Dogfish Head Bitches Brew
In honor of the 40th anniversary of the original release of Bitches Brew, Miles Davis’ 1970 paradigm-shifting landmark fusion breakthrough, we’ve created our own Bitches Brew - a bold, dark beer that’s a fusion of three threads imperial stout and one thread honey beer with gesho root, a gustatory analog to Miles’ masterpiece.Featuring the album’s iconic artwork, created by the late Mati Klarwein, on its label, Dogfish Head’s Bitches Brew will be unveiled at SAVOR, An American Craft Beer & Food Experience, June 5, National Building Museum, Washington DC.
Haven’t experienced the Bitches Brew album? Two 40th anniversary editions of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew -- a Legacy Edition and a deluxe Collector’s Edition -- will be available Tuesday, August 31.
The newly created ale is designed, according to Dogfish founder and president Sam Calagione, "as the ultimate partner for chili or spicy curry chicken" and best enjoyed "sipped cool, not cold, from a snifter or red wine glass while listening to the Bitches Brew album."
Calagione was drawn to the alchemical spirits in Bitches Brew right out of college, acquiring a copy of the album "within months of the first time I brewed a batch of homebrew in my apartment in New York City. I listened to it when I was writing my Dogfish business plan. I wanted Dogfish Head to be a maniacally inventive and creative brewery, analog beer for the digital age. You could say that my dream was to have Dogfish Head, in some small way, stand for the same thing in the beer world that Bitches Brew stands for in the jazz world. You can imagine how excited we are to be doing this project 17 years after I wrote that business plan."
"There’s a spirit of innovation, of creativity and individuality, thats at the core of Miles’ music," said Adam Block, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Legacy Recordings. "Sam and Dogfish Head approach their art from the same place and consequently the marriage is an easy and cool one."
Dogfish Head and its "off-centered ales for off-centered people" were the subject of "A Better Brew," an article in The New Yorker (Nov. 24, 2008) examining the rise of extreme beer. "Beer has lagged well behind wine and organic produce in the ongoing reinvention of American cuisine. Yet the change over the past twenty years has been startling," wrote Burkhard Bilger. "Dogfish is something of a mascot for this unruly movement. In the thirteen years since Calagione founded the brewery, it has gone from being the smallest in the country to the thirty-eighth largest. Calagione makes more beer with at least ten per cent alcohol than any other brewer, and his odd ingredients are often drawn from ancient or obscure beer traditions. It is to Budweiser what a bouillabaisse is to fish stock."
Haven’t experienced the Bitches Brew album? Two 40th anniversary editions of Miles Davis’ Bitches Brew -- a Legacy Edition and a deluxe Collector’s Edition -- will be available Tuesday, August 31.
The newly created ale is designed, according to Dogfish founder and president Sam Calagione, "as the ultimate partner for chili or spicy curry chicken" and best enjoyed "sipped cool, not cold, from a snifter or red wine glass while listening to the Bitches Brew album."
Calagione was drawn to the alchemical spirits in Bitches Brew right out of college, acquiring a copy of the album "within months of the first time I brewed a batch of homebrew in my apartment in New York City. I listened to it when I was writing my Dogfish business plan. I wanted Dogfish Head to be a maniacally inventive and creative brewery, analog beer for the digital age. You could say that my dream was to have Dogfish Head, in some small way, stand for the same thing in the beer world that Bitches Brew stands for in the jazz world. You can imagine how excited we are to be doing this project 17 years after I wrote that business plan."
"There’s a spirit of innovation, of creativity and individuality, thats at the core of Miles’ music," said Adam Block, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Legacy Recordings. "Sam and Dogfish Head approach their art from the same place and consequently the marriage is an easy and cool one."
Dogfish Head and its "off-centered ales for off-centered people" were the subject of "A Better Brew," an article in The New Yorker (Nov. 24, 2008) examining the rise of extreme beer. "Beer has lagged well behind wine and organic produce in the ongoing reinvention of American cuisine. Yet the change over the past twenty years has been startling," wrote Burkhard Bilger. "Dogfish is something of a mascot for this unruly movement. In the thirteen years since Calagione founded the brewery, it has gone from being the smallest in the country to the thirty-eighth largest. Calagione makes more beer with at least ten per cent alcohol than any other brewer, and his odd ingredients are often drawn from ancient or obscure beer traditions. It is to Budweiser what a bouillabaisse is to fish stock."
3.9
973 reviews
Milton, United States
Community reviews
End of spring tasting, out on the front porch watching the sunset. The single 12 oz bottle from a six pack goes into a tall, narrow beer glass. Ebony black body, finely bubbled, medium brown head. The smell, toasty, tobacco, nice. The taste, not quite with the scent, light chocolate, berry, smoky. I have my druthers, this is not there. Oh well.
