Chateau Jiahu - Dogfish Head Brewery

wiseguy142

New York

3.7/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Was served to me with no head, very little carbonation, a flat, gleaming, thick orange. Smells of fruit: melons, apricot, apple. The first sip immediately hit me as "apple juice" but via further tastes I really got a lot of honey, apple, and floral notes out of it along with just enough of a feeling of alcohol to remind you you're not just drinking apple juice, if maybe a little weak. Mouthfeel is a light to medium body- very refreshing and nice for spring/summer. I'd probably have another one of these but the dominance of honey and fruit flavors doesn't really make me think I'm drinking a beer... more like some exotic mellow wine. Very interesting though.

Serving type: cask

04-18-2008 01:35:42 | More by wiseguy142

Suds

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev -7.9%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.25

I really enjoy these historic and cultural beer recreations. This beer is a golden straw color with a hazy complexion. The smell is flowery....garden-like, with honey and plenty of fruit...peach and berries. The beer is extremely sweet. Sugary, honey, fruit juice,a nod a spice that lingers. Full in body and very smooth. This is a very interesting, engaging, and enjoyable brew.

Serving type: bottle

05-18-2013 00:54:40 | More by Suds

Jonada

New Jersey

3.63/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

750ml bottled in 2013. Served in a teku glass

Appearance: Pours a honey yellow color with a finger and a half of a white soapy head. Body is slightly hazy with some moderate carbonation streaming throughout the glass.

Smell: Honey, white grape, somewhat floral, pear, light cereal grain and maybe a hint of clove.

Taste: Moderately strong sweetness upfront that carries through to the finish. Flavor is lots of light, sweet fruits. Grape, pear, honey, and apple. I'm getting some general spice notes but can't pinpoint one in particular. There's a slight graininess as well that detracts a bit from the overall flavor.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with medium, bordering on high, carbonation. Finish is sweet.

Overall: Overall a pretty decent beer and worth trying for the history/story behind it, but given the price, I probably wouldn't get it again.

Serving type: bottle

05-10-2013 02:52:35 | More by Jonada

UCLABrewN84

California

3.78/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

On tap at Story Tavern in Burbank, CA.

Pours a clear orange with a foamy bone head that settles to a partial film on top of the beer. Foamy streaks of lace form around the glass on the drink down. Smell is of malt, honey, fruit, and slight herbal and spice aromas. Taste is much the same with a fruity flavor on the finish. There is a mild amount of spice bitterness on the palate with each sip. This beer has a good level of carbonation with a crisp mouthfeel. Overall, this is a pretty good beer with an interesting back story but the flavor is quite sweet.

Serving type: on-tap

04-23-2013 04:22:40 | More by UCLABrewN84

kp29

Arizona

3.78/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.75

Ancient Chinese Beer Recipe? I'm going to assume that this a little different than say Tsingtao.

Chateau Jiahu pours a clear golden copper. The head dissipates very quickly and after a few minutes it's hard to tell that this beer has any carbonation going on at all. Taste is interesting and on the sweeter side. Pick up some grapes, some sweetness possibly from the honey, a little tartness from the hawthorne fruit I imagine, as well as a tiny bit of spiciness on the finish. The mouthfeel is a little syrupy and lingers in the mouth creating a syurpy, sweet, earthen feeling.

Overall, an interesting beer. I do enjoy the initial flavor quite a bit - a lot more than I do the syrupy mouth feel and subsquent flavor that lingers in my mouth though...but that definitely isn't stopping me from finishing the bottle.

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2013 00:11:44 | More by kp29

Greywulfken

New York

3.63/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

From the DFH site: ...Dogfish brewers use brown rice syrup, orange blossom honey, muscat grape, barley malt and hawthorn berry. The wort is fermented for about a month with sake yeast until the beer is ready for packaging.

A: clear yellow beer in a tulip, brief finger of head; no lacing

S: sweet winey aroma, maybe honey... fruity

T: sweet, like a thick white wine/meady-tasting beer, pale fruit notes and honey

M: slick syrup, slightly sticky, dense in viscosity but medium in body

O: well, this beer follows the others in DFH's ancient ales series - it tends to be a little too sweet for my current tastes - but I would've loved it 2 years ago when I seemed more taken by the novelty of the line.

Serving type: bottle

04-11-2013 00:33:20 | More by Greywulfken

dweeuu

Virginia

4.09/5  rDev +7.6%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I had this served through Randal the Enamel Animal with sake and some sort of fruit at the Dogfish Head brew-pub. I enjoyed it, but the fruity overtones were a bit much. I would recommend this as a dessert beer, it tends to overpower everything else.

