Dogfish Head World Wide Stout 2001/2003-Present (18%)

Pours dark black with a thin tan head. Head retention is very fast. Mouthfeel is light and aromas are of alcohol and alcohol. Tasted light roasted alcohol. Definitely the easiest to drink of the high alcohol DH beers. I think will get even better as it ages.

2007 bottle. Black pour with a very little head, rousing foam fades away quickly. Nose is burnt grain and alcohol, slightly fuselly. Pours thin for such a big beer. Very alcoholic and sweet, not a lot of burn for 18%. The alcohol taste, however, overwhelms the beer and really seems solventy, even after sitting for a bit. Maybe I need to re-rate when I have a bottle that’s a couple years old.

Another favorite from Dogfish Head, now I will put it on paper, so to speak. The cap makes a hiss, and into a tulip it goes. It does not look as thick as other stouts as I pour it. And one can see through this if looking at the edges. The nose contains roasted barley, maybe even some chocolate hints. These are guarded by that 21% ABV. The taste is all malt. Roasted, bitter flavors are complemented by a sweetness that tells me that this one is young. The hops are undetectable by my palate. This needs some age, but eventually this will be world class. Mouthfeel is much lighter than one might expect. Do not misunderstand, This beer is thick and chewy, but I must have expected a motoroil type mouthfeel. Finally, a beer that I don’y want to drink all night. That being said, one twelve ounce bottle is not difficult to get through. Seek this out, cellar it, and maybe drink one with your kids when they are of age, even if your kids are not yet born. Taste and smell improve once this starts to near room temperature. Serving type: bottle Reviewed on: 07-26-2005 22:33:12

Pretty crazy beer. Aroma has almost a grape smell or wine smell. Taste is syrupy, sugary, sweet, and boozy...With small hints of cedar wood and elmers. The alcohol isn’t that overbearing for 18%, but pretty noticeable and gets more alcoholic towards the finish. It warms on the way down. The beer itself is surprisingly thin (and oily) and doesn’t coat the palate the way expedition does for example. Has a small light brown head that doesn’t stick to the glass. This is definitely an interesting beer to try as I haven’t had anything quite like it but, I don’t think I will have this again (at least for a long while at 8.99 a bottle). It is a pretty intense beer and will surely get ya drunk.

Vintage 2001 (with my deepest disappointment for buying it at New Beers Distributors as Vintage 2002); 5+ years old
Black color; the head disappears quickly. Aroma of roasted malts, coffee, glue, in equal proportion; young wood; dark chocolate with high percentage cocoa. Strong mouthfeel, it flows to the sides of the mouth like a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfluid">superfluid; strong malt flavor, caramel, some molasses; it ends with a hint of rhubarb candies. It’s very sweet and the roasted malt doesn’t overwhelm the other flavors, extremely good!

2007 bottle. The blackest beer I have ever seen: I can see my reflection in the glass! Pours like motor oil and forms a small quickly dissipitaing head. Its aroma is as powerful as it can get with sultana raisins, pears, chocolate and Khalua liqueur. Surprinsingly well balanced for its strength, a huge dose of roasted malt keeps it from being too sweet. The body is oily and the aftertatse sustains long after swallowing, interplaying with the alcohol burn. To my opinion, this brew pushes the boundary of beer. INTENSE!

(2007 bottle) Pours blacker than a desert night and as thick as a thundercloud. No light can hope to escape. Although super-boozy, the aromas are carried by soft and gentle breezes. Its rustic, earthy character belies the ambition that went into the WWS. Flavors are prune, sherry, and a whole whack of Pan. I paid a lot of money for this bottle and it had high expectations to live up to. It bit me back. If you want a beer to sink your teeth into, or to contemplate life with every sip, this is one of them.

I’ll start by quoting Pwn3d on this one: "Flavors push down on your tongue attacking like bee stings (pecan, ash, tobacco, burnt coffee, and sugar cane)." I’ll add smoked gouda to that list of tastes, as that was the most dominant flavor that I couldn’t quite shake. Super thick and overpowering. Really a novelty more than anything else, and overhyped in my book. Just too much of everything. Perhaps it was too late in that night’s tasting...