Chateau Jiahu - Dogfish Head Brewery

feloniousmonk

Minnesota

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

Bright golden color, opaque, slight carbonation, nil head.

Gorgeous aroma, abundant with fruit and flower, light and delicate, yet succulent. Sweetness surrounds the senses, but is well-grounded, and doesn't spoil anything.

Brisk sourness at the front, smack of grapefruit mingled with honey, drizzle of lemon with ...with the squeeze of a rainbow's nutsack.
A brew like this leads you to embrace absurdities, as it contains more than the mind can emcompass.

Light bodied, but so sui generis...

Delicious. An ephemeral blend, quite out-of-this-world, or too much into it, perhaps...lovely, lovely...gorgeous...

what more can I say? Beautiful.

Serving type: bottle

02-12-2007 06:48:58 | More by feloniousmonk

WesWes

New York

3.48/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

The beer pours a nice golden color with virtually no head at all. The aroma is decent. It has a fruity scent that smells of grapes and honey. I'm not sure I'm a huge fan of the aroma, but whatever. The taste is decent as well. It has a wine taste to it. There are flavors of honey and fruit with a bland grape juice flavor. The mouthfeel is average. It is a full bodied brew with less than adequate carbonation. I'm really not impressed with Dogfish Head's new brew additions. I guess they're cool and innovative, but I'm totally uninterested.

Serving type: bottle

09-22-2007 00:08:45 | More by WesWes

drabmuh

Maryland

3.38/5  rDev -11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

This was served on draught at Dogfish head pub in Gaithersburg, MD. Beer is clear, light yellow / orange, no head to speak of and minimal lacing, low carbonation. Aroma is fruity sweet, smell of grapes. This beer tastes like chardonnay. Seriously, white wine with grain. I'm not digging this beer. All and all its a fine beer but definitely not my favorite from DFH. Worth a look, hard to drink though.

Serving type: on-tap

09-20-2009 03:21:33 | More by drabmuh

Mora2000

Texas

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

The beer pours a golden orange color with white head. The aroma is very complex and I am sure I am missing some aspects of it. I get some flowers, orange citrus, bready malt and alcohol. The flavor is also complex. I get a lot of toffee, but I also get some nuttyness, flowers, perfume, orange citrus, maple, sugar and apples. I also get a nice dose of alcohol in the flavor, but the beer is still very easy to drink, although it does get a little bit cloying at the end due to the high sugar content. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. A very interesting beer with a very interesting back story. Of all the ancient ales brewed by Dogfish Head, this is one of my favorites.

Serving type: bottle

12-28-2010 05:01:54 | More by Mora2000

metter98

New York

3.83/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: It pours clear golden yellow in color with a nice frothy head. A moderate level of carbonation is visible.
S: There is a moderate smell of grapes in the nose.
T: The taste is relatively sweet, complex and has a good balance; the grapes and honey flavors really stand out but are nicely balanced by the underlying malts and the other flavors.
M: It feels medium-bodied and rather smooth on the palate.
D: This is a good beer to sip as the interesting flavors will continue to hold your palate's attention. The alcohol is relatively well masked, so I think I would try this again.

Serving type: bottle

05-02-2010 22:58:39 | More by metter98

Gueuzedude

Arizona

3.83/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Pours a brilliantly clear, orange tinged, gold color. The carbonation bubbles move just slowly enough through the beer to give it a sense of viscousness. The head starts out two-fingers thick and has some staying power to it. The head is just off white in color. As I pour this beer I get a note of something that clearly reminds me of rice, and yes, even sake. The aroma is fairly sweet, accentuating honey like notes and a soft floral nectar like aroma are the main components. This almost smells starchy to me, which is odd as I don't think pure starch has much of an aroma. Up front this smells like a super fragrant rice variety, with an intensity like what I imagine Jasmine rice to smell like based on the flowery descriptions of it that you see in cookbooks (of course the reality of Jasmine rice is much more subtle, though not this beer). There are some definite Jasmine aromatics here though. A touch of orange like citrus is here as well; it even almost has an orange-cream thing to it. Underneath is a dried, lightly toasted grain note. An interesting nose for sure, it is quite aromatic.

