Dogfish Head Chateau Jiahu
Similar to a beer brewed in China some 9,000 years ago, Chateau Jiahu used a recipe that included rice, honey, and grape and hawthorn fruits. The formula was obtained from archaeologists who derived it from the residues of pottery jars found in the late Stone Age village of Jiahu in northern China.
The residues are the earliest direct evidence of brewed beverages in ancient China.
The residues are the earliest direct evidence of brewed beverages in ancient China.
3.4
750 reviews
Milton, United States
Community reviews
Bière d’une couleur dorée et profonde surmontée d’une mousse riche et blanche comme neige. Le liquide est imposant. On sent une présence autoritaire et affirmée. Au nez, la bière révèle de puissants arômes d’alcool et de raisin appuyés sur une douce base maltée et mielleuse. En bouche, ces ingrédients se présentent à moi de la même façon accompagnés de citron. Bière très lourde et pesante en bouche, à l’effervescence et durée moyennes. Difficile à boire pour moi.
Pours a clear dark gold with heavy white sediment. A sweet citrus, light malt, pine, and honey. A very sweet taste of honey, pine, citrus, and alcohol. A lingering sweet taste.
750ml bottle, from Dutch’s. Bottled 1/12/15. Clear orange golden color. Thin white head, kind of bubbly. Lots of fine particles suspended in the body. Some ropes of lace. Fades to a minimal ring, then virtually nothing. Honey comes through first, up front, some grape sweetness and bigger other earthy fruit (hawthorn fruit?). Definite rice type malt. Bready. Some orange citrus, strange yeast note. Bigger sweet taste, light to moderate bitter. Significant sweet bite to it. Bigger body. Somewhat sharp, kind of soft, lighter kind of crisp carbonation. Sort of interesting up front, but honestly 1/4 of the way in it just ends up drinking like a malt liquor. A tasty, interesting malt liquor, that hides the 9% alcohol just as good as the Beer Thousand malt liquor did. Reminds me quite a lot of that beer actually. The eh part of all this, though is $12 for a 25oz’r? of (decent, but still) malt liquor? Started at 3.4.. dropped as I progressed. Definitely the most unimpressive Ancient Ale I’ve tried so far.
Draught @ Dogfish Head Brewing & Eats, Rehoboth Beach, DE
Pours hazy deep golden with a off-white head. Aroma has notes of malt, dried fruits, alcohol, grapes and vinous. Taste is medium sweet and light bitter with a long vinous, fruity and slightly warm finish. Body is full, texture is oily, carbonation is soft.
Deep , golden color with decent, white head. Aroma of malt , honey , spices , grape and other fruits. Taste follows the aroma . Dry finish with the vine character. Unusual and interesting.
On tap at the brewpub. Almost completely clear, light amber in color and with a minimal sized head. Sweet, fruity aroma with some herbs, honey and malts. Alcohol too. It’s dry and full bodied, warming and nicely carbonated, with flavors of honey, sweet fruits, plums, some herbs and a nice bitterness. Lasting finish. A bit too warming this one, else it’s both tasteful and interesting. 150621
Pours golden with a little foamy white head. Aroma of grape, honey and alcohol, reminiscent of white wine. Decently carbonated with a spicy, crisp taste, finishes full but dry. Interesting, but not my favorite Dogfish Head offering.
Golden, creamy white head, nice head retention, and nice lacing. Spice, ginger, candy, Apple, mild alcohol, caramel, and lemon notes. Full bodied, silky, malt dominated, and lite bitterness.
Draft at Dogfish Head Fairfax. Pours clear amber with a fizzy off white head. Tastes like dried fruits, grapes, honey, smooth alcohol, bready malt light herb, and floral hops. Medium body and low/medium carbonation. Smells like grapes, booze, light herb, and floral hops.
Tap. Golden honey colored with small head. Sweet and fruity with a near bourbon flavor. Light alcohol. Definitely in the category of more interesting than good.
Very pale amber color, clear with a little white head. Aroma of fruit and yeast. Sweet flavor, similar to a Belgian ale.
On tap, poured into a sampler glass as the American Beer Classic. The aroma has a potent ammonia note to it with undertones of citrus, grapes, and alcohol. The beer is clear yellow amber with a white, dense soap head that has good retention and lace. The taste is highly sweet with a medium bitterness. The beer is waxy with a fuzzy carbonation and a medium body. The flavor is not too dissimilar to a white wine with flavors of white grapes, an alcohol warmth, honey, bread, and a mellow spice that heighten at the finish with a zip like a champagne or crisp white wine along with some bread flavors. The aftertaste is fairly long with warm alcohol, spice, and citrus.
I get sweetness from grapes and honey fruitiness from I assume the hawthorn fruit and a hint of alcohol coming from this clear pale orange brew with foreign objects floating in it. It's crisp at first with sweetness and fruitiness. The honey and hawthorn comes out in this medium bodied brew. The after tastes leaves grape flavor and.a nice warming feeling.
Light color. Minimal head. Very fruity and sweet. The honey flavor is well balanced. The fact that the recipe was pulled from a 9000 year old archeological dig adds some interest. Overall, a very pleasing beer.
On tap at Parry's in HR. What a great backstory this beer has! Gotta love the crew at Dog Fish Head to find a 9,000 year old beer recipe from China and bring it back to life. Pours a light gold and makes a thin head. Good lacing down the glass. Aroma is very light, almost non-existent. Tastes of sweet honey and grapes. Very effervescent.
