Chateau Jiahu - Dogfish Head Brewery

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

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

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

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

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

Rifugium

Pennsylvania

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

First had: bottle at Ginger Man, Dallas, TX

Had this in a 750ml bottle. Good stuff. Not quite a Midas Touch, but still awesome. Kind of similar to a tripel in some ways, I'd say, but with it's own flair. Poured honey-golden with some haziness, and a very thin head; some carbonation. Aroma is honey sweet with light fruits coming through. Taste is similar, honey, sweet wine, yeast, breadiness, light fruits...very complex. Mouthfeel is pretty light with a bit of syrupy film left behind, and an alcohol bite. Enjoyable and quaffable, but definitely an every-once-in-a-while beer. Extra points overall for innovation.

Serving type: bottle

05-03-2011 13:12:13 | More by Rifugium

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

DoubleJ

California

3.48/5  rDev -8.4%
look: 2 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Let's share it! Shared with several people at the EAP in São Paulo, on to the beer:

What is this, white grape juice? It looks like it. The body is toasted orange with a few carbonation bubbles. There's no head on top, and needless to say no lace. Its nose is an improvement. Alcoholic grape juice is what this reminds one of (not the super sugary Welch's stuff).

I don't know what else to say, but this tastes like alcoholic white grape juice. It may sound boring and degusting, but it is reasonably tasty. Its body has a texture which is somewhat syrupy, and on the thicker side of the spectrum.

Like other Dogfish Head re-creations, Chateau Jiahu is a fun one to drink, yet one I wouldn't drink often.

Serving type: bottle

03-05-2012 17:50:01 | More by DoubleJ

glid02

Georgia

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

On-tap at the Porter Beer Bar in Atlanta.

Pours a clear golden color with a half-finger white head. The head recedes into a thin layer on top leaving decent lacing.

Smells of sweet light malts with good amounts of candi sugar. Also present are moderate amounts of honey and lighter hints of indistinct light fruits.

Tastes very similar to how it smells. Crisp light malt flavors kick things off and are joined almost immediately by smooth and subtle honey flavors. Midway through the sip the malt flavors sweeten even further with the addition of medium fruit flavors and carry through to a crisp ending.

Mouthfeel is good. It's got a nice thickness with active carbonation.

Drinkability is also good. I finished my glass without any problems and could have another.

Overall this was an interesting beer but the flavors weren't quite distinct or smooth enough to make it anything more. Still, worth a shot, especially if you're a fan of DFH's other experimental beers.

Serving type: on-tap

10-01-2010 00:53:27 | More by glid02

Gusler

Arizona

4.78/5  rDev +25.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 5

Flowing like the waters of Yangtze before the Three Gorges Dam, it fills the glass with a slightly hazy orange, the head a huge pile of frothy white, which erodes slowly, the resultant lacing, a complete coat to hide the glass. Nose, a phenomenal blend of aromas, honey, grapes, barley, rice, Hawthorn fruit, Chrysanthemum flowers, yeast, what a lineup, and they all blend perfectly. Ambrosial start, with a twang at the back, top feels moderate to the palate. Finish is modestly acidic, sweet, flowery and dry aftertaste nails itself to the taste buds, what a brew, what a marvelous concoction of grains, flowers and fruit, a true one of a kind masterpiece of the brewers’ art.

Serving type: bottle

10-24-2007 20:27:10 | More by Gusler

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

beerthulhu

New Jersey

3.78/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: Poured a vibrant orange with a extremely high clarity and was topped off by a soapy and quickly dissipating dirty white head. Visible carbonation was heavy, fairly dense with a good showering of macro-bubbles. The lacing was slight however with thin broken strands.

S: The nose was laced with heavy honey scents, oranges, and some sugary candy notes. The overall delivery was smooth, of medium proportions, with faint hints of honey suckles and dark grapes. Overall the nose did a good job considering what it was limited to.

T: The flavor was sweet, with honeybread, candy sugar and a light wildflower presence. The taste gets amped up with a healthy dose of alcohol with a dry glazed sweetness along with light dark grape skins. Overall the flavor was sweet with a soft dry booziness closing things out. Surprisingly this is based on a 9000 year old recipe, but has a very modern feel and flavor.

M: The mouthful was medium-full with a honey- like consistency. Extremely smooth and syrupy while the carbonation has settled down quite a bit by now giving you a much softer experience.

D: Drinkability was decent, unique and a good one time treat. Not something I could see drinking on a regular basis but nice to taste a part of history. Share a bomber with a friend and some good beer stories and history while drinking a part of it.