This beer is fairly well carbonated, but from the get go I realize that there was a reason this looked viscous. It is; sweet with a honey like flavor and even a bit of the honey-like heft to it. The carbonation helps to cut through the sweetness, but ultimately it succumbs. This has a definite, strong, fruity floral note to it. The flavors make me think of orange flower nectar, a touch of something like lavender, notes of jasmine, Kefir lime leaf and even a herbaceous green note that lightly accents the other softer flower like notes.

This does not quite get heavy, but definitely rests on the palate at times. While not nearly so, it definitely seems to resemble the one-dimensional, filtered, super alcohol brews from Dogfish Head at times. The sweetness in this brew is not quite so overwhelming though. The herbaceous notes seem to hold it in check. I am rather enjoying this as a tipple. It did not quite live up to my lofty goals of being an exercise in historical beverages, but it is quite a bit more enjoyable than I was expecting.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Serving type: bottle

11-01-2006 03:28:02 | More by Gueuzedude

TheManiacalOne

Rhode Island

3.13/5  rDev -17.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Poured from a 750ml bottle into a mug glass.

A: The beer is a bright gold color, with a thin white head, that fades quickly and leaves a thin lace on the glass.

S: The aroma contains honey, fruit, light caramelized malts, some spices and a touch of hops.

T: The taste starts out sweet with flavors of honey, spices and some caramel. Then the tart grape flavor asserts itself and a hearty but not too heavy malt character comes in. The hops presence is mild but complementary and brings some balance. The after-taste is slightly sweet.

M: Crisp and a little smooth, medium body, medium carbonation, finish is slightly sticky.

D: A little tasty, goes down ok, not too filling, well-disguised kick, decent representation of style, it’s another different beer from DFH but it’s not anything I would want to drink very often.

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2012 03:40:29 | More by TheManiacalOne

Knapp85

Pennsylvania

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

This beer poured out as an orange color, expected red for some reason. The head fizzled away pretty quickly just leaving a white ring. The smell is sweet and has a good herbal aroma to it. The taste gives off a wine like flavor, along with some floral and fruity flavors. The mouthfeel is on the lighter side here and it's pretty smooth also. I'd like to try this one again sometime because it's been a while. This deserves another taste for sure.

Serving type: bottle

06-02-2011 02:19:49 | More by Knapp85

Halcyondays

California

4/5  rDev +5.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3.5

25.4 oz. bottle, bought at Lone Hill Liquors, in Glendora, CA,

A: Pours a golden orange, a shade darker than the similar Midas Touch, with a small cap of white foam which dissipates rather quickly, actually looks a lot like a mead when it comes down to it.

S: Very flowery scent including sweet wildflower honey, apples, rose, apricot, and a bit of pear.

T: Taste is very interesting, similar to Midas Touch, but overall has a more winey characteristic, along with mead, sake, and malt beer. Honey and a huge white grape juice note, similar I thought to chardonnay, hits first. Then the rice character comes in and ends with the apple and apricot type ending. Very interesting and complex, although the sweetness at times gets to be too much.

M: Sweet, acidic, a tad cloying, but really has a nice carbonation, and is crisp throughout.

D: An interesting beer historically and taste-wise, and I'm glad I finally got to try it, although 750mL's was kind of a lot at the end of the night. A good beer to crack open with a friend and watch the History Channel.

Serving type: bottle

01-02-2008 18:26:13 | More by Halcyondays

Gavage

New Jersey

3.4/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Appearance: cloudy peach colored with a 1/4" head that quickly fell to a spotty surface foam.

Smell: sugary and fruity sweetness.

