Dogfish Head Red and White

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Milton, Delaware USA

Bottle courtesy of BeerandBlues2. Color is a crisp brown with good carbonation and a thin tight head. Aroma is a cidery malt scent. Starting with a medium body it goes down crisp and smooth. Finish jumps in with a bright flavor of sweet wine, a hint of oak and vanilla then mild hop spice. In the after taste the wine lingers with a bit of alcohol showing. This is an amazingly flavorful brew.

The first couple of times I drank DFH’s Red & White were at the GABF. There, generous samples had buttered me up to the point where the whole latter half of the night’s tastings all seemed bewildering, confused, even numbed, but all, of course, exceptional. I was in good spirits, and gave the Red & White a generous margin of error - what I call “Drunken Mercy.” A sober tasting of the Red & White, and with a lot more to taste, has revealed that this is amongst the weaker of Dogfish Head’s offerings. The pour is fine - a thin, fuzzy head, a deep copper body, and a cloudiness which smacks “artisinal”. The aroma is a jumble of exotic scents, like tangerines, oranges, apricots, coriander and a burning crispness most heavily affiliated with laundry bleach. It’s a nice assemblage of fruits, but not very deep or immersive. The flavor is a step down in complexity, sweet at it’s core with oranges, and layered with tastes of orange pith, malts, vanilla and above all, alcohol. But these flavors don’t play together very well, and the alcohol is, as it so often is, overbearing and rough. The aftertaste too, is unexceptional, and really the only impressive bits remain in the nose. This experience deviates so far from my GABF impression that I’ve actually vowed not to conduct any reviews for future attendance at the GABF. There’s simply too many beers passing over my palate at too quick a rate for me to really do justice (or injustice) to what I’m sampling.

(Bottle a friend brought from the East Coast last year). At first didn’t pour much of a head till I poured straight down the middle of the glass. Then the head formed, but fell fairly quickly. Body color is orange with a hint of red to it. Good Belgian Strong aroma with ever so slight hint of the pinot. Clear body from sitting in my fridge all these months. Light oakiness from the barrels present. Body is thicker than average. Corriander lingers on the pallate. Warming in the throat. Not much sludge at the bottom of the bottle.

Poured dark red with an off white head. Aroma full of orange and coriander with the wit, and the bitter fruitiness of the pinot. Tastes of orange and banana with a slight fruity overtone that somehow balances well. Very good for such a strange concept of a beer.

Poured a deep hazy amber with light beige head, nice retention. Aroma of orange and apple. Flavor is very nice and balanced, sweet, with notes of coriander and orange peel with nice alcohol spice. Palate is full bodied and smooth, low-medium carbonation. Very nice beer......

Slightly hazy fbrown golden color rom the bottle, no head or lacing. upfront sweetness with usual fruity tatstes, but with abitter aftertaste. The alcohol and carbonation contribute nicely

Fantastic beer. Pours amber, thick and rich, with sediment; powerful fruit aromas - apple and grape especially. Strong and quite sweet malt character is emphasized by a distinct flavor of fruit juice - no doubt the grape juice they added. The sweetness is somewhat balanced by a bit of pleasant acidity, but this is definitely still a slow drinker. Enjoyed it slowly and immensely.

Fiery orange pour with copper highlights and an ivory head that has decent retention and lacing. Interesting aroma of coriander, orange peel, oak, and grape. Flavor is complex and masks the alcohol incredibly well. Flavor includes all listed in the aroma but also has a very wine-like quality with cherry skins and yeast. Medium mouthfeel. Just spent a small fortune trying to get all of the locally available DFH’s I hadn’t rated. This one, I might get again to share with my wine-lover friends.