Good, not great. Very dark, very rich beer. Surprisingly smooth and dry. Expected an aggressive coffee or chocolate bomb, but it was neither. Tried at Beertopia following the Eastman fundraiser in 2018.
Dark cola color with a fluffy head of light brown foam that fizzles out fast. Very fruity, figs mostly, on the aroma and flavor, and I can pick up on the honey somewhat. Some syrupy cocoa at the core. The wood aged quality is always weird for me without being barrel-aged.
12 oz bottle. Pours dark brown/Black. Aroma of cinnamon, peat, cocoa, molasses. Flavor of raisin, cinnamon, molasses, plum, vanilla, wood, peat.
The aroma is a subtle mix of roasted malt, honey and dark fruit. The body is black with a thin tan head that quickly receded to edges of the glass. The taste mirrors the aroma with a roasted malt, honey mix. It's sweetness flows to the end with a clean finish.
Pours a dark brown to black with a thin tan ring. Aroma of dark malts, wood, and honey. Medium body with some light oily lacing. Feels a little thin for a stout. Smooth with a slight tingle that coats the mouth with a sweet dark malty taste and some woody notes. Finishes smooth with a light lingering sweet aftertaste. Not harsh on bitter. Hides the alcohol well. Very enjoyable.
For a stout, this has an interesting aroma. I'm picking up mandarin orange, dark cherries, cranberries. The appearance is of your ordinary imperial stout, black with a light tan quarter inch of head. However the head stays there. I admittedly poured this into a plastic disposable cup at work, not ideal for beer reviews, some may say. But 6-7 minutes later, the same amount of head is still there. It's well carbonated, and that cherry flavor is very pronounced. The mouth feel is medium and the bubbles are tight and active, it tingles.It's certainly on the sweet side, and the alcohol hides in that sweetness. The buzz will sneak up on you. I am drinking it cold out of the fridge in a clear plastic cup, not as the description recommends. Maybe it's better than a 4.1 with the right treatments. But today it's an A-
Light malty aroma. Black in color with decent head. Taste is malty, light chocolate and coffee.
750 ml bottle, carefully aged at least two years. Smooooth and flavorful. Great brew (and a great Miles Davis album!)
It's a really good beer that has really interesting flavors. It's got nice chocolatey notes with a supple amount of honey. It's got enough familiarity with enough avant garde brewing to be a fitting homage to a groundbreaking jazz record.
Sample at Dogfish Head restaurant in Rehobeth. Cocoa on the nose (Larry says Coca Cola). Nutty taste over a malt backbone. Ok. Fine with just a sample.
Mobilee notes# tap@beer basementSf: pours black opaque with stable brown creamy head with good lacing. Aroma-flavour: roasted grain, chocolate, toasted toffee, burnt sugar, coffee, dark fruit esters, hint of honey, peppery, citrusy, hop notes. Finish is dry, slightly sweet/bitter. Body is full, texture is soft, carbonation is moderate.
Chocolate and Honey nose. Black pour. Coffee coca cola lead with a bit of Honey. Sightly thin. Decent.
Served from bottle into glass at home. Pours deep black in color; opaque with creamy espresso colored head. Roasty malt aroma with no detectable hops. Rich biscuity, toffee and molasses flavor expected of stouts but accompanied by another flavor reminiscent of marshmallow. Velvety mouthfeel with low carbonation. Warm slightly boozy finish.
2014 bottle. Pours very dark black with mocha foam that settles to a cocoa ring. Aroma is phenomenal - roasty, chocolate, and something sweet akin to honey but not quite. Flavor follows similarly with roast and cocoa leading, but whatever that sweetish aroma is comes across the palette somewhat acrid and tangy. Strange flavor (assume the honey/gesho stuff) that’s interesting. It’ll take me the whole bottle to determine if I like that aspect or not. A little bit of black licorice comes out in the finish and aftertaste which are both pretty clean.
750ml bottle, 2010 vintage, deep black color, with a bubbly tan-coloured head, with a mild spicy sweet licorice, molasses, burnt fruitcake, fruity burnt black currant, blackberry nose, with a light chocolate liquor, semi-sweet chocolate, coffee accent, and a subtle boozy gesho root, burnt chocolate cake, light roasted, black, wheat, toasted malt note in the aroma follows through on a medium-bodied palate with a nice warmth molasses, mild sweet honeyed black, roasted, chocolate, toasted malty, coffee, light licorice, burnt fruitcake character, with some faint prune juice, burnt chocolate cake, brownie, chocolate liquor, subtle black currant, burnt semi-sweet chocolate baking bar, fruity yeast, chocolate cake dough flavours, leading towards a dark chocolatey, chocolate cake dough, sweet molasses, licorice, gesho root, sweet fruity yeast, dry bitter chocolate, roasted, toasted malty finish.