Taste: definitely a unique flavor here as there is a burst of sugary and honey sweetness that is combined with tart green grapes, some citrus, and a touch of yeast. There are some softer ripe fruit tones here and little bitterness. Alcohol is lightly noticable. Finishes quite dry.

Mouthfeel: very crisp at the start and smoother at the finish. Medium bodied. Short sweet aftertaste.

Drinkability: definitely interesting to try these ancient beer recreations, but not a beer I would buy a bunch of. One is enough to try, and finishing the bottle in one sitting was a slow process.

Serving type: bottle

09-27-2006 12:11:25 | More by Gavage

jwc215

New Jersey

3.98/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottled on 08/26/06:

Pours clouded honey golden with a thin white head. Some trailing lace slides down the glass.

The smell is of honey with fruity and herbal notes. Some grapey/vinuous notes enter in as well. Interesting, unique and pleasant.

The taste is of honey - and plenty of it. Yet, there are subtle complexities. Hawthorn fruit adds more sweetness to honey and malt, but also some sour. Tartness/dryness of grapes lends balance and a deeper complexity. Sweetness in the forefront enough to make it taste like liquid candy. Grape dryness is just enough to lend balance to the sweetish finish.

Light-bodied, in a good way. The sweetness lingers without being sticky.

An "experimental" brew that is unique and tasty. This is one to have if in the mood for "something different" and candyish.

Serving type: bottle

03-22-2008 01:18:37 | More by jwc215

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

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

I just saw the Dogfish Head Variety Show, uh, I mean Brew Masters, episode where they had to dump a batch of this, which makes me wonder how on Earth I'm able to procure a bottle of this locally. Oh well - count my blessings...and nice Chinese tramp stamp imagery on the label...

This beer pours a hazy pale golden hue, with one finger of soapy white head, which settles quickly, leaving very little in the way of lace around the glass. It smells of honey and sweet white grape juice, very much of the fragrant Concord or Muscat type. The taste is very sweet musky young white wine, a bit of citrus, sake, more wild honey, and, oh, what the hell, I'll say there's some kind of grain in there too. The carbonation is moderate, the body smooth and weighty in that sugary grape juice manner - read: on the low end of cloying. It finishes still sweet and somewhat musky, the honey and white grape juice still front and center.

I know this has barley in it - it's just that I can't really tell by drinking it. If you told me this was a mead/late harvest white wine blend, then I'd be sold. The 8 points of booze are well obfuscated by the strong sweetness, and thoughts of beer are generally subsumed. It's cool that DFH is trying to revive lost beer styles - but they are also blurring the border between actual beer and other alcoholic beverages.

Serving type: bottle

12-24-2010 02:11:07 | More by biboergosum

akorsak

Pennsylvania

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

A 750 mL capped bottle.

A: The beer is a hazy pale yellow color, resembling a hefe weizen. The head leaves sporadic lacing but does not retain well.

S: The nose is spicy sweet, with ginger and saffron jumping out, along with some honey.

T: The ale has a slightly tart taste of muscat grapes, more ginger and saffron. There is a nice honey base that makes me view this as more of a mead than beer. Not much hop-wise, but the spices make up for it, adding a nice well-rounded flavor that keeps the tastebuds guessing.

M: The mouthfeel is an unusual blend of spices and honey, very sweet and exotic.

D: The ale is interesting, worth a look, like Midas Touch, for the unusual history behind it. This beer will never be a go-to drink, but it is interesting and innovative, as Dogfish Head seems to do consistently.

Serving type: bottle

01-14-2007 01:23:01 | More by akorsak

WVbeergeek

Ohio

4.13/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Appears a cloudy golden orange apricot tone with a large effervescent cream head leaves specks of even lacing Bocktown's house Unibroue chalice. Aromatics come straight up with deep honey and mild herbal grassy qualities, rice grains for the creamy edge, a touch of orange blossom slash rose petal slash lavender defnitely perfumish what a great smelling brewsky. Flavors blend well with the honey not becoming overbearing at any point in the drinking session, mild soft rice sweetness tart profile also comes with an earthy grape seed vinous character and evident alcohol peeking through and once again finishes with a wild herbal lavender kinda overall fruity apricotish tang. Mouthfeel is heavenly on the palate flows nicely, easily medium bodied with some sticky textured honey traces not quite syrupy. Drinkability a rare treat that should be sampled with friends this big bottle could become a chore but definitely a beer I would like to revisit...