Serving type: on-tap

03-09-2013 04:33:43 | More by dweeuu

brewskifan55

Mississippi

3.61/5  rDev -5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured into a snifter at my bottle share. Thanks, Jessie.

A: Hazy orange with a white, half finger head that dissipates quickly. Light lacing.

S: Honey and grapes. Sweet and floral.

T: Follows nose. Smooth, wine-ish. Like drinking grape candy.

M: Medium with a low carbonation.

O: We all thought this would make a great dessert wine. Unique, in a good way, from DFH.

Serving type: bottle

02-25-2013 17:29:44 | More by brewskifan55

kylehay2004

Florida

3.3/5  rDev -13.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Single finger head with excellent thick lacing on a golden amber murky body. Aroma of orange juice, candied fruits, honey and caramel. As Is the case with so many dogfish head brews the initial taste is strong, complex. A few more sips one can pick out orange blossom, honey, candied fruits up front finishing very sweet and floral. Oily, medium body and light to moderate carbonation. This one is pretty boozy and too sweet for me. Complex and worth trying. I would share the bottle with a friend or three.

Serving type: on-tap

12-25-2012 03:11:10 | More by kylehay2004

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

3.85/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

After two big DFH bottles last Sunday at a local bar, they gifted this to me as a take-away. Many thanks, The Station Taproom!

From the bottle: "9,000 year old Chateau Jiahu stands apart as the most ancient, chemically-attested alcoholic beverage in the world."; "Its re-creation is based on painstaking excavation by Chinese archaeologists of Jiahu in the Yellow River basin, state-of-the-art microanalysis of pottery residues by American laboratories, and the inspired "Neolithic" brewing of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. Chateau Jiahu, then as now, opens a window into the world of our ancestors."

Repeated pourings created little to no head, so let's call it a wash. Nose was both fruity and flowery, definitely grape, but with Spring-like flowers, think daisies, clover, et al. Wow. Mouthfeel was medium, but rather flat, with a very mead-like taste. A tip o' the Wood to my Old Lady for her expertise in this area. Lots of honey flavor on the tongue, accompanied by whichever flowers from which it was derived. Finish was breathtakingly dry as you might expect from a honey-based beer. Nice!

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2012 19:44:09 | More by woodychandler

KickbacksSteve

Florida

4.43/5  rDev +16.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On tap at Kickbacks in Jax. 2009 vintage. Poured into a snifter. Hazy, copper body, off white head, low retention. Clear, minimal lacing. Aroma includes caramel malts, orange marmalade, grape juice and maybe a touch of vanilla. Taste really dominated by grapes, sweet grapes. Amazing how all traces of alcohol have disappeared and now this beer is amazingly drinkable at a very high abv. Paired quite well with a spicy shrimp risotto.

Serving type: on-tap

11-26-2012 06:09:51 | More by KickbacksSteve

bmwats

Louisiana

3.55/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 750 ml bottle into a standard pint.

A: Golden hue. Pours about a half finger, foamy, white head. Settles quickly, leaving sporadic foam on the surface. Beer ring lacing, collects, and sinks into the body.

S: Butter, glue, honey, and a little fresh flora.

T: Lightly malted. Honey and orange citrus. I think some pomegranate and triple sec in there, too.

M: Syrupy body. Clings to the palette. Sweet, almost cloying... lingers throughout.

D: Sip. Not hugely sweet, but the sweet finish that lingers makes it difficult to power through.

Atmosphere is good. Decent body, but nothing much to speak of in terms of lacing. Nose is a very interesting combination of components; sweet and fruit, plant and...dairy?... Flavor is syrupy and honey sweet with some solid fruit compliments. This should probably come in a smaller vessel, due to it's cloying characteristics. Overall, this is a good...but interesting...quaff.

Serving type: bottle

10-28-2012 04:05:00 | More by bmwats

GoatsUdder

California

4.25/5  rDev +11.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

I went through some of our special speakeasy beers, as I call them, the other day at work. I was surprised to find Chateau Jiahu, which I was looking for during one of my anthropology classes (I would never dream of bribing a teacher! How dare you suggest!) I'm sitting here now and I just cracked it open and poured some for the husband and myself. It is 10% ABV and has a rating of 10IBU's. Upon pouring you'll notice little to no head and a very light aroma. The aroma was very sake like with a hint of honey. The flavor was like a rice gelatin that you get during the new year in china town seasoned with honey. I get a light honey flavor at the back and a definite floral taste in the middle tones, I thought it tasted saffron like but my husband says it's really the chrysanthemum. I have never had hawthorn fruit so I don't quite know what to look for but I get a definite back throat, late harvest sweetness that I assume comes from grapes.

