Dogfish Head Noble Rot
A sort of Saison, fermented with Botrytis-infected Viognier and Pinot Gris grapes. This beer is brewed with Pils malt, organic Hard Red Winter Wheat malt, Warrior hops, Willamette hops, Liberty hops, Saison yeast and Botrytis wine must.
3.6
559 reviews
Milton, United States
Community reviews
From bottle. Aroma of vanilla, sweetish light fruit, grape. Hazy yellow no head. Taste is light+ sour, light sweet. Light body, oily feel, sweet finish
So,’noble rot’ in beer; an infection simplified that causes sweet wines has the same grip hold on this. Tasting from 2015. A 2013 75cL vintage (?). Produced up as expected. Honey gold and bright for the most with lively carbonation and a missing head. Dank, sweaty sock, acetic, musty, lemon tinged and slightly earthy Pinot Gris nose. On the palate it is much the same. Drabby, tannic and astringent yet oddly sweet and cloying. Body is the same; it is featherweight yet heavy and sickly. It’s a cross borders affair. Acetic, vinegary, white wine dominated palate. It is not enjoyable to drink to be honest. Have no idea the purpose, but looking back it was ground breaking as we have beers in all mix and alignments now. Not my pint of beer!
Clear golden, moderate head, some lace/retention. Aroma is strong grape - very white wineish, lesser notes of pale malt. Medium to light body, strong grape/white wine flavors. I guess I don’t get it. I’d rather drink a real beer, or if I was drinking a white wine I’d drink a Chablis or Chardonnay - or even a Riesling - and certainly one that wasn’t mixed with malted barley and hops.
Bottle pour into nonic pint glass from Cigarette City. Aroma is tart and sweet effervescence like a sparkling wine; fruit and some alcohol. Appearance is hazy pale yellow with greenish tinge, fair sparkle with finger-width white fizzy head with poor retention and trace lacing. Taste is grape-dominant sparkling wine, with tart over sweet. Palate is light-to-medium bodied with thick texture and lively carbonation, dry tart finish. Overall, I can see the saison-like qualities and give kudos for creativity. But, if I want something that tastes like sparkling wine, there are better tasting sparkling wines than this I’d rather have.
Pours cloudy golden with low white head. Aroma of fruit, mango and peach, mellow sweet finish. Light and smooth body with fruit sweet finish.
Pours clear yellow with low white head
Aromas are citrusy, grapes, , bready
Taste has notes of sweet grapes, citrusy fruits, lemon juice, wheat bread, hints of funk
Appearance: clear pale gold with a short, short-lived white head, no lacing. (3/5) Aroma: complex, grape must, stone fruit, oaky, gooseberry, and really pretty much any other bush/wild/field berry you can think of. (9/10) Taste: moderate sweet, moderate bitter, moderate tart. (9/10) Palate: medium-light body, moderate carbonation, off-dry mildly warming and funky finish. (4/5)
Wow. I went with “Fruit / Vegetable Beer” because to my knowledge there’s still no BJCP classification for “Weird Hybrid Grapey Thing”. This might be the first hybrid I’ve had that’s worth a damn. Rather than a hint of white wine (i.e. Nelson Sauvin hops, still my favourite, I love you Nelson Sauvin, don’t ever change) or an overwhelming cheap wine kit must (I’m looking at you, Phillips’ Sax in the Dark) this is a well-balanced integration of beer character with botrytis-infected Viognier (officially two of my favourite new words) grape must. Deep, lingering complexity on a light, crisp body. This shit will very politely fuck you up. God. Damn. I won’t actually recommend robbing your local liquor store, but anything short of that is fair game. (17/20)
Bottle from Chevy Chase Super Market. Hazy straw body with medium head. Nose is floral, grainy, fruity. Taste is of yeast, apples with wheat and malts. Sweet in the finish. Floral and apple bursts in the finish. Pretty good.
Pour is a semi hazy orange and yellow, no head. Lightly carbonated, easy to drink. Smell is grapes, grape peel, orange and other citrus, and white wine. Has that first taste of a dry white wine, then balances out with some bitter and sweet conflicting tastes. Very nice
Pours a light golden with an off white head. Nose is clove, honey, banana, white wine, passion fruit, sweet syrup. Flavor is honey, clove, banana, sweet wine, floal notes, a little sweet and hot on the finish, and then tart and a little acidic. Medium to heavy body, a little syrupy. I?ve been waiting a long time to taste this, and it?s pretty tasty. The grapes meld well with the Belgian yeast character to make a tasty beer. I like the acidity and the very long finish.
Bottle shared @ RBBWG 2016. Clear yellow colour, no foam. Sweet nose of grapes, honey and grape skin. Tart taste with sourish notes. Fruity, well balanced. Alcohol very well hidden. Good!
On tap at brewery. Light golden straw colored pour, airy head. Wine/grapes come forth in the aroma, blend well for a nice tart, fruity taste. Clean but short finish. Solid Saison throughout.
