Dogfish Head Rosabi
The vivid rose hue of this imperial Pale Ale comes from a combination of Munich and Caramel malts and a touch of red rice from Louisiana, birthplace of musician and collaborator Julianna Barwick (read all about that collaboration here!).
Julianna, who builds ecstatic choirs by looping and layering her voice, helped choose the ingredients for Rosabi and visited coastal Delaware to brew a test batch.
Citrusy Simcoe and Centennial feed Julianna’s love of hops, and the star of the show is her go-to ingredient: wasabi. What’s hoppy? … Wasabi. The Japanese root adds bittering and herbal notes similar to hops, with its subtle heat creeping in after the kick of carbonation.
Julianna, who builds ecstatic choirs by looping and layering her voice, helped choose the ingredients for Rosabi and visited coastal Delaware to brew a test batch.
Citrusy Simcoe and Centennial feed Julianna’s love of hops, and the star of the show is her go-to ingredient: wasabi. What’s hoppy? … Wasabi. The Japanese root adds bittering and herbal notes similar to hops, with its subtle heat creeping in after the kick of carbonation.
3.3
179 reviews
Milton, United States
Community reviews
750 ml bottle poured a clear amber with a small lasting amber head. Aromas of caramel, earthiness, wasabi, grassiness and light citrus. Palate was light bodied and crisp with dry finish. Flavors of caramel, wasabi, earthiness and light citrus with a crisp dry lingering wasabi finish.
Bottle from Wegmans - another disappointment. I'm not getting a ton of the Wasabi. It's reading as just bitter. Meh.
Bottle from Wegman’s fairfax. Pours golden with an inch of white foam. A bit of floral on the nose. Some decent floral hop notes on the tongue. I can’t say I’m getting much influence from the wasabi. Not feeling this one.
(On Tap) Clear rosy golden with good white head. Pine and citrus aroma. Light bodied with mouthfilling carbonation. Complex flavour, mainly citrus and hops. AN interesting and enjoyable beer.
Bottle poured a lightly hazy orange-rose hue w/ large rocky head and thick sticky lacing. Moderate sweet herbal aroma. Initial flavor is mild sweet w/ a moderate bitter finish. Tastes are caramel, straw, wasabi, and lime. Full bodied and creamy mouthfeel.
Backlog. Draft at DFH Alehouse-Falls Church. Once again, I ran out to try the new strange DFH brew. The benefit and curse of living 2 miles from the alehouse. Amber with offwhite head. Citrus and herbal hops, with some messy herbs and spices. No wasabi heat or burn, just an off-putting herbal mess. Is it new and experimental? Yes. Is it good? No. No it is not.
Pours a slightly hazy deep, dark amber color. Aroma is hops, orange, and oak. Smells absolutely fantastic! Heavy palate. Flavor is the same. Nice and hoppy, yet citrusy, earthy and delicious. Leaves a bittersweet citrus finish. I don’t taste any wasabi in this but there is a little heat after a while.
Lost review from last fall. Surprisingly dark, though it was dark in the restaurant so couldn’t tell how red. Unusual herbal aroma. Light wasabi heat in the finish.
Hazed amber color with white head, quite beautiful. A nice floral aroma. Floral hop (distinctive DFH) flavor, almost fruity, with just a touch of heat in the end.
750ml, was not crazy about this one. earthy bitterness, not a lot of wasabi but it makes itself a bit more evident as beer warms. OK
nah, it was just undrinkably bad malts, i didnt really even get the other crap they threw in there, these beers are going to be the death of dogfish head, another terrbile 750
Location: 750 ml bottle from State Line, 1/11/15, Bottled 5/15/14
Aroma: The aroma is citrus and floral, some wasabi, spice notes, and a good bit of earth as well
Appearance: A murky reddish color with a smallish bubbly beige colored head and mid-heavy lace
Flavor: The flavor is fairly balanced between the wasabi, the sweet malts, and a light bitterness
Palate: The body is medium, with a softer carbonation, well hidden ABV, and a smooth, spicy finish
Overall Impression:
Perhaps the hops have faded a bit (since this bottle is more than half a year past bottling), but I enjoyed what this beer has developed into. The wasabi component of the flavor actually works pretty well, you can tell it is there, but it doesn’t completely overpower the rest of this beer’s components. I’m not sure the combination would ever be a favorite of mine personally, but the whole thing feels very well crafted. I’ve happily enjoyed a good portion of the bottle, and I’m plenty happy to finish off the rest.
Bottle. Light amber pour with a thin off white head. Aroma of earthy hops and vegetables. Medium bodied with a malty backbone. Sharp finish. Didn’t get much of the wasabi.
7 Jan 2015, bottle. pink/light amber. nose is caramel malt with noticeable herbal notes. med body and mildly fizzy. this is a very unique and interesting beer. first, wasabi doesn’t hit you in the nose like you might expect. i don’t know if i want that in a beer, but then again, i don’t know what i want in a wasabi beer. its hard to place the herbal flavor. part of me wants to say wasabi peas and part of me wants to say turnips. very interesting.
