Imagine being faced everyday with the worst temptation imaginable. After a long day of work, you walk into your front door and you are faced with a temptation that you've promised to turn your face from. You've read various reviews, and heard others talk about this temptation and it makes it more and more difficult to resist. Well, this is what I was faced with during the 2 years I cellared my Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. A full 730 days of wanting, so badly, to just have a taste of what was inside the bottle. I had heard from so many people how amazing it was, but I had made a promise to a close friend that we would drink our respective bottles on his 30th birthday together. First, like I have stated in a previous post, I'm not a huge proponent of Dogfish Head beers. Their IPA's are good (the 120 is stellar, but overpriced as all of their beers are), and I also enjoy their Raison D'Etre, and a few other offerings. I got very excited about the Miles Davis' Bitches Brew. It sounded like an interesting beer, and the reviews I read made me even more interested. I had bought my bottle, as well as my friend's on his 28th birthday when we both decided to cellar the beer for 2 full years and enjoy it together when the time came. Well, on December 4th of 2012 the time came. Here is my review:
Style: Stout
ABV: 9%
Price: $15/24oz bottle
Packaging: Bottle
Appearance: The color is a dark as night...pitch black, with a caramel brown head roughly 2 fingers thick. It has a rich lacing on the glass, very this lacing, which sticks firmly to the glass and hardly moves down the glass.
Aroma: Amazing, simply amazing. Chocolate overload on the nose, as well as mocha-coffee notes. A deep, rich roasted smell with hints of smoke. Incredible.
Taste/Mouthfeel: Very full bodied, with a medium amount of carbonation. Right off the bat I am bombarded with roasted/smoked flavors, coupled with dark chocolatey bitterness. After the initial bitter chocolate and roasted notes, sweeter malty chocolate notes prevail. This train ride ends with a more bitter finish, reminiscent of Angostura Bitters, but the bold chocolate/roasted/smoke flavor profiles prevail throughout the tasting.
Overall: A very interesting, and complex beer. Although this beer is brewed with honey, I don't get any distinctive notes of honey at the front or the back end of the tasting. I'm not a huge fan of stouts either, but this one had me craving a sip after the finish of each sip. If you love rich smoked, roasted malt and chocolate flavors, then this beer is surely for you. I would definitely drink this as a desert beer, possibly with chocolate mousse, or dark chocolate ganache. Enjoy!
Score: 9/10
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