Miles Davis Bitches Brew 2012 Edition. American Imperial Stout. Dogfishhead Brewery. 9% ABV.
Served chilled from a 750 mL bottle and poured into a brandy snifter. Smells are of chocolate and coffee. The bottle touts an aroma of honey but this is undetectable. The tastes are much like the smell; chocolate and coffee lead the way in this intense imperial stout. The carbonation is relatively light, but the body is pretty full. The aftertaste is heavy on the chocolate, and is bitter and lingering. This is an extremely pleasant beer to drink, and one I would definitely recommend.
There is a phenomenal documentary on Netflix called Brew Masters. It features Sam Calagione, CEO and founder of Dogfishhead. They show the brewing process and creative thinking behind many of their specialty brews. The pilot episode was about Bitches Brew. Sony Records enlisted Sam to help with the 40th release of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, an incredibly important record in jazz and blues history. The beer is a fusion beer: 3/4 imperial stout and 1/4 tej beer, an Ethiopian honey beer with no hops. After a successful launch in 2010, the brewery put out another batch in 2012. The bottle sampled here is a two year old aged bottle from the 2012 2nd batch. It was fun to rewatch the episode and sample the beer at the end. I am not sure what a fresh batch tastes like, but it aged quite well. I immediately went over to Medfield Wine Shoppe and bought two more bottles for the cellar. (Thank goodness Matt still had some!)
Overall an excellent beer from DFH and one that marks the anniversary of a classic and historic jazz record. Definitely pick this up if you are still able. It is supposed to age very well, so even if you buy it now, wait a year or 5 to enjoy it.
96/100
RSS Feed