2014 bottle...Cloudy copper, on first inspection seems like a normal pale ale, complete with bitter hops, grapefruit....I’m not experiencing a lot of heat here but It does compliment Asian food quite well...I may be a bad judge for heat in this beer, as I put a lot of wasabi on my sushi :).....good stuff though...I get the wasabi flavor minus the heat!
Sigh...This very well may have a carefully chosen combination of hops. It may, in fact, contain wasabi. But there is sweet, gooey malt flavor that covers everything up so I’ll never know.
25 oz. bottle. Pours a clear copper color with a slightly off-white head that slowly settles to a film leaving a bit of lacing. Aroma of hops, a little sweetness like fruit, spicy pepper and some sourness. Lively carbonation on the tongue. Medium body, good balance of hops and malt. I notice a slight burning after the swallow, probably the wasabi. As it warms the wasabi is much more noticeable but not hateful. Very interesting, if you get the chance, give this a try!
Pours a clear coppery amber with a thick and frothy buff head. Aroma has malty, clove, hoppy, hay, and subtle - is that the wasabi? - tones. Flavor pleases with its hoppy, malty, clove, caramel, and subtle spicy notes - not bold or fierce, but enjoyable. Firm texture has a strong and lasting fizz, while woody hops and a bit of wasabi come forth in the finish. Rice, wasabi root, and the classical ingredients of beer combine for a nice liquid concerto.
Bottle: Poured a deep amber color ale with a nice large foamy head with excellent retention and some lacing. Aroma of citrus hops is pretty dominant with some lightly caramelized malt. Taste is also dominated by strong citrus hoppy notes with some light spicy undertones and some toasted malt notes. There is also quite a bit of residual sugar in this beer. Body is full with good carbonation. I was expecting the beer to be quite a bit more spicy but the wasabi notes were quite subtle.
Clear golden pour with decent white head. The wasabi is evident in both the aroma and flavor, but not overpowering. But not exactly hidden in the background either. Not very spicy, other than the standard herbal hoppiness of the c hops. Not sure I would want more, but probably pretty decent with sushi.
29th November 2014
Lightly hazy amber beer, small pale cream colour head. Palate is light, dry and crispy. Thin dry malts, perhaps a little sweetness well buried. Hops are floral with tangy marmalade. The Wasabi is well integrated and provides another dimension to the beer without re-arranging the nostrils as the raw product is apt to do! Finishes dry with a touch of pine. Slightly dry but always drinkable and goes down easy for an 8% beer.
Nice Amber color but smells like sour kraut and taste like crap enough said...
Bottle. Pours amber orange with a dense off-white head. Aroma of citrus, caramel, earth and spices. Flavor of caramel, citrus, earth, fruit, herbal notes and some light wasabi.
Bottle sample at a tasting at Beer & Beyond. Clear reddish-amber with a big, lacy vanilla-colour head. A little cherry and spiciness, but not necessarily wasabi - could just as well be pepper. bitter, dry, hoppy taste with a hot bite and weak wasabi notes. Medium body, hoppy aftertaste and a little wasabi finish.
Poured a hazy reddish color with a large stable off-white head. Aroma has lots of rice, dry cherries, and some of the wasabi. Taste is very full with lots of rice and berries. Sweet cranberry finish. Very different from anything I’ve had before. Maybe a bit too much rice flavor. Some leaves in the taste too. Overall quite interesting.
Bottle sample at a tasting at Beer & Beyond, Tel Aviv. A bit hazy copper with small stable beige head. Aroma of onion, hoppy, some maltiness, floral. Nice hoppy flavor, onion, caramel, herbs, very light hot, small itching in the tongue in the finish, dry. Light carbonation, medium-bodied. Very good.
750 ml bottle. Pours hazy reddish orange with a medium creamy off white head that retains well and laces the glass.
The aroma is sweet crystal malt with cascade like hops and maybe some musty wasabi?
The flavor is sweet sugary crystal malts with fruity hops and a little nuttiness and spice in the finish. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with smooth carbonation.
Overall, an interesting beer. A bit overly sweet with not much noticeable wasabi.
Pours a rosy amber with a good head. Aromas of citrus and caramel. Taste is sweet and malty up front with a slightly sour bitter end. Wasabi is subtle but perceptible. A dry-ish finish with mild carbonation. Overall I find this one interesting. Good but not really what I was expecting.
Appearance : opaque with colorful reddish orange hue, white head.
Aroma: hops, grass, straw, horseradish/wasabi comes later but once you key in on it, its there, and can start to feel that lovely burn in your sinuses.
Taste: Odd (though not unexpected). Wasabi is very present, but seems to be disconnected from the main flavor. Some ash, sour fruit, citrus, grapefruit,
Feel: medium carbonation. Some creamyness,that aeems to evaporate. Strange taste makes this hard to evaluate.
Moments of interest, but overall falls short. A nice effort by dogfish head is appreciated but i can’t say I’ll spend $14 on this again.
The beer smells very hoppy with a slight chemical quality and malts. The appearance is golden. The taste is like the aroma with a touch of wasabi. The palate is average. Overall it’s not what I thought it would be.