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2006 20:20:28 | More by WVbeergeek

RblWthACoz

Pennsylvania

4.08/5  rDev +7.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a thickly clouded gold that gives a small amount of white head off a very aggressive pour. Nose is like sugar, fruit, mild honey, and grapes. Flavor is really odd and unique. Sweet. Tangy. Definite muscat grapes there. Heavily influence a lot of the flavor and feel. Speaking of feel. It is thick with a syrupy attribute. Falls off on the edge and leaves a watery ending feel but with a somewhat lasting syrup edge on the tongue. Definitely drinkable. Might be a bit too unique for a few, but overall definitely worth taking a shot at.

Serving type: bottle

12-30-2007 23:50:05 | More by RblWthACoz

smcolw

Massachusetts

3.45/5  rDev -9.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3

Slight cloudiness with a darkened golden color. Very little head and no lace whatsoever.

Refreshing smell of wildflower honey--similar to a dry mead.

There's strong flavor of honey with a powerful sourness (like an under-ripe apple) to counterbalance the sweetness. Very similar to a light melomel. No hop. Full bodied and highly carbonated.

This is not a drinking man's beer. There is a lot unusual flavor to this offering. With an open mind, this can be a great beer to test. That said, it isn't my style as I prefer more hoppy beers, but I'm glad I have had a chance to try it.

Serving type: bottle

07-29-2007 22:09:36 | More by smcolw

Wasatch

Utah

3.88/5  rDev +2.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thanks goes out to NutBrown for this brew.

Poured into my DFH glass a nice semi-hazy golden yellow color, nice carbonation, fizzy little white head, which leaves some sticky lacing around the edges. The nose is malty, slightly yeasty, some spices, honey, hawthrowne berries, and a touch of caramel. The taste is sweet up front, malty/yeasty, nice little touch of spicyness, and some caramel. Medium body. Drinkable, I like this one, a different brew for me, recommended.

Serving type: bottle

12-24-2007 21:18:11 | More by Wasatch

jdhilt

New Hampshire

3.95/5  rDev +3.9%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a two finger white head that fades slowly leaving traces of lace. Cloudy almost pale amber color. Good carbonation and medium bodied. Grape nose. Flavor is grape at first but then a sweet/tartness from the hawthorn, hops are in the background. Clean finish. Interesting beer. $10.90 for a 750ml bottle from Tully's Beer and Wine Wells, ME. Bottled on Jul 11, 2007.

Serving type: bottle

09-16-2007 22:34:27 | More by jdhilt

rhoadsrage

Illinois

4.1/5  rDev +7.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

(Served in a tulip glass)

A- This beer has a hazy light orange body with a thick soapy white head with lots of tiny bubbles.

S- This beer has a smooth light honey note with hints of soft wheat. There is a faint perfume note with hints of banana and a berry note with a faint tart smell.

T- The slight sweet soft malt flavor finishes with a spicy honey finish with a nice alcohol bite. There are also notes of white wine and green herbal flavors. There is a slight marshmallow flavor as it warms with more hints of apricot in there as well.

M- The light mouthfeel has a creamy fizz finish with a soft alcohol heat that balances the sweetness nicely.

D- The smooth and tangy flavor is not really a triple and not really a fruit wine but has a nice flavor that is pretty interesting. Maybe life 9,000 years ago wasn't so bad?

Serving type: bottle

11-04-2006 04:11:56 | More by rhoadsrage

ppoitras

Massachusetts

3.03/5  rDev -20.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

750ml bottle purchased from Julio's, Marlboro, MA.