Serving type: bottle

01-11-2010 23:47:18 | More by beerthulhu

kojevergas

California

3.28/5  rDev -13.7%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5

Begrudgingly picked up at the Cap N Cork in Los Feliz. Cost was $14.29. Reviewed live. I've never been a big Dogfish Head fan, and this one seems as gimmicky as any of their offerings, so expectations are about average. 1 pint 9.6 fl oz brown glass bottle with tired label art and standard branded copper pressure cap served into a Mitchells of Lancaster flared stem-tulip in me gaff in Los Feliz, Los Angeles, California.

Served cold, straight from the fridge. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

A: Pours a 1.5 finger head of beige colour. Horridly thin. No cream at all. Retention is poor (~45 seconds). Head is kind of pathetic overall. No bubble show. No lacing.

Body colour is a dull murky yellow-copper. No yeast particles are visible.

This beer isn't much to look at. I imagine the aroma and taste will be far better than the appearance.

Sm: Pale malts. Pilsner malts. Honey. Clove. White grapeskin. Fresh orange. Flowers. Vague hints of buried pear. A mild strength aroma. Clean. No yeast or alcohol is detectable.

T: Sweet honey is surprisingly nectary and good. Love the honey here. Clove. Sweet orange. A biteen of grapeskin. Neutral spices complement the dominant honey. No alcohol is coming through, which shocks me considering the high ABV and the light overall flavour of the beer. Surprisingly well balanced. Nicely built. It's not complex or subtle, but it's nice for what it is. I like it. On the sweeter end. No idea what in fuck hawthorn fruit is, but I do get a pleasant fruitiness which seems well executed. Well put together. I'm pleasantly surprised. Shallow depth of flavour.

Mf: Smooth and wet. Light and refreshing. Lightly quenching. Suits the flavour profile well. Pretty good presence on the palate. Slightly overcarbonated. Good body. Fizzy.

Dr: A surprisingly tasty brew from Dogfish Head. I wouldn't buy it again at this price point, but I expected it to be far worse. It's not incredible, but it's very approachable and likable, and the 10% ABV will likely get me in a good place. Extremely drinkable for the ABV; this is its best feature. For this reason, it'd be a good starter beer for beer novices. The whole backstory is all well and good, but I can't believe this tastes anything like what was brewed in Jiahu.

Gimmicky marketing, surprisingly drinkable beer.

Wouldn't recommend it to friends. Might get it on-draught at a good price.

Low B-

Serving type: bottle

06-02-2013 05:41:33 | More by kojevergas

DrJay

Massachusetts

4.22/5  rDev +11.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Hazy gold/caramel colour with a thin, white head off the pour. Good retention with a bit of lacing. Mild aroma, fruity, with green grapes, honey, and some spice. Pleasant flavour with low bitterness and plenty of fruit character, mostly fresh grapes which lingered in the finish. It also had a light acidity that brought the fruit forward. A little bready with some peppery spice in the finish and some earthiness. Moderate carbonation with a medium body - soft mouthfeel overall. This was a super easy drinking beer, very tasty and refreshing.

Serving type: bottle

12-25-2006 03:50:20 | More by DrJay

biegaman

Ontario (Canada)

3.85/5  rDev +1.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A really neat label, although I can't help but think the tattoo on the lower back of the seductive lady on the front has become fashionable only recently. Then again I doubt they had modern bottling lines then either, so whatever. I assume all aspects are true to the 9000 year old recipe, maybe.
A very, very clouded and sullied appearance. Most of the head fades out quickly. A tangerine orange colour. Complex aroma of bananas, strong suggestion of tropical fruit, heavy sweetness, muscat grapes at the forefront. Flavour is deliciously sweet (the sake yeast maybe?). A little champagne sweetness only without the carbonation. The flavours are lovely and well blended.
Another neat alternative to "beer" as we're used to it and something that would make a lovely 'thank you' or 'hostess' gift that you could bring to a party and enjoy over the course of a social evening.
Thanks to crwills for this treat!

Serving type: bottle

05-28-2007 18:07:52 | More by biegaman

Brad007

Vermont

4.05/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Pours a nice copper color with a thin one-finger head into my fluted glass.

Aroma is full of grape and honey in the nose. Smells somewhat dry as well. Similar to other upscale DFH offerings that involve grape.

Taste is sweet with the taste of honey, grape and what I believe is hawthorne fruit. A good balance of sweetness, tartness and dryness is present.

The flavors mix around at the back of the throat to create a mouthfeel that has the dryness of grapes, sweetness of honey and the mystique of hawthorn fruit.

Very interesting flavors are present. Not sure what it can be compared to but by itself, it's a sipping beer that is worthy if you'd like to think outside the box on beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-08-2009 02:27:14 | More by Brad007