Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Deleware

One of the highlights of my trip to the East was a whirlwind adventure down to Washington D.C. to have a little BarBEERians reunion. Aside from all the great beer we drank, it was awesome to hear from Matt about the stuff he has been drinking that we really don’t have access to in Montana. Hey, and maybe someday when his work slows down a bit,k he’ll be able to tell all you loyal readers about it too. Of course there was some good beer on stock at his house and after much debate, we made a courageous decision to get into a bottle of Black and Blue from Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. It is a strong ale brewed with blackberry and blueberry puree. It sounded interesting, as lots of Dogfish stuff does, and well, interesting it was.

The Black and Blue didn’t really remind me of a beer so much as a sparkling cider, but the sort of sparkling cider you wished you had when you were 15: the kind that has a bit of a kick to it. The ruby red elixir had almost no head and was wafting up an aroma that reminded me of my grandmother: white zinfandel. Or a cran-blackberry sparkling cider. Not really too appealing, but you never know, so onward we plunged. It kicked off showing us its boozy character and quickly turned sweet and puckering, but as the small champagne like carbonation bubbles crawled across the palate, it took on a fruity character with a solid sour backbone. As it warmed, the fruit became less pronounced, which as far as I’m concerned was a good thing, and the octane of the beer started to show up even more. Sort of a double edge sword with the whole warming issue.

When I headed east, I was excited to dive head first into everything Dogfish. And I did try the 60, 90, and 120 minute IPAs, but after the Black and Blue, I was struck by a sudden realization. Even pop0el who make great brews and have lots of experience with the industry are led awry sometimes. The black and BLue is one of those times. I found it to be more like a carbonated wine than a beer and was pretty unimpressed. It wasn’t until a wrote this review that I noticed why the beer hadn’t hooked me. Its not that it was bad, it just wasn’t what I look for in beer. It lacked a lot of the great characteristics of beer I have come to love (malt and especially hops). Although it was a quasi-tasty beverage, I would never recommend it to someone who is in the mood for a beer. That being said, it might improve and become more complex if it aged for 18 or so months. Check out what Sam Calagione has to say about it!