Ever wonder what would happen if one were to somehow mesh wine and beer? Well together just like that might not taste so good. But what if could be done a certain and done right to where it is perfect. Noble Rot by Dogfish Head brings forth this magic mix up of wine/beer Saison. It stands at 9%ABV and is clear as day. This is by no means a light beer but it’s flavors go beyond what regular golden beer can do. This ale is brewed with botrytis-infected Viognier grape must. There is several step fermentation process that goes into this. First step is adding the unfermented juice of the Viognier grapes. The fungus will greatly reduce the water of grapes which release sweet and complex flavor. To avoid too much sourness, they add the second fermentation by adding more of these wine grapes to the mixture. The pils and wheat malts are added with Belgian yeast to ferment the rest of the beer. The result is this bready Belgian Saison/White wine Hybrid. VOILA!! C’est Magnifique!!. Here’s a video of the guy from Dogfish that composes this scientific project.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkbAI4adZgQ
Noble Rot by Dogfish Head
Anyways on the taste. The taste of this beer is kinda like a grape bread. Not raisin but sour grapes and bread which is the primary dominating flavors. There are some spices to this like cinnamon. Some fruity peach, orange, lemon and apple flavors are there too. There is some nice vanilla in there too. For those that love just beer, or those that love just wine, this beer is a masterpiece. I think you will like it regardless of which you like. Besides, tasting beer and wine at the same time in a special harmony and balance is something you do not see every day. Take some time to find this one and give it a shot 🙂