Miles Probably Would Have Enjoyed It

This was delayed since I had another go at the remainder of the bottle last night. My thoughts:

Bitches Brew (Dogfish Head) - right out of the blocks, you cannot find fault with the bottle design. This is one I'll be keeping around and I'm sure DFH paid some fees to get the album art licensed.

It poured smoothly into the snifter glass, no over-carbonation here. Visually, we're talking a dark brown/black body with a pretty thin head. A few times during my sessions, it took on the appearance of cola - dark middle, brown edge, a few bubbles. On Monday evening, I was even asked why I was drinking coke "like it was port or something". Clearly, I was not the only one thinking this.

There's a lot to like with the nose. The molasses/licorice/tobacco scent that usually comes with imperial stout is in there, but there's also a bit of plum or prune along for the ride. I'm leaning more toward 'prune' - there were more than a few times where "I'm getting Dr. Pepper here" would have been an apt statement to make. Warming it up forced the imperial stout smell to the forefront.

From what I've read, this is 3 or 4 parts imperial stout to one part honey ale. All I can say is that the honey ale must be crammed to the gills with flavor since it handles it's share of the load despite being 20-25 percent of the product. The sweetness of this beer - and I want to clarify I don't mean sugary-overload like, say, Southern Tier's Creme Brulee - was unexpected, but not unpleasant. There is little in the way of alcohol burn (you feel the 9%, but you don't really taste it) and you get all the good flavors from a stout. Tobacco, a little coffee, a little licorice, a little smoke, and so on, but there is usually a bitter bite to some degree on the back end - not the case with the BB. It's well blended (which I would credit the anti-bitter finish to), thinner on the mouthfeel than you'd probably guess, and worth a taste at the very least.

My one drawback on this is I will admit uncertainty on where this beer is going next. With most of the aged beer I've had, the major difference between point A and point B is a reduction of alcohol burn and a smoothness of flavor. I feel like this is already there . . . sort of. Just not entirely sure what a year or two will do to this. However, I do look forward to seeing how it goes.

It's a firm B+ for me.