Bottle to tall glass.
Aroma is very light. Grape, grasses, .
Appearance, Golden clear color. White head.
Taste; pilsner esque, with a funky aftertaste. Sour fruit. Staleness. A touch soapy ?
Feel is vibrant, good balance.
Overall , not so hot. Love the history lesson in a 9000 year old recipe, but we’ve come a long way since the Yellow River Basin tribes.
I remember learning about this beer while watching Brew Masters on Discovery. Was really intrigued and looked forward to the day I could try it. That day has come. On tap at the Big Texas Beer Fest. Poured a golden color with a white head and some lacing. Sweet taste of tropical fruits, spice, honey, and herbal. Lively carbonation, medium body.
A grapey flavored ale that is quite easy to drink at 10%. Nice malt backbone with a Pilsner hopp flavor. Smells like malt and grapes. Pours copper with him cream head. Unique beer
Subdued aroma of Belgian yeast and honey. Copper colored short lasting well laced whjte head. Sweet honey and Belgian yeast taste medium body with a syrupy Belgian finish.
I love how Dogfish introduces new brewing styles. This is another home run with a wonderful palate and nice aroma. Similar to a beer brewed in China some 9,000 years ago,
Poured a clear gold colour with a white 1/2 inch head with visible carbonation. Aroma is white wine, fruit, and floral honey. Flavor is sweet with grapes and other fruit, smooth honey, and light grassy malt. Light medium bodied with lively carbonation with a sweet and soft bitter finish. I prefer Midas Touch, but this is a solid sweet honey traditional brew.
honey based, which dominates the flavor and aroma like the other two, but with different caveats...like the other two. None of us seemed to know what hawthorne fruit was, but we all liked it. Subtly spiced, sweet honey and grape greets your nose and palate. another one where if you don’t care for the main ingredient (honey) don’t bother, but if you do, it’s definitely worth a look. I must say between the 3 beers, though, Midas Touch is as good or better than the rest and 4 x 12 oz. is the same price as 1 750..."
The body has a brilliant clear and deep golden color with tons of carbonation streaming up from the bottom of the glass. The head is light and fades to just a ring of creamy lacing. Glass lacing is very slick and slides right down the glass as I drink. Right from the pop of the cap I notice some wine like notes. I get some white wine and Concord grape like notes with a very light malt presence with hints of apples, wild flower honey and floral melon like notes. The flavor has a sweet white wine and mead like taste up front with some hints of cantaloupe like melon and mellow alcohol creeping in. This is quickly followed up by a short flash of bitterness and then a short semi-dry finish. The body has an easy medium fell with a light sticky sweet feeling and mellow carbonation.
Transfer from BA review on 6-7-13-
Poured from bottle into a pint glass
Appearance – Pours a golden amber color with a big two finger white head. The head fades relatively quickly leaving only the tracest level of lace on the sides of the glass.
Smell – The aroma is sweet and fruity with lots of honey and white grape juice. Mixed with these smells are some lighter aromas of floral notes and grains.
Taste – The taste begins very sweet with lots of white grape juice and honey along with some flavors of apple and pear. The sweeter flavors persist largely throughout the taste with some flavors of a very light herbal bitterness coming to the tongue more at the end of the taste. While at 10 % abv, the alcohol is very well hidden with it, in the end, leaving a very sweet mead flavor to be left on the tongue.
Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is very thin with a carbonation level that is average to light but consisting of tiny little carbonation bubbles. Fairly fitting for the sweet flavors of the brew and it makes it quite a quick drinker.
Overall- A little too meady taste and on the sweet side for me. Not horrible, but nothing too great for the price.
On tap @ Stogies N Hops. Pours bright golden copper with thin lacy white head. Aroma is sweet sugary malt with slightly dry earthy musty notes. Taste is hugely sweet pale malt, so sharply sweet it’s not even syrupy. Sorta vinous, quite dry on the back, and the super sweet malt finishes clean. The rice likely contributes to the thin light malt; and the honey and fruit load sugar in. Not one of their best, but always interesting with Dogfish.
tastes like beer and grape juice mixed together....I love how they came up with their recipe(s)...I can’t speak enough about how great that is... however, that doesn’t mean it will actually taste very good and this one is a bit off the mark for me....quite sweet...malty...slightly better as you sip....but too sweet for me...the palate is where it loses most....sweet then slight sour beer...poor combo
A light sweetness in the aroma but the sweet juicyness is prevalent in the taste. A bit of wine notes in the finish, and although it feels like it was blended with juice, it?s fun to taste.
Honey raisin aroma. Hazy golden color with a good head. Wow, sweet! Honey taste right off the bat, malt and grapes. OK, not my style.
2011 vintage 750ml bottle poured into my Dogfish Head Snifter. Pours a clear orange color with a medium off white head that leaves decent lacing. Smells of honey, caramel, fruit, and a wine like vine like quality. Tastes of the same things. Mouthfeel is slick and thin with light lacing and a semi dry finish. Unique but sort of weird. The ingredients don’t work that great together. One of my least favorite Dogfish Head beers.
Bright orange pour from draft at Eataly. Massive flavor. Honey and Carmel. Fruits earth and grass. A big beer and enjoyed mostly