20/II/16 - 75cl bottle @ RBBWG V (Ben’s place) - BB: n/a (2016-186) Thanks to sebletitje for sharing the bottle!
Clear pale yellow beer, irregular small off-white head, unstable, non adhesive. Aroma: spicy, pretty fruity, peaches, bit herbal, floral, touch of honey. MF: ok carbon, medium to light body. Taste: very fruity start, alcohol, some banana peel, floral. Aftertaste: spicy, sourish touch, more banana peel bit dry.
Sampled at RBBWG16 . thnx for sharing everyone ! Pours clear blonde, small White head. Smell is malty, Honey, taste is Sharp, bit bitter. Sweet, apples, somewhat bitter aftertaste. Had somehow got a lot of cider-like aspects.
Bouteille 75cl de Total Wine, Tampa.
Dorée, léger voile, col épais blanc.
Arôme offre un bouquet centré sur le fruité, ici le raisin et levure sont bien présent avec un petit rappel de cidre, touche houblonnée en rétro.
Palais est agréable centré sur le fruité, la levure, mosto de raisin reste apparentée au cidre offrant une touche acerbe en fin de bouche. Ressent très peu du profil des houblons et encore moins de ce côté saison. Le tout est correcte en sachant que la bouteille date déjà de 2013.
0.75 l bottle at RBBWG 2016 in Antwerpen. Clear, straw yellow, white head. Sourish, slightly funky aroma of white grapes, gooseberry, lemon and some oak. Sweetish-sourish, minimally funky taste of white grapes, green apples, gooseberry and some oak, followed by a medium long, rather tart, dry finish. Thin to medium body, spritzy and moderately astringent mouthfeel. Good!
Thank you for sharing Sebletitje! 750 ml. bottle shared @ RBBWG V. This one that I have been curious about for a long time. Paler citrus, white bubbles. Nose is basic sweetish lemon & dull grape & pear juice, mineral, basic white sugar sweet. Taste is dull weird mineral pear & white grape juice, mineral boring apple, light esters. Sof carbonation pear juice. I had high hopes but this is another DFH beer that didn’t live up to them, it’s okay but largely just dull sweetish fruit juice & uninteresting mineral qualities. Okay going to meh.
Pale golden, light misty. Sweet pale base malt, with very little toast, more classic hops, bit hay, bit herbal. Medium bitter, sour, odd fermentation tastes. Intersting beer, very different. Reminds me a bit of the Brooklyn Sorachi Ace. Fun tick, unique. Thanks for the taste! (Sampled during RBBWG 2016)
Sampled @ Ratebeer Belgian Winter Gathering 2016. Clear pale yellow pale golden color, small white head. Smell and taste wheat, hayish, fruitpeel, grapepeel, quite some lemon or citrus. Ok beer.
Bottle at RBBWG, thanks for sharing Seb! Grapes dominate the beer, light sour, too Belgian yeasty for me.
Pale , golden color . Big , champagne-like head , which quickly disappeared. Apples, grape and malt in aroma . Taste reminds me white, table wine with almost champagne carbonation. Unusual and tasty brew.
Light golden pour. Aroma is almost a bit wine-like. The grape presence here isn’t very strong, but somewhat similar to a pinot. Body has a lot more carbonation, though.
Pours an almost clear gold with a head that quickly submits. Smells very faintly of an apple grape cider. Bottle design caught my eye. Tastes of grape must and yeast and at least a few different hops. Some maltiness. Goes down smooth with a sweet finish.
Overall? You really can’t go wrong. The only strike is the price of about 6$, but it’s forgivable.
2014 vintage. Smells like a bitter macro beer. Taste is like a mix between a saison and a Bavarian hefeweizen. You get the yeast and foam of a saison with the banana of a hefeweizen. Medium body, light carbonation, and some creamy foam.
Köpt på 750 cl flaska i New York. Tunn, klar, gyllengul färg med rikt mousserande skum. Doft av lätt lagermalt och citrus. Lätt syrlig kropp. Krispig smak av frukt must, äppelkart, citrus och grapefrukt.
From a cooler: poura slightly hazed golden with a white yead. Aroma is kind of like a cider, with some dirty wine grapes or something in there. Taste is very lightly hopped with a nice bit of dfh weirdness in the form of the must and weird yeast. Not getting too much saison to be honest, but this is still a worthy and interesting beer.
Pours a golden yellow with fizzy head. Aromas of fruit, grass, and yeast. Flavors of grass, wine notes, damn tasty...probably one of my top five Dogfish brews.
Bottle, from Costco, Sacramento. Golden color, white head. Aroma and flavour of American hops, saison yeast and grape must - an unusual combination, more interesting than really great. Not a bad beer though.
Very much in the style of a saison. Has a beautiful aroma with a slightly grape flavor.
Vom Fass. Irres Aroma. Fruchtiger Hopfen mit kräftigem Trauben Aroma. Nicht zu bitter. Die Trauben sind deutlich zu schmecken und es passt!