Sam and Dr.McGovern have indeed done it again! This is a beautifully crafted, almost wine-like beverage. I definitely can taste the flavors from the Sake yeast they used which creates a definite roundness in the overall feel and flavor. Brava!

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2012 00:53:31 | More by GoatsUdder

superspak

Michigan

4/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750 ml bottle into tulip glass, bottled in 2012. Pours lightly hazy golden amber color with a foamy 1-2 finger white head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Good foamy lacing clings to the glass. Aromas of honey, pear, grape, clove, herbal, apricot, bread, earth, bubblegum, pepper, light banana, and yeast spices. Damn nice and unique aromas; great balance and complexity. Taste of honey, grape, pepper, herbal, pear, apricot, floral, clove, earth, bread, banana, orange, and yeast spices. Lingering notes of light fruits, herbal, floral, clove, earth, and light yeast spices on the finish for a good bit. Very nice flavor balance and complexity; with zero cloying sweetness for a 9% beer at 10 IBU. Fairly clean finish. Medium carbonation and medium-full bodied; with a fairly creamy and slightly slick mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is extremely well hidden with hardly any warming noticed at all after the finish. Overall this is yet another damn nice experimental ancient ale from Dogfish Head. Tons of flavor complexity and balance; very smooth to sip on for a 9% beer. There are also a lot of interesting flavors and aromas I cannot describe, but they work well. Very impressive.

Serving type: bottle

08-26-2012 05:46:43 | More by superspak

Jamesthebrit

Michigan

3.7/5  rDev -2.6%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: A pretty unassuming beer. It's amber orange... Head dissipates quickly... uhhhh hazy. Yeah. Bottle has a sexy girl on it (which may or may have been the reason why I bought it (what? that's a fine reason))

S: Very tart, with some yeast backing and a sweet grape element. Much like a big bodied white wine. Alcohol is noticeable but not overpowering.

T: Again much like a full bodied white wine. Very dry subtle flavors. A sweet finish which is a little odd as the beer is pretty herbal throughout the experience. It has an earthy bitterness to it rather than a floral bitterness. Complex but not necessarily mind blowing.

M: Sits very light with a dry gritty sweet finish. A dry finish is fine but this one is a little too spread out.

As a sipping beer this was pretty good. Like when I was just watching TV and not really focusing on it it was fine. But when I really got to trying to appreciate this one it wasn't that great. Depends on what you're looking for but I think there are beers that are similar but better than this one.

Serving type: bottle

08-25-2012 23:25:12 | More by Jamesthebrit

DonDirkA

Arizona

4.55/5  rDev +19.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

The nose is very flowery and sweet with hints of honey. Slight hints of fruitiness like grapes and oranges. Honey sweetness up front dominates, then a wine-like fruitiness washes over the tongue and blends with a flowery brightness. At the tail end the sticky honey flavors take back over and sticks around on the tongue leaving you with a lingering sweetness but a dry finish. This is one of the best of the Ancient Ales in my opinion.

Serving type: bottle

08-07-2012 23:50:07 | More by DonDirkA

ginemesis

North Carolina

3.35/5  rDev -11.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A- Amber colored with little to no head. Very clear.

S- Hints of bubblegum, too sweet and fruity

T- Tastes like i stuck a wad of bazooka gum in my mouth. Similar to the 120, but less hoppy

M- A very smooth feel while slightly thick

O- A good sipping beer, but not one I would want to drink regularly

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2012 02:07:44 | More by ginemesis

bigfnjoe

Pennsylvania

3.15/5  rDev -17.1%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a bottle into a Dogfish snifter

A- pours a rather transparent shade of orange with a one finger white head that fades quickly. Lots of carbonation, but not too much. Looks nice

S- slight grape aroma, but not a whole lot going on here. Bleh

T- the grape and honey are noticeably sweet...slight booze coming through too, which is odd given that this bottle is a year old. Huh

M- medium bodied and pretty nice

O- just kinda there. Not worth the 12 bucks I paid. All these Dogfish ancient ales have the same base flavor, and that irritates the hell out of me.

