Brewed By: Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware
Purchased: 750ml bottle bought at Binny's in IL; 2013
Style/ABV: Saison/Fruit Beer, 9.0%
Reported IBUs: 26
Back in 2000, little known artists Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Dan the Automator got together to turn out what has become a legendary album in the underground hip hop scene: Deltron 3030. If you haven't experienced Deltron 3030, you are missing out. One of the album's most popular tracks, Positive Contact, is the name of tonight's beer. About Dogfish Head:
I'm feeling a Decent Divine Brew on this. Like I said, this is one of my favorite beers from Dogfish Head, and one of my favorite beers in general. Since this costs about 10~13 dollars a bottle, I would say it is priced reasonably. I would definitely pick this up if I saw it on the shelf. It's also an awesome collaboration...who doesn't love Dan the Automator? This might even trump the Bitches Brew in terms of coolness with respect to the music. This beer pairs great with pizza, salads, fruit salads, grilled food, strawberry bundt cake, and all things summer.
Random Thought: Yuuuuppp. I like underground rap and hip hop. How about 'dem apples. I also like jazz. I guess we can let the battle begin. Bitches Brew vs. Deltron 3030.
Reported IBUs: 26
Back in 2000, little known artists Del tha Funkee Homosapien and Dan the Automator got together to turn out what has become a legendary album in the underground hip hop scene: Deltron 3030. If you haven't experienced Deltron 3030, you are missing out. One of the album's most popular tracks, Positive Contact, is the name of tonight's beer. About Dogfish Head:
Dogfish Head is a craft brewery based out of Milton, Delaware. The brewery was founded by Sam Calagione back in 1995.The brewery began as a brewpub (the first in Delaware) called Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats, and was originally located in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The initial brewing setup included three kegs and propane burners. They brewed 12-gallon batches of beer three times a day, five days a week. In 1996 the brewery began bottling their beer, and by 1999 they had distribution to around a dozen different states. In 2002 the company outgrew their Rehoboth location, and moved to Milton, Delaware. More info can be found HERE.
Positive Contact is part of Dogfish Head's "music series," which includes their Bitches Brew (Miles Davis) and Faithful Ale (Pearl Jam). For the Positive Contact, Sam Calagione and Dan the Automator teamed up to make a beer based on Dan's favorite ingredients. The beer is named after one of the album's singles, and features a blend of cider brewed with Fuji apples, roasted farro, cayenne peppers, and a late edition of fresh cilantro (during fermentation? hmmm...). The original release of this beer was packaged in a box set with six 750ml bottles, a 10-inch vinyl EP with four new Deltron 3030 remixes, and a list of Deltron 3030-inspired recipes from a small group of chefs. Since then, this beer has become an occasional release, and will randomly show up on shelves. That's a good thing, because this beer is delicious. At 9.0% ABV and 26 IBUs, this beer screams cider or Belgian Ale or Witbier...but actually veers off in an interesting direction...
This beer pours a slightly hazy golden-bronze color, with three fingers of thick, foamy, white head. The head is remniscent of a Belgian Strong Ale or Tripel. In bright light, the beer is a really nice dark golden color, and the head is slightly off-white pulling some of those gold tones. The head is thick and sustaining nicely, and there's a lot of carbonation in this. This one is transparent with maybe a hint of haze. Overall, it looks like a Belgian Tripel or Belgian Strong Ale.
The aroma on this beer is off-the-charts awesome. You get huge Tripel and Witbier-esque aromas, with white sugar, Belgian funk/barnyard, wheat, cream of wheat, creamy wheat, clove, banana, grain, and light grass/citrus/apple. There's an earthy bitterness on the nose as well, likely from the cilantro, and a bit of spice. I wouldn't be able to peg cayenne on the aroma in a blind tasting, but there is some hot pepper spice on the nose.
I should probably confess that this is one of my favorite beers, and I'm very fond of what Dogfish Head has going on here. This beer is crisp and refreshing, has big Belgian Ale complexity, features a layer of cider-esque fruitiness that is reminiscent of a Witbier, and then drops some serious cilantro on your palate, and finishes with noticeable cayenne spice. You get warming alcohol and literal spicy heat on the back of this. It's fantastic. You get clove, wheat, grain, Belgian-barnyard-funk, clove, big grass, lightly bitter cilantro, fresh salad, apples and light hints at citrus, bittering cilantro that isn't bitter like hops, and a big cayenne finish. This has some wine-like qualities at times as well.
The mouthfeel is light, refreshing, attenuated, and well-carbonated, making this medium-light-bodied beer way too drinkable at 9.0%. This has great palate depth, and even better complexity. You get big clove, grains, and wheat up front; this rolls into fruits, cider, and cilantro mid-palate; the back-palate is lingering cilantro bitterness, and growing cayenne burn. The cayenne just gains momentum as you drink through this. This beer is most reminiscent to a Belgian Tripel, followed by an Imperial Witbier, followed by a Belgian Strong Ale. I wouldn't call this a Saison.
Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5 Untappd)
 |
| Dogfish Head Positive Contact |
The aroma on this beer is off-the-charts awesome. You get huge Tripel and Witbier-esque aromas, with white sugar, Belgian funk/barnyard, wheat, cream of wheat, creamy wheat, clove, banana, grain, and light grass/citrus/apple. There's an earthy bitterness on the nose as well, likely from the cilantro, and a bit of spice. I wouldn't be able to peg cayenne on the aroma in a blind tasting, but there is some hot pepper spice on the nose.
I should probably confess that this is one of my favorite beers, and I'm very fond of what Dogfish Head has going on here. This beer is crisp and refreshing, has big Belgian Ale complexity, features a layer of cider-esque fruitiness that is reminiscent of a Witbier, and then drops some serious cilantro on your palate, and finishes with noticeable cayenne spice. You get warming alcohol and literal spicy heat on the back of this. It's fantastic. You get clove, wheat, grain, Belgian-barnyard-funk, clove, big grass, lightly bitter cilantro, fresh salad, apples and light hints at citrus, bittering cilantro that isn't bitter like hops, and a big cayenne finish. This has some wine-like qualities at times as well.
The mouthfeel is light, refreshing, attenuated, and well-carbonated, making this medium-light-bodied beer way too drinkable at 9.0%. This has great palate depth, and even better complexity. You get big clove, grains, and wheat up front; this rolls into fruits, cider, and cilantro mid-palate; the back-palate is lingering cilantro bitterness, and growing cayenne burn. The cayenne just gains momentum as you drink through this. This beer is most reminiscent to a Belgian Tripel, followed by an Imperial Witbier, followed by a Belgian Strong Ale. I wouldn't call this a Saison.
Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5 Untappd)
I'm feeling a Decent Divine Brew on this. Like I said, this is one of my favorite beers from Dogfish Head, and one of my favorite beers in general. Since this costs about 10~13 dollars a bottle, I would say it is priced reasonably. I would definitely pick this up if I saw it on the shelf. It's also an awesome collaboration...who doesn't love Dan the Automator? This might even trump the Bitches Brew in terms of coolness with respect to the music. This beer pairs great with pizza, salads, fruit salads, grilled food, strawberry bundt cake, and all things summer.
Random Thought: Yuuuuppp. I like underground rap and hip hop. How about 'dem apples. I also like jazz. I guess we can let the battle begin. Bitches Brew vs. Deltron 3030.
No comments:
Post a Comment