Rating: 4.45/5

Chateau Jiahu by Dogfish Head is a 10%ABV Herbed Ale brewed with honey and hawthorn fruit and fermented with grape juice.

Label: 
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
___

It has been ages since I first had this beer. Back then when I bought it in 2011, I was fairly new to beer reviews and such. It has been almost exactly 2 years since my last review so I decided to get this one to give it another go.

Aromas of this beer are of honey, white grapes, biscuit bread, flowers, peach, pear, champagne, apples, very slight estery banana cloves, slight pilsner sugars and peppercorn. The flavors are white grapes, pears, apples, apple cider, champagne, lots of honey sweetness, pilsner sugars, pomegranite, slight cloves, slight coriander, slight peppercorn, flowers, vanilla and biscuit bread. To be honest, this is closer to a dessert white wine. It is fantastic and delicious, yet the pilsnery effect makes it where it is reminicent of a lager but very very nice and amped. First of all, for being 10%ABV, there is no sense of alcohol and because of it’s drinkability, it would taste awesome to anyone who is not really into craft beer. This is a magnificent beer and one I would introduce to people who are new into craft beers. Definitely a recommend for many to try. Just be careful since at 10%ABV, the beer is so good, one could easily finish it the bottle

2011 Review:
A rare piece of beer here. Smells of fruit and honey. The bitterness and alcohol are very masked by the honey and grape sweetness. Some what of a earthy after taste, Highly recommended if found . The beer itself has a history(Beeradvocate.com) “Inspired by a beverage found in clay posts in China around 9000 years ago. In keeping with historic evidence, Dogfish brewers used pre-gelatinized rice flakes, Wildflower honey, Muscat grapes, barley malt, hawthorn fruit, and Chrysanthemum flowers. The rice and barley malt were added together to make the mash for starch conversion and degradation. The resulting sweet wort was then run into the kettle. The honey, grapes, Hawthorn fruit, and Chrysanthemum flowers were then added. The entire mixture was boiled for 45 minutes, and then cooled. The resulting sweet liquid was pitched with a fresh culture of Sake yeast and allowed to ferment a month before the transfer into a chilled secondary tank.”