Serving type: bottle

07-30-2012 23:51:01 | More by bigfnjoe

LiquidAmber

Washington

3.95/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Review from 11/2010 notes. Poured into a Nostradamus flute glass. Pours clear orange amber. Slight head and light lacing. Nice aroma of fruit (pear and apple among others) and honey. Simple, but tasty blend of honey and light fruit flavors, moderate body. Honey flavors are reminiscent of Midas Touch. A bit sweet, but very pleasant to drink.

Serving type: bottle

07-12-2012 03:31:46 | More by LiquidAmber

badun

Florida

3.05/5  rDev -19.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

I'm rating this comparatively low because it tastes like a grossly overpriced mead. It is good, if you can stand the sweetness, but you can make something equally as tasty for far less money at home. It doesn't get easier than mead and I think Dogfish Head is really pushing it to sell a bomber of this for $12+. There are some distinctions in the taste because of the ingredients they used, but overall the taste is simply too reminiscent of good ol' mead. I won't buy this again.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2012 23:21:58 | More by badun

grittybrews

Washington

3.63/5  rDev -4.5%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured a rich gold with a finger of white head with an aroma of honey, citrus, grape, and light floral notes.

Moderate carbonation and a light, sticky mouthfeel. Lots honey and a grape up front with hints of orange and light spice. Sort of a gewurztraminer wine character with a clean rice backbone.

Pleasant for a couple sips but the sweetness overpowers everything here.

Serving type: bottle

06-26-2012 16:36:08 | More by grittybrews

BostonHops

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

750ml bottle served in a snifter.

pours a bright, slightly hazy golden yellow with a foamy finger plus white head that dissipates fairly quickly into a thin cap, collar around the glass. lacing in spots.

nose delivers a candied fruit-like sweetness... honey and grape/grape juice, a touch of spice... has a certain BSPA quality to it and is a bit vinous... really nice aroma, though it makes you worry the taste will be overly sweet.

comes close. the honey and grape are evident, along with some banana... my first thought is that finishing the bottle will be a project; but after a few sips my palate warms to it and i find myself really enjoying it. flavors seem to compliment each other nicely. well-hidden 10%ABV.

slightly syrupy, medium-bodied mouthfeel; pretty well carbonated. the unique kind of beer that will warrant a revisit, just not a lot in a sitting.

originally reviewed: 01-07-2011

Serving type: bottle

05-24-2012 21:57:32 | More by BostonHops

ngeunit1

California

4.43/5  rDev +16.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

A - Pours a clear golden-orange color with a finger of frothy off-white head. The head fades down at a normal pace leaving behind some nice lace.

S - Aroma is a mix of honey, light fruits, grape, bready caramel malt, and a bit of spicy yeasts.

T - Starts off with a mix of light fruits with some pear and apricot alongside some grape, honey, and a bit of coriander. Through the middle, some more honey comes through with some more spices and yeast flavor with a bit of caramel bready malt. The finish is a mix of honey, sweet malts, light fruits, some grape, and some sake yeast, with a hint of booze.

M - Medium-full bodied with moderate carbonation. Feels smooth with a sweet, lightly spicy and warming finish.

D - Very drinkable. Really nice and complex and nuanced. Good mix of unique flavors that really come together nicely.

Serving type: bottle

05-22-2012 04:56:34 | More by ngeunit1

RollBounce

New York

3.38/5  rDev -11.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Light bronze color, nice amount of foam and carbonation, nose is thick and sweet, thou very subtle, hint of fruit that i assume to be Hawthorn. Full mouth feel, caramel, prickly pear, rice and lemon. Bitter finish that is some what syrup like.

Overall; An interesting brew. Good mouthfeel and appearance. Reminded me of a popular German beer in a green bottle that starts with an "H". Great with a Klondike Heath bar.

Serving type: bottle

05-06-2012 20:03:19 | More by RollBounce

Rukasu

District of Columbia

3.5/5  rDev -7.9%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

A- Pours a honey golden with a single finger head

S- Heavy on grapes and floral -- Muscat wine, rosewater -- fruity yeasts

T- Big floral and sweet grape taste. Hints of honey, pear and peach.

M-light to medium bodied, champagne like. Mild astringency and a subtle alcohol warmth with the 10% ABV.

O- DFH's big bottle brews are always hit or miss. This one is somewhere in the middle of the road. Enjoyed a bottle with a salmon banh mih which I thought would be a good combination, but the beer was too sweet for the meal. However, the complexity of fruits and florals is very interesting and pleasing.

Serving type: bottle

04-30-2012 00:59:17 | More by Rukasu