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

From the Bottle at Tom’s Ultimate Glasgow Tasting, Blackfriars 01/12/2007 Strong sweet coffee and roast aromas. Small tan head. Black with lots of alcohol present. Fruity cherry coffee and chocolate flavours. A warming bitter sweet finish.

Bottle from Liquor World Bourbonnais, Illinois. Pours dark black, with a little light reaching through the edges. Tan head, which doesn’t last very long. Chocolate dominates the nose with alcohol offering strong support. Prunes catch your nose as you smell the edge. Taste is dominated again by Chocolate and alcohol, with dried fruits rounding it out. Great balance. Warm alcohol burn helps this brew go down just right. My only complaint is that this was rather thin and watery for the style. Overall excellent brew.

Pours nearly opaque/black with virtually no head whatsoever - what a disappointment with appearance. Nose is good though with dark fruits such as figs, maybe raspberry, and rich chocolate to caramel desserts. On the palate the alcohol is noticeable, but rich flavors of dark fruits and roasted malts take over your attention quite quickly. Finish is very hot with alcohol, and not at all hidden, thereby making it a challenge to drink, and therefore not very high on the drinkable scale.

Aroma is strong, oily and smoky with a firm overtone of molasses. It pours a deep sable with a rather thick and fairly persistent light chocolaty-tan head. Flavor is like liquid molasses with hints of caramel and quite a strong alcohol bite. Texture is thick, smooth and edgy and leaves a smoky and slightly sweet finish. Worth the trade I made for it!

Bottle 12fl.oz.
Clear dark black color with a small to average, fizzy, fair lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is heavy malty, roasted, caramel, chocolate, moderate to heavy dark beer, raisin, prune, plum, moderate bourboun - alcohol. Flavor is heavy sweet and bitter with a long duration. Body is medium to full, texture is syrupy, carbonation is flat, finish feel is moderate alcoholic. [20090517]

2004 Bottle @ Oliver Twist -08. Black with brown head. Strong sweet roasted vanilla malty coffee bitter chocolate balance alkohol. One of the best

Original review date 1/11/2009. 12 oz. into a Duvel tulip... Body is Italian roast with black currant overtones. Head is maple sugar-colored wisps - not much else. First impression is...welll...it actually smells like paint. Really. OK, let’s see what else is in there...again, dried black currents, of course huge malty molasses, maybe the sweet part of a pomegranate...and a buttload of roasted malt. Huh - needless to say, there’s some alcohol burn here (but not nearly as much as you would expect. I mean, shit dog, it’s 18% ABV. They can’t hide ALL of it!). Burnt coffee tones, some dark melon fruit...not sure what (not plums)...no, wait...raisins. Yup, still a little heat left. I gave some to the beautiful bride to sample and she literally made the Bill the Cat face and said that it hurt. I appreciate the craft in this but she’s right...it’s kind of painful. Definitely needs warmth to open up...this is all over the place. Heavy as a sledgehammer, some residual alcohol burn, huge well-rounded coffee malt tones with pulverized grilled meat and ultra-dark fruits. Ummm...wow? This is drinking much quicker than expected. I’d like to stow one away for about 10 years and see what happens. Of course, then you may risk the dreaded SATB Soy Syndrome...

Bottle. Thank Dedollewaitor! Pours pitch black with a small dense cappuccino coloured head. Aromas of chocolate, dark fruit, alcohol, sugar and coffee. Thick and oily texture. Flavour of molasses sugar, chocolate, roasted malt, resin, warming alcohol and coffee.