Poured into a heavy glass chalice, formed a 1/4" white head over the murky tarnished golden brew. Head is down to bubbly swirls pretty quick, no lacing. Aroma is sweet and effervescent, lightly fruity. Taste is sweet upfront, subtle grape and other fruit in the middle, and honey takes back over for the close. Mouthfeel is okay, but limited by syrupiness, and drinkability is quashed even more by same. Another one of the historic brews that I have to appreciate their perserverance to create, but it's just not something I'd revisit.

Serving type: bottle

11-05-2006 02:11:20 | More by ppoitras

weeare138

Pennsylvania

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

Appears a hazy, light gold with a fluffy white head that slowly fades out. Scattered streaks of lacing are left around the glass.
Smell is interesting but nice. Bananas, peach, creamy vanilla, apricot, spices, honey, and perhaps a touch of crisp wheat as well.
Taste is of the mentioned aromas with highlights of tropical punch and fruit juice.
Mouthfeel is sweet, fruity, foreign, and different with a starchiness that makes you ponder it upon it's sweetly semi-dry finish.

Serving type: bottle

10-05-2006 21:29:22 | More by weeare138

Zorro

California

3.9/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

In the glass this is a cloudy golden ale with a reddish tinge to it.

Smell is lightly sweet and very flowery. Chrysanthemum tea is exactly what this smells like from the Chinese restaurant. Sweet and lightly fruity with the scents of roses and plums being the strongest. Faint honey must is in this but I would have never have nailed that scent if I didn't know to sniff for it.

Taste is sweet and earthy with quite a bit ginseng like taste to it. Quite flowery in the mouth with chrysanthemum in the taste. There seems to be some ginger in this, because I am allergic to the stuff to a small degree. Faint citrus taste here of lime even though there is no lime in this. There is a carbohydrate flavor here I can't nail but is closest to cassava root in taste. Most of the complexities here are in the aftertastes. Berries, cinnamon, vanilla, lime, and lots of weird flavors here.

Mouthfeel is OK.

Well I won't exactly be bringing this to ANY office party except maybe archaeologists. It is quite interesting to try but I wouldn't call it drinkable. Hard for my mouth to choose wine or beer here, in the end it is a science experiment.

Serving type: bottle

11-27-2006 02:09:17 | More by Zorro

Viggo

Ontario (Canada)

4.13/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Thanks for sharing DrJay!

Pours a hazy golden, huge and thick white head forms, lacing everywhere, nice retention, looks great. Smell is sweet, grapes, musty, honey, spices, some yeast, pretty unique. Taste is sweet, quite malty, honey and grapes, yeasty, bit of spice in the finish, once again pretty unique. Mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with medium carbonation. Really neat beer, works well.

Serving type: bottle

12-25-2006 07:33:45 | More by Viggo

corby112

Pennsylvania

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

Pours a cloudy orange with a foamy white head that fades into a thin lacing. Aroma of honey, grape, apple, pear as well as a strong alcohol presence. Very sweet with lots of honey, grape and apple up front. Also, hints of citrusy orange and alcohol. Although it is quite sweet the slight maltiness gives it a nice balance preventing it from becoming too tart. Very refreshing.

Serving type: bottle

12-01-2008 08:12:16 | More by corby112

johnmichaelsen

Oregon

3.4/5  rDev -10.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

The beer pours a bright gold color with OK head retention and lacing. The nose is fairly light, with cinnamon, grape juice and light brown sugar. Flavors replicate the nose, but this beer is bit sweeter then I'd like or was expecting, with lots of sweet grape juice. There is some slight honey and citrus in the finish, but not enough to counter the grapy sweetness. Mouthfeel is medium bodied, and while I appreciate the amount of flavor in this beer, the excessive sweetness and noticeable booziness make this beer a bit difficult to take. Just not my cup of tea...

Serving type: bottle

12-05-2009 23:08:55 | More by johnmichaelsen