Dogfish Head Sahtea

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

Serve in Dimpled mug, English pint, Stein, Yard

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Bottle generously shared by durhambeer - thanks, Bob! Pleasant golden beer as the base, and the pour demonstrates this pretty nicely. Mild carbonation, and a fairly appealing nose of honey, yeast, ginger, and other spices. You can certainly get the cardamom in the nose, and this really reminds me of one of those organic teas you buy in Whole Foods, specifically the "Throat Coat" variety. Sharp and boozy taste, getting a lot of ginger heat (even though not advertised). Treacle, slightly thin body. Another "interesting" experiment from DFH, but surely this isn’t what’s on tap in Valhalla.

I split this bottle among 4 friends and Let me tell you I was glad. The bottle poured into a Portsmouth snifter produced an extremely short lasting head that faded away to nothing. The color of the brew was hazy golden yellow to brown. The first thing that you experience after you crack open the bottle is the aroma of chai it is that predominant. The nose and the flavors make this brew. The chai eventually followed by some other wonderful spices and then juniper as it warms. Flavors on this brew follow the nose to a "T" but it is also very complex. Like I said I was glad I split this one It would have been way to much to finish the 750 but I enjoyed every drop of my glass. The mouthfeel is great and there is a light carbonation to this one as well. I will pick up another bottle the next time I see this I was that impressed

Bottle from Wine Authorities. I’m struggling with this one. Not sure what I expected, but it wasn’t this, exactly. I guess I didn’t read the label, because it tastes like all the ingredients... dry Weizen yeast, some lemon/lemongrass, juniper and chai spice weirdness (cardamom and cloves, particularly), and slight tea notes. Just not really sure why all these things are hanging out together, and I’m thinking they should start looking for new friends. Tastes much better than it smells, and hints at a Belgian golden ale, which almost saves it for me... but doesn’t quite.

Bottle slit with Ryguy and Fannon. Pours a bright orange with haze, and a small white head. The aroma is slight malt, honey and alcohol. The taste is tea, honey, malt, lemon, coriander, and spice.

Reviewed on 6/22/2009...so...Chai tea and juniper berries, huh? Only other Sahti I’ve tried was from Nogne Ø so don’t confuse me with any maven of the style...the Duvel tulip seems like it’ll work just fine for this one. Mild "pffft" of the cap. Pours a very cloudy, farmhouse-ish flat and ultra viscous honey gold with a fair amount of lemon pith. Relatively translucent - active yet sparse carbonation is visible from the bottom up. One downer is really no head to speak of - just a couple of yeast wisps. This is really almost gelatinous, it’s so thick. Well, I can definitely make out the juniper and a little honey with a lot of deep sweetness. Can make out the spicing of the Chai tea very nicely. Not sure of the style guidelines but this smells pretty damn good to me. Just a little bit of mild yeast electricity here. As comforting and viscous as it looks and smells, it rolls down the gullet the same way. There are all of the nice elements of juniper, Chai, clove and a light note of honey sweetness. A bit of dryness from the yeast clearing everything out keeps everything pretty clean, even with the gravity of it all. Quite good. It’s not the shock to the system that the new(er) world Nogne Ø offering was - this seems more subtle and mellow. I really enjoy the palate feel of this one. It has a heavy quotient at first but the yeast and spiciness really dry it up well for the weight class while also keeping it very clean and refreshing on the finish. Almost spritely from the juniper (which is not overstated...its own blessing) and the mild Chai tea spicing. Very even-keeled and excellent. First Sammy C. digs out the Old Odense Ale in a collaboration with NB. Now this. Nothing like playing old B-sides people haven’t heard in a while...or ever! This is a fine offering that drinks quite well - maybe the heft and viscosity make it at least somewhat of a sipper, but it’s enjoyable all the way through. Nice job.

Pours with very little head. Wheat-beer appearance. Very fruity/spicy nose- lots of grapefruit. Exceptionally smooth taste for 9%. Finish is indicative of nose. Another fine example of the ingenuity of this brewery.

Location: A big bottle from Gilly’s, 7/7/09

Aroma: Sweet and spicy aroma, cinnamon is very strong, the obvious tea and berries, perhaps a little vanilla, spice is strong in the nose, really unusual but enjoyable nose on this one...
Appearance: A lightly hazy light orange color, with minimal head and no lacing
Flavor: The tea really comes through in the flavor, malty and enjoyable, also lots of spice (just like the nose), some earthiness in there as well.
Palate: Really smooth and easy drinking. Is this is really 9%? No alcohol burn at all...Wow. Nice mouthfeel and body as well.
Overall Impression: I find it ironic to call this a traditional ale, because it is anything but traditional... Anyway, you know how the Dogfish guys love to push the envelope and this is no different. Great job of experimenting, this one paid off, and I really enjoyed it.

**Just submitted a photo for this one, as it was missing one.

Bottle sample at the Columbus Alefest on 6/27/09. Cloudy copper/amber pour with no head. Super spicy aroma with notes of cinnamon, clove, cardamom and chai. Chai tea flavor up front giving way to a bit of tartness before a sweet pumpkin spice-like finish. I’m typically not a fan of DFH’s big bottle oddities, but this one was pretty decent.

Tasting – Wine Source. Thanks for sharing, Brian! Cloudy dark gold, white creamy head. Chai-tea and ginger aromas warm to swirls of cinnamon and gin. Intense spicy juniper berry and black tea flavors round with a sweet ginger-clove and citric zest backbone. Medium to full bodied, medium carbonation, deeply spiced finish. I’ll fall in the love category here as this turns out to be quite creative and unique…

bomber.... a sweet brew with lots of coriander a little too much at that... overly sweet tea flavors... not really my style... expected more. ehh expected more