I noticed oak, barley, yeast, and sweet ingredients. The sweet flavors were a combination of very weak maple and a dominate carmel taste. As for the vanilla in this beverage it has fallen off because of age. The finish is bitter sweet and wine like. I was left with a weak carbonated beverage with the after taste of oak, grains, malts, sugary syrup, carmel, and a boozy mild bitterness. Overall this is not a simplistic drink but it works well and tasted good. It’d try this again.

12 Fl. Oz. Bottle. Pours a dark reddish amber wit a nice tan head medium lacing. The aroma is of smoke fruits and barley. Taste also quite smokey, sweet some tart notes, you also feel the alcohol quite a bit towards the end. Nice beer worth trying.

Ar: Peat smoke, phenols, some dark caramel. Ap: Deep ruby red, clear - very small off-white head. T: Peaty and sweet up front - nougat and vanilla - currant and dark cherry - low bitterness - some cotton candy and medicinal notes on the finish. P: Fully body with medium carbonation - finish is medium-sweet. O: A big, malty barley wine - peat really is in the forefront, though the sweetness keeps it from becoming too phenolic and medicinal.

Bottled in 2013.
Appearance: The body is crystal clear with a dark garnet, ruby and mahogany hue, it’s a great color. A thin tan head appears briefly and settles quickly into a bubbly ring.
Aroma: Rubber or plastic comes to mind with a slight burnt character. Upon swirling I note some dark cherry aromas, but overall this smells bad.
Taste: The flavor is very fruity, it tastes a lot like drinking a cherry syrup, very grenadine like. Backing the grenadine is that rubber taste that I can assume is a product of the juniper berries fighting with the peat.
Palate: A bit thin, but thick like syrup. Carbonation is moderate with a slightly sharp feel to it.
Overall: If the peat malt or the juniper berries were gone then I might like this a bit more. As it is now I can’t say I like it. The aroma is really the problem here for me. I’ll pass in the future.

Bottle at home. Pour is deep amber with a small cream head and great lacing. First impression is that this beer smells like a nice campfire - not overpowering with smoke but very restrained - other notes of vanilla, salty bacon, earthy, woody, and light citrus. Taste is semi-sweet, caramelly, grapefruit, oaky, but still has a prominent smokiness to it, salty bacon, a touch fruity, and citrusy with a big smoky finish; super smooth for 11% ABV. Slick mouthfeel with medium carbonation. Nice use of smoke and reminds me of Winters and Summers in Colorado at the same time. One beer I actually enjoyed which highlighted smoke as the main component.

Sampler at Central City. Pours a dark amber-red with a thin offwhite head that leaves behind substantial soapy lace. Complex and, shall I say, "weird" nose including, among other things, notes of cherries and concord grapes, sweet barley, touches of vinegar and spice, contributing to an over all impression of wine-like aromas. Mostly sweet with some bitterness and a light tartness. Heavier and full bodied with some alcohol warmth and lengthy finish. Enjoyable, especially in a smaller dose, but the lines between "complex" and "muddled" were blurred here. I could see stacking this up against maybe some pinot noirs to see what fans of wine might think of it.

Bottle, pours a murky dark brown aroma was very strong and flavour was strong as well, a bit sweet and spicy, not big fan but it was drinkable

12oz bottle. Pours a clear burnt orange with thin white head. The honey and juniper definitely come through and blend well with the caramel malts. In the taste the juniper berries and peat-smoking are dominant and take away from any honey, vanilla or caramel malt character.

Reality check here: the best attribute of this beer is its appearance! Flavors are off, way off! Smokiness to band-aid. Yes, I do get that initial blast of vanilla, as advertised, but doesn’t lead to something better. Sort of an oxidized mess. Nice aroma, nice hidden alcohol, but rare miss from Dogfish Head. Luckily I only gambled $3 / single 12oz bottle.

Pours amber with a medium off white head. Aroma is raw corn syrup and heavy malts. Taste is sweet corn syrup up front with a completely missing mid palate. The finish slides in with substantial earthy (almost gritty) malts. I can picture this one being made "down on the farm" - at least, that?s the impression it gives me. Very rustic!