Dogfish Head World Wide Stout

The American Craftbrew scene has become quite crowded over the last decade or so, to the point where I despair of being able to visit every brewpub in the state. Some of these breweries, such as Troegs and Victory, have become quite well known for having very consistent, very good beer with a good distribution, and there are many other of these regional breweries spread across the country. Then there are a couple of craft breweries such as Russian River that have become known across the nation; Russian River and head brewer Vinnie Cilurzo gained notoriety for creating the double IPA style as well as brewing a large number of fantastic sour beers.

Dogfish Head Brewery is one of the most famous East-Coast breweries largely because of its founder, Sam Calagione, and his obsession with strange beers. Dogfish Head opened as a brewpub named Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats in 1995 in Rehoboth, Delaware. This was the first brewery to open in the state since prohibition was lifted, and Sam actually had to have the law changed to allow the business to open. The brewpub flourished, no doubt helped by the lack of competition at the time, and quickly moved from their 12 gallon system to a 12 barrel system, allowing for bottling and distribution. By 2002 Dogfish Head had outgrown their second brewery, and to meet the increased demand they moved their main brewing and bottling operations to a new facility in Milton, Delaware, which continues to expand with growing demand.

The strange beers obsession has been with Dogfish Head since the beginning. Sam’s first beer was a pumpkin beer named Punkin Ale. This, as explained by Calagione, was the beer that convinced him to open the brewery; he entered it into the food contest at Pumkin Chunkin and won first place, which made him think “how hard could this be?” Since then, Calagione has made the brewery’s motto “Off-centered ales, for off-centered people”, which perfectly describes his brewing style. I have never even heard of, much less seen, a “normal” beer from dogfish head; Sam always has some special twist on the style. The perfect examples are their Chicory Stout and IPA line. The Chicory Stout combines the standard malt and hops with oatmeal, coffee and chicory, which gives it a unique taste which I thoroughly enjoyed. The IPAs, on the other hand, always seem to sweet for me; given the other Dogfish Head beers I’ve had this is not surprising, but I don’t know if it’s by flaw or design. Because of this, I’ve never really known how to evaluate Calagione’s brewing abilities; is he actually a fantastic brewer who can’t stand mundane beers, or is he actually not very good technically but covers for it by experimenting with crazy things?

Regardless of how good or bad his brewing skills may be, kudos to Sam for being willing to experiment. He has brewed an impressive number of different beers, ranging from a series of Ancient Ales based on recipes compiled from forensic archeology, to Pangaea, a beer brewed with an ingredient from every continent. The beer I reviewed today, however, was the World Wide Stout.

The World Wide Stout is an Imperial Stout that I’ve heard quite a bit about over the years. The beer poured black, with a finger of light brown head which lasted a surprisingly long time for this beer, given its high alcohol content, actually leaving a little lacing on the glass. The aroma was of a nice, roasty maltiness, with significant alcohol and sweet notes. The taste was quite malty without being burnt, and had some coffee notes, but the hops definitely took a back seat in this beer. The body was thick, but the carbonation level was moderate to the point where I didn’t really notice it was carbonated or flat, which is actually right where I like it. The biggest thing I noticed about this beer was that it was quite sweet. I don’t mean like a sweet (milk) stout sweet, either. It tasted very much like there was a lot of….well, sugar in the beer that yeast were not able to digest. This is not surprising given the 18 ABV alcohol content, but I don’t really like sweet beers, so I personally consider it a flaw.

As a whole, however, the World Wide Stout is actually very good and surprisingly drinkable for a RIS. I’d recommend giving it a shot, especially if you are a new beer drinker and want to give stouts a try; if you are used to sodas and other sweet American drinks, this will be an easy transition beer, especially since it won’t punch you in the face with hops.

Price: $7.50

Size: 12 oz

ABV:18%

Appearance: 4 /5

Aroma: 4/5

Flavor: 3.5/5

Mouthfeel: 4/5

Old Rasputin - North Coast Brewing Company

This week’s beer comes from, in my opinion, the strongest and most abusive style out there; the Russian Imperial Stout. This style combines a very strong and forward roasted malt presence with high bitterness and alcohol content. One word of caution, however; This style will tend to blow your palate for an hour or two, so don’t try sipping this while eating some delicately balanced dish with exotic spices, because you aren’t going to taste the food. The style itself is fairly old, as it was invented in the 1700s for export from England to the court of Catherine the Great, Tzar of Russia.

The beer in question is Old Rasputin from North Coast Brewing Company. This brewery was founded in 1998 in Fort Bragg, California, but quickly became well known in the American microbrew community for their consistently high quality products. Mark Ruedrich currently serves as brew master and has won numerous national and international awards, including two gold and one silver medals at the 2010 World Beer Championship. North Coast has also revived the Acme brand name, bottling a California Pale ale and an India Pale Ale under this historic label.

The proper glassware for this beer is a snifter or tulip, since the wide bowl and tapered neck will tend to trap and concentrate the aroma of this beer. As poor college students, however, most of us don’t exactly have snifters laying around from all the cognac we drink, so we improvise; Wine glasses work just as well, and in a pinch a pint glass is just fine. Food pairings for this beer require something strong enough to cut through the heavy taste of the beer. Fried foods will serve the purpose quite well, as will red meats such as a good burger or steak, or a strong cheese. This beer can also pair well with heavier deserts, such as cheesecake, tiramisu or coffee ice cream. Personally, I’d opt for a bacon and blue cheese burger with a side of fries, but I don’t have much of a sweet tooth either.

This beer poured an opaque black, blocking all light coming through my glass except at the very edges, which had a reddish hue. The head was a light brown color, although other examples of this style can be even darker. The head level and retention were both surprisingly low, quickly dissipating with very little lacing, which is typical of this style. The aroma was quite complex, although dominated by a roasted malt character. There were some hints of sweetness, but more pronounced were both coffee and chocolate notes. Aroma hops and dark fruit scents are not out of place with this style, but I did not notice any in this particular beer. The beer had a full body, which was offset with a moderately high level of carbonation; many other examples tend to be a little lower in carbonation and fuller in body, but this was not particularly out of place. The most obvious taste in this beer is a roasted maltiness, stronger than Guinness while at the same time lacking the burnt character that I usually associate with stouts. There were not any hot alcohol flavors, and the aftertaste of this beer is quite bitter and fairly dry. Overall, while this beer may not have been balanced, it was surprising smooth.

I actually enjoyed this beer a lot more than other examples of the style, mainly because of the smoothness, and I highly recommend it if you want to try the Russian Imperial Stout style. This being said, however, a final word of caution is in order; this is a strong beer, both in taste and alcohol, so it should be served at an appropriate time and place if you want to appreciate it.

Price: $5.50

Size: 12 oz

ABV: 9.0%

Look: 4/5

Smell: 4.5/5

Taste: 4/5

Mouthfeel: 4/5