Bitches Brew

Okay, so I’m not the world’s most up to date blogger, nor do I post much and I’m usually weeks behind on my post compared to when I actually drank the beer, but here it is anyway.

I started watching this TV show “Brew Masters.” It is a story about Dog Fish Head Brewery where a guy thinks totally out of any logical box, and invests his time in inventing brews of beer that are not only uncommon but sometimes unheard of. From making all his employees chew blue corn to make a mash to ferment with, to traveling to far reaches of the world to learn how beer was brewed in ancient times.

In one episode they were putting together a brew in memory of Miles Davis, a musician who seamlessly conjoined Jazz and Rock on an album called “Bitches Brew.”

The tribute beverage was to do just the same. Sam Calagiones, the owner and founder of Dog Fish Head, sought out only the finest of ingredients. This brew composed of a fusion of three threads imperial stout and one thread honey beer with gesho root. The honey beer with gesho root was definitely the out of the box equation in this brew. To make it they used fresh honey comb with bees still in it. I guess this beer had some protein content.

The beer was definitely complex. The layers of stout created a robust flavor similar to that of most other stouts but had a detailed caramel flavor as well as deep wood flavor undertones, similar to a scotch or whiskey that was in a charred oak barrel. These layers of flavor seem to roll on your pallet individually one flavor after the next.

The honey beer that was used gave the beer one more complex flavor to figure out. This was the first thing I tasted and the last thing I tasted. It was like a beer gobstopper. You taste this sweet honey beer, almost a porter flavor, then you roll through the several other stout flavors and then it leaves you with an after taste of the honey beer again.

Now since this blog is all about Beer and Food, I must define what we had for dinner, but to be completely honest, I don’t recall what we had that night. I will say this though, if you plan on drinking this with a meal, prepare a light meal, don’t prepare a meal with flavors that will overpower this brew. I would stick to poultry of some sort, a salad and some type of green vegetable would be perfect.

Bitches Brew

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