Chateau Jiahu
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

Chateau JiahuChateau Jiahu
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From:
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
 
Delaware, United States
Style:
Herb and Spice Beer
Ranked #20
ABV:
10%
Score:
85
Ranked #20,822
Avg:
3.78 | pDev: 13.76%
Reviews:
572
Ratings:
1,451
Status:
Active
Rated:
Dec 17, 2023
Added:
Jun 15, 2005
Wants:
  111
Gots:
  235
Let's travel back in time again for another Dogfish Head Ancient Ale (Midas Touch was our first foray and Theobroma our most recent). Our destination is 9,000 years ago, in Northern China! Preserved pottery jars found in the Neolithic villiage of Jiahu, in Henan province, have revealed that a mixed fermented beverage of rice, honey and fruit was being produced that long ago, right around the same time that barley beer and grape wine were beginning to be made in the Middle East!

Fast forward to 2005. Molecular archaeologist Dr. Patrick McGovern of the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology calls on Dogfish Head to re-create another ancient beverage, and Chateau Jiahu is born.

In keeping with historic evidence, 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.

10 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 3.5 by mpenske from California

Dec 17, 2023
 
Rated: 4 by BrewsOverHoes from Georgia

Jun 29, 2020
 
Rated: 3.79 by Chuckdiesel24 from Illinois

Jun 28, 2020
 
Rated: 3.5 by OtisCampbell007 from Tennessee

Feb 15, 2019
 
Rated: 3.6 by khargro2 from Tennessee

Feb 12, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by brittanylicious from Indiana

Jan 19, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by heysuz from Indiana

Jan 19, 2019
 
Rated: 3.79 by KMcGrath from Massachusetts

Dec 04, 2018
 
Rated: 3.79 by petrusek23 from Ohio

Nov 05, 2018
 
Rated: 3.99 by chiefz1 from New York

Sep 30, 2018
Photo of MikeWard
Reviewed by MikeWard from Pennsylvania

4.17/5  rDev +10.3%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
1pt 9.4oz bottle into a pint glass. bottled 1/12/15, so 3 1/2 years old here.

looking pretty good. faintly hazy golden amber body with small bright white head which persists in some form leaving very nice lacing. good consistent light carbonation.

somewhat of a dry white wine aroma.

elements of dry white wine in the taste. also, some sweetness from the honey, and has a bit of a saison feel to it. the diversity makes for an interesting enjoyable drink.

mouth close to full. manages to be both slightly dry and slightly sweet on the finish.

overall, love the idea of Dogfish Head's ancient ales. this one is a very worthwhile drink. Started to feel the abv about halfway through, so some respect is advised.
May 04, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by Beerbuddha from Florida

Jan 07, 2018
 
Rated: 3.71 by Zanico from Ohio

Dec 29, 2017
 
Rated: 3.75 by GreenBayBA from Wisconsin

Oct 26, 2017
 
Rated: 3.63 by KAP1356 from Pennsylvania

Jun 30, 2017
 
Rated: 3.37 by zkoehn from Wisconsin

Jun 18, 2017
Photo of drdiesel9483
Reviewed by drdiesel9483 from Ohio

4.21/5  rDev +11.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Got this in a flight of 4 aged beers at dogfish head
Bottled 2013 drank 2017
Look - golden color
Smell - smells like mash
Taste - like I'm brewing beer and I try it before I add any hops but honey has been added
Feel - medium body and no real carbonation
Overall - I'd say this is like a beer from a long time ago. I wouldn't expect china, don't really taste the sake
May 04, 2017
Photo of Blackop555
Reviewed by Blackop555 from Michigan

3.79/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75
Pours gold. Foamy, medium, white head lasts shortly.

Smells sweet fruit,, light fermented fruit, honey and caramel.

Tastes grape, Honey, citrus hints, light pepper and alcohol. Finish is semi sweet with a honey and fruit linger. Medium body and lighter bubbly carbonation.
Apr 28, 2017
Photo of Libeertarian
Reviewed by Libeertarian from Montana

4.67/5  rDev +23.5%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75
From notes taken 04/12/17:

Honey-amber, a little orange in appearance, barely clear with swirly cloudiness and plenty of specs and chunks. Head is a delicate, off-white foam, film-forming but with otherwise lower retention. Smells at first like white grape juice and honey, which are two of the ingredients so no great surprise. Mellows a little to something slightly more grassy and herbal, close even to citrus and coriander like a white ale. Maybe a few fumes from the booze in there as well. Palate is at once more well-rounded and all the more boozy for it. Dark honey, alcohol, vinous qualities ranging from fresh grape to artificial grape candy to dry and sweet wines or vermouth, semi citric/spicy notes from I have no idea what, and also some berry-like notes you might expect from something involving grapes and fermentation and then, in this particular case, aging (it was bottled in January of 2015, and I am enjoying it more than two years later, although it has been almost exactly two years to the day since my actual purchase). Moderately dry and fairly clean finish as a result of the mouthfeel more so than the flavors. Overall, tastes about halfway between a Braggot (especially if it has fruit in addition to honey) and a Tripel, it’s quite good. Medium-bodied, extremely effervescent (very fine, somewhat sharp) but not at all overactive (it fizzled crisply when I cracked it open, but certainly didn’t explode), making for deceptively light drinking. The booze is a double-edged sword here. One the one hand, the heat of it serves to balance the otherwise light qualities of the mouthfeel, but then those qualities make for high drinkability so self-control is required. It feels more like a Tripel than a Braggot, I suppose, in spite of it’s relative closeness in design to the latter. Not as syrupy, but that could be the aging. I really love this beer. I’m sure I’m going to “overrate” it but I really do not care! Okay, I do, but it can’t be helped, I like what I like!
Apr 19, 2017
 
Rated: 3.5 by bigred89 from Maryland

Feb 26, 2017
Chateau Jiahu from Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Beer rating: 85 out of 100 with 1451 ratings