Name: Immort Ale

Brewer: Dogfish Head

Style: American Strong Ale

Cellared On: August 16th, 2007

Original Tasting: August 24th, 2007

Dogfish Head’s Immort Ale is a wild take on a American (or Scottish) Strong Ale. Brewing this ale with maple syrup and then aging it in Oak give it that traditional Dogfish twist.

This beer poured a deep brownish/red color with about an inch high semi-creamy head. As my glass filled I was reminded of drinking beer by a campfire, as I was picking up some smoky aromas.

Upon my first swig (it was a huge swig too!), the oak aging really came through with a thick smoke flavor. Fortunately the sweetness of the beer quickly kicked in before the smoke could overwhelm. I could definitely taste the maple, and it makes for a very nice compliment to oak aging. This beer has a thick mouthfeel to it which I feel matches the flavor profiles very well. The finish is all oak, but not with a huge smokey quality this time. The oak in the finish more reminds me of a powerfully oaky (is that a word?) Chardonnay, which is a good thing to me.

Other online tasters note the presence of vanilla and charred tastes in this brew. The smoke/maple combo also reminded tasters of bacon. More then one person noted this ale felt almost like a barleywine to them.

Overall I thought it was a very enjoyable and balanced beer. I ended up liking it a hell of a lot more then I thought I would going just by the description. Another win for dogfish.

This sure feels like an autumn brew, why the hell is it a spring release?

Six Month Tasting: February 15th, 2008

Smoke. Smoke. Smoke. And more smoke. Did I mention this beer was smokey? I can’t believe what happened here. Most of the delicious sweet and vanilla flavors are gone. All that remains is a bit of oak and a whole LOT of smokey, even bacony flavor. This brew has become completely unbalanced and much more simple in process. It’s also almost undrinkable in it’s present state.

One Year Tasting: September 13th 2008

I don’t know what the hell happened six months ago. This was definitely NOT the same brew I tasted back then.

The balanced beer I first tasted was back. Powerful maple (with vanilla hints) sweetness was paired up with a strong oaky charred smoke flavor. Big bold flavors with a kind of syrupy body make this brew a sipper for sure.

Cellar Outlook: This should be an interesting one to cellar. A high ABV% should make this beer hold up well, and it will be cool to see how the interplay between the smoke, maple, and oak flavors play out over time.

Six Month Cellar Outlook: I haven’t give up hope here. Smoke flavor will typically subside over time, I’m hoping we’ll get some of the secondary flavors back a year or two down the road.

One Year Cellar Outlook: As Towelee the Towel says on Southpark ” I have no idea what’s going on…” I suspect there’ll be lot’s of smoke flavor next time I try this one, but I don’t know what other flavors are showing up to the party.

Next Tasting: August 2009