A School of Dogfish

Ok, I've been away for a while, but school is back in session, a school of Dogfish that is. I recently toured the Dogfish Head Brewery down in Milton Delaware, and brought back with me a mighty nice school of beer. Here's what's on the beer batter platter for tonight:
Raison D'etre
Sah'tea
Wrath of Pecant Brown Ale
Santo Palo Marron Malt
My Antonia Pilsner
Shelter Pale Ale
Midas Touch
Theobroma

So, might as well start at the top and work our way down to the bottom feeders. Sitting at #1, Wrath of Pecant Brown Ale.



This was a new experience for me, being my first smoked beer. This beer is a smoked malt that is brewed with pecan wood, giving it a delicious smokey nuttie flavor. It's only sold in a 750mL bottle which makes it a nice sipping drink for two. Don't you dare put this bottle in the fridge though. This 6.3% ABV beer is best served at room temp, helping bring out the rich smokey flavor. Unfortunately, they they only sell this beer at the Dogfish Head Brewery and at they're restaurant, BUT for those of you in State College, a little birdie told me today that Zeno's puts a special order in to get those rare bottles of liquid gold shipped up here. If you're interested, head to Zeno's and ask to be put on the call list for when they're ready to order.

Coming in at #2, Raison D'Etre



A very appropriate name for this beer, "raison d'être" in french means "reason for being", just as drinking good beer is my "reason for being". Have a bottle of this and you'll understand. I'm praying that they carry this beer at Wegman's. This will definitely be my new casual drinking beer if it's sold in the area. This is a mahogany Belgian brown ale brewed with sugar, raisons, and Belgian yeast. This is the only fruity beer I will ever like.

#3 Palo Santo Marron Malt



All I can say is "Wow!" Coming in at 12% ABV this was the strongest beer of the selection. When I started to pour this brew I thought I picked up a used bottle of motor oil at first. This beer is so dark and so thick I had to scoop what was left in the bottle out with a spoon. This beer also has a smokey wood flavor from being aged in the largest wooden brewing vessel (made of Palo Santo wood) built in America. Going to a party? Don't think about bringing this beer along unless you like chugging a liquid that has the same density as jello.

#4 Sah'tea



This is any alcoholic hippies dream! I've never been a big fan of tea, so how could you possibly make it better...? Add alcohol of course! Throw in some juniper berries, some black tea, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and black pepper and BAM you get Sah'Tea. Very smooth and easy on the taste buds. You start with the soft taste of tea and then the 9.0% ABV kicks in with a mild hoppy aftertaste, just to remind you that it's still beer. That 750mL bottle went down quick.

#5 My Antonia Pilsner



Hmmm, how to describe this beer... Imagine taking a handful of hops, shoving them in your mouth, and sucking on them until your cheeks hurt. That pretty much sums up this beer. Hops, hops, and more hops. This so called "pilsner" taste more like an IPA than most IPA's. It's a strong hoppy taste, but it's not overwhelming. It's a good beer, but easy on the hops in the next batch please.


Ok, enough with the good beer already, let's get to the beer no one wants to drink. On to the bottom feeders.

#6 Shelter Pale Ale



Nothing special about this beer. It's your everyday typical pale ale, smooth, light, and if you enjoy drinking water, you might just like this brew.

#7 Midas Touch



If Dogfish made a beer that tasted like Miller Lite, oh wait, they do, it's called Midas Touch. A beer crappy enough to put in a beer pong cup that 15 different people drank out of. The only good thing about this beer is that it's 9.0% ABV so it'll get ya fucked up quick.

Last and certainly least #8 Theobroma



I'd give a review on this, but it's 4 days later and I'm still trying to figure out what it tastes like. It's not good, it's not bad, it's just beer.


Well that's all for now. It's been a tasty week. I'm off to Germany in a few days for some major drinking. Stay tuned for some great reviews of some amazing beer. I just hope I'm not too inebriated to remember how good the beer is.