Immort Ale - Dogfish Head Brewery

beernut7

Massachusetts

3.8/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

This is a very complex libation. Presents with a deep orange color and no lasting head. The aromas floating of of this ale are consuming. Hints of old oak and fermented maple syrup are rare and inviting. The flavor is also quite complex with a strong oak character and a lingering vanilla touch. Quite a warming alcohol content. One of the best in the style currently available.

Serving type: bottle

06-04-2002 19:10:13 | More by beernut7

Bighuge

Minnesota

4.65/5  rDev +21.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

The beer pours mohagony in color with very little head. I note some heavy wood accents on the nose as well as vanilla and pine. The first thing that really hits me on the buds is alcohol, but it really isn't overbearing or obnoxious. Then I get a dry woody taste. Cedar-like. Then there's also coffee and vanilla bean qualities. Very complex to say the least. Excellent taste qualities. Mouthfeel is a little like cough syrup, but given the taste of this "cough syrup", it's easy to look past it. Very drinkable for 11% a/v. Excellent brew.

Serving type: bottle

05-29-2002 21:33:11 | More by Bighuge

Bierman9

New Hampshire

4.53/5  rDev +18.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Ooooh baby, this is nice! Clear, dark copper color; Small, fine head, even with a hard-pour. Strong nose: alcohol present, lots of malt sweetness but also with a strong hop presence. Reminds me of the Bigfoot nose. Oh-so-smooth on the tongue; A-1 body!! Sweet start, caramel too, and a great hop finish. Lovely balance, but sweeter, and not as hop-accentuated as Bigfoot. A real (!) nice bier!!

overall: 4.45
appearance: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | mouthfeel: 5 | drinkability: 4.5

168

Serving type: bottle

05-25-2002 17:03:03 | More by Bierman9

mophie

Delaware

4.5/5  rDev +17.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

This beer has a very special place in my heart, mainly because both it and I are from Delaware. Even if not for that connection, however, this is still quite a special brew. Dark burgundy, with a slight white head. Complex malty sweetness, like ripe dark fruits. Somewhat bready up front. Alcohol is there, but not overwhelming. Dry, fruity finish. I like this beer!

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2002 21:47:30 | More by mophie

Suds

Pennsylvania

4.55/5  rDev +18.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I love big, in-your-face beers, and this brew lives up to its reputation. Drinking it was an adventure. Its so complex that you want to sit back and contemplate every sip...smokey, toffee-like, vanilla. I enjoyed it immensely.
This beer is not without problems, however. There are plenty of barley wines that have done a better job with the alcohol. The mouthfeel is dominated by an alcohol warming that just doesn't seem properly balanced. You sometimes have to wade through it to get to other sensations. Also, I was somewhat disappointed with the head, which, moments after the pour, was nonexistent.
Still, I can't be too harsh on Immort Ale, I truly loved every second of it. My bottles are young, and I can't wait to see what they're like after a little cellaring

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2002 12:10:43 | More by Suds

Jason

Massachusetts

4.03/5  rDev +5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Presentation: Green label with blurb about the beer on a 12oz brown bottle. "Ages Well", is noted on the label with a "Packaged In" date also.

Appearance: Lightly hazed dark reddish copper colour with a thin off white lace. Semi-creamy tiny bubbled chunky head.

Smell: Deep, rich and full of caramel with ripe fruit, notes of wood and tree sap in the nose. Extremely complex and fragrant. Alcohol is a touch vinous with estery and mild solvent aromas.

Taste: Big vinous character, woody flavours play on a faked dryness. Light acidic twang, syrupy malt flavour of caramel and ripe fruit. Traces of vanilla and toasted grain go back and forth. Ghost like smokiness. Alcoholic character is bordering on overwhelming, ester with faint fusel solvent flavours. Hops are part of the brashness that comes along with the alcohol and remaining grain. Hints of dried bitter orange peel and black pepper unfold in the finish.

Notes: A barley wine of no other, so extreme and complex this could easily use another year or two to mellow out. Though it is fine to sip in the brash form that it is in now. Outstanding.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2002 20:43:16 | More by Jason

Murph

Arizona

4.43/5  rDev +15.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Pours a very dark amber, almost brown. Decent head of the pour but it didn't stay all that well, faded down to a thin lace. Smells of vanilla, smokiness, alcohol, and a very light maple. The first sensations to hit my tongue are sweetness and hop bitterness at the same time. A light smoke character throughout the taste, traces of vanilla, and alcohol. For the strength of this brew you don't really taste the alcohol all that strongly. Very drinkable for its potency. I can't wait to get some more of this brew and lay it down.

Serving type: bottle

03-01-2002 19:44:10 | More by Murph

cokes

Wisconsin

4.97/5  rDev +29.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

I picked up a 12oz bottle of this liquid masterpiece, and it blew my face off. I was not ready for such a complete drinking epiphany. Complex beyond words. (Peat)Smoked flavors, vanilla, oak, scotch and bourbon flavor. Alcohol was evident (as well it should be in a brew of this strength), but it mixed in well with everything else. The bottle I had was over a year old. I purchased a 6 pack the next day My experience with this younger sixer (about 3 months old) was more mixed. Alot of the trademark flavor was not yet developed and the beer was less intergrated. Still very good, but more akin to a typical barleywine/old ale/scotch ale, or however one is supposed to classifly something like this. This is a beer to lay down for a while and test your patience. It probably needs about a year to fully develop. Once the beer is ready, make sure you are.
(footnote: the review is based on the older bottle, the younger sample would lose about 0.75 points on taste and drinkability)

Serving type: bottle

02-19-2002 01:59:04 | More by cokes

WilliamPhilaPa

Pennsylvania

3.58/5  rDev -6.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Peat smoke, sweetness & alcohol, a bit overwhelming, I think they blend well into a good mix of different & complex tastes. 11% sipping brew. I thought this was a pretty good barley wine-style ale. Overall pretty good.

Serving type: bottle

02-18-2002 11:35:05 | More by WilliamPhilaPa

mmthompson33

Kansas

4.75/5  rDev +24%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

This is up there with the great barleywines. Sweet and tangy, yet not overpowering. A lot like Victory's Old Horizontal. Mediocre barleywines are out there everywhere, and Immort Ale is way above that category.

Serving type: bottle

12-11-2001 21:19:17 | More by mmthompson33

beerluvr

New Jersey

4.85/5  rDev +26.6%
look: 4 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Whoa! Holy....poop, what a helluva beer! Like nothing I've ever had before. Can't compare it to anything in recent memory, it's a one of a kind distinctive beer...you must try before you die! A treasure of the brewers art. As an aside, check this out: after discovering this new arrival at the local liquor store a few years back, I bought the six-pack up to the counter, where the clerk couldn't find a price on it, (and honestly I had no idea how much it was, later to find it was 13 bucks) asked where I found it, I replied "in the warm beer aisle", and he said "Ok...$4.99" That made the beer taste all the much more grand!

Serving type: bottle

12-02-2001 19:31:57 | More by beerluvr