I was lucky enough to get this once early before it disappeared forever. I am not a fan of stouts, but I and a huge fan of Davis- and as such- gave this a try. I do not know the terms involved in rating a stout- Ive tried others a hated them. This beer was the exception. I was immediately struck with the pleasant aroma upon opening the bottle- a mild honey/coffee smell that immediately proved the worth. the tast indeed reminded me of the music= not one word or combination of words can describe the taste. I’ve been able to obtain a few bottles here and there and still have the second of the two bottles unopened from the first release. I noticed it’s best just a few degrees below room temp- in a wide mouthed glass that delivers the aroma immediately prior to taste. Like the music- hard to classify, easy to love.
Vintage 2010 which I think is the first year this was brewed. Almost no head and a cloying coffee taste with some figs. Maybe a bit of funk in there. Could be because of the age, not sure. Not bad.
Black color.Big , brown head. Aroma of roasted malt and dark chocolate. Chocolate, coffee and malt in taste. Balanced to perfection. Roasted bitterness at the end.
Aroma chocolate, roasty, caramel, raisin,
Appearance black, brown foam,
Taste medium sweetness, lightly bitter,
Palate medium body, full body,
Overall a nice roasted forward beer with some sweetness from the honey. I would suggest this beer to a friend.
Tap at Clubhouse BFD. 2015 vintage. Pours deep black, rich tan head. Aroma is rich roasted malt, coffee, chocolate. Beautiful. Flavor is chocolate, roasted malt. Nice bitter coffee note. Slightly metallic.
Draught at City Beer. Black color, beige head. Bitter taste with roasted malts, hops, nuts, coffee, bourbon, vanilla, oak and dark fruits. Bitter finish with roasted malts, hops, vanilla, oak, bourbon, dar fruits, coffee and a bit of nuts. Exquisite imperial stout.
Been sitting on this one a while. Pours inky black with a dark brown pillow. Aroma is light roast, coffee and dark chocolate. Taste is a nice silky mouthfeel, Light roasted malts that work so well with the low coffee and dark chocolate. Alcohol is there but it doesn’t burn just a great beer.
Bottle pour from The Drinkery, Londonderry. Appearance is opaque black with negligible light brown head, no lacing. Aroma is roasted malts with dark fruits and sort of mix of tart/bitter that I can only assume is gesho root. Taste is moderate roasted malt and dark fruits along with sweet honey notes, earth, herbs. Palate is medium bodied with average texture and mix of sweet/bitter/tart finish. Overall, a cool concept with the intermingling of different influences to mirror the fusion of the Bitches Brew album. My brother in law is really into jazz, and this album in particular, and after the first sip he said, "I get it." I don’t have the same appreciation for jazz but will take his word that this works on a level I’m not aware of. That counts for something but just as this album is a little difficult to listen to, this beer isn’t something I’d have over and over again.
Pris lors d un voyage au usa, de couleur noir avec un everfesssance et le col et moka . On des note de chocolat noir avec une bonne torrification.c est une stout classique ou le chocolat et le torrifier se mélange .
Black appearance with a beige head. The aroma contains some chocolate, coffee, honey, dark fruit, and spices. The flavor is slightly bitter and sweet with honey, chocolate, espresso, and raisins. There is a bit of smokiness present. There is also some alcohol showing in the finish which is slightly dry. Overall very nice beer.
“Glugs” out of the bottle with murky dark brown body and a moderate, tiny bubbled tan head. Decent alternating sheets and rings of lace. Aromas of roasted malts dominate. Dark caramel and toasted malt, along with some tar, and dark cocoa. Alcohol and some saltiness are noticed as this one warms. Fairly sweet and mild English hops components. A good imperial stout. 7/10
Bottle into snifter. Pours a pitch black with a chocolate milk head. Aroma of sweet malts, roastiness and chocolate. Taste is bitter dark chocolate with smokiness, brown sugar, honey, roasted malts and alcohol. Fantastic beer.
Drank on tap in a fancy glass, at Eddies Roadhouse in Warwick, NY. Pours a nice black color, with a bit of light beige head. Wonderful aromas coming from this brew. This beer has a wonderful, nice, complex, and smooth flavor, awesome brew!
Black, brown appearence with a lingering brown head. Taste of chocolate, coffee & malt. Robust alcohol & whiskey finish. Very, very good.