Dogfish Head Immort Ale – a vertical tasting
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I am not a fan of aging beer. So, why another vertical tasting article? I suppose you could say I’m… vertical-curious.
I find the idea of vertical tastings interesting — to discover how a beer evolves over time, how the flavors mellow, meld, and change… It shows that beer is a living, breathing entity with a natural life cycle, adding to the mystique of the magical beverage we all know and love.
However, like most other living, breathing entities, beer that is no longer in its prime gets old and crusty, and eventually dies.
Now that you know how I really feel, let’s get on with this vertical tasting of Dogfish Head Immort Ale!
The commercial description reads:
Vast in character, luscious & complex. Brewed with peat-smoked barley, Immort is brewed with organic juniper berries, vanilla & maple syrup. It’s aged on oak and fermented with a blend of English & Belgian yeasts.
Juniper berries, vanilla, maple syrup, and oak… Leave it to Dogfish Head, right?
Somehow I managed to get my hands on a bottle from 2006. The other bottle was from 2009. Let’s see what 3 years of aging does to a beer!
Appearance. Both are a rich reddish-brown-mahogany color with a thin off-white head. The 2006 is murky and opaque, while the 2009 is brilliantly clear.
Aroma. The aroma on the 2009 is malty, the alcohol is pretty noticeable, and maple, vanilla, oak aromas are bright and quite apparent. The 2006 aroma is dominated by malt and fruit in the form of raisins, plums, and cherries. It smells deep and rich, and no alcohol aroma is detectable.
Flavor. The 2009 tastes woody, malty, and sweet, with a touch of vanilla, maple, and a little oak. The finish is moderately sweet with a bright, fruity touch. The 2006 is majorly malty. The maple/vanilla/oak flavors are much less apparent. The finish is rich and deeply malty with hints of plums and raisins.
Mouthfeel. The 2009 is definitely full-bodied. The 2006 is not only full-bodied, but rich, thick, full, and viscous.
Overall. Both are amazing. They taste like two completely different beers, possibly distant cousins in a former life. I really enjoyed the subtle maple, vanilla, and oak flavors of the 2009. The 2006 loses some of that subtlety, but the rich, unctuous, malty wonderfulness does make up for it. The carbonation didn’t last on the 2006, and seemed more like port than beer in the end.
For this vertical tasting, I think I’m gonna have to call 2009 the winner. A lot of the subtleties from the adjuncts were lost with age, and to me, these flavors were the best part of this beer.
Once again, fresher was better for me. I’m sure that many would disagree with me here, but that’s the wonderful thing about beer, isn’t it? We can all have different opinions, but who cares? We drink what we like, and no one can take that away from us!
6 Comments to “Dogfish Head Immort Ale – a vertical tasting”
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The magical thing with disagreeing about beer is that, unlike other disagreements, no one gets all pissed off about it.
And since we’re on the subject, I’m a malt fan, so I actually prefer a slightly aged beer, as long as it’s heavy enough to age gracefully.
[...] geeks are like that. (Though not all of us; my Hop Press compatriot, Steph Weber, coincidentally just mentioned yesterday that she is not a fan of aging beer.) We have a stash of beer squirreled away somewhere (mine is [...]
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by ratebeer, Josh Christie, Maine Brews!, Steph Weber, A Perfect Pint and others. A Perfect Pint said: RT @Hop_Press: Fresh off the Press Dogfish Head Immort Ale – a vertical tasting http://bit.ly/czB3cA [...]
I’ve been contemplating doing this with trappist beers but blindfolded. I think it would be interesting to see how Grande Chimay Blue helds up against Rochefort and Westvleteren over a really random blind tastings’ event.
I also have Achel Exstra and hoping to include that too. Just wondering if anyone has done this yet.
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