He Said/She Said #3 Dogfish Head Ancient Ales

He Said/She Said #3 Dogfish Head Ancient Ales

Posted By: AWeller

He Said / She Said is a series where a lady contributor from Ladies of Craft Beer will pair up with a person of the male persuasion- be it her husband, boyfriend, brother, father, friend, uncle, co-worker, etc, and as a pair they will review two or three beers in succession.

The object of this experiment is to get an idea of how men taste different brews versus how women taste different brews- are there really distinct differences or is it mostly just due to the fact that different people in general have different tastes- while having a blast in the process. What is the real answer? (Is there a real answer?)

My husband and I have very different tastes in beer. He loves stouts, porters and all things dark. I love hops. The more hops the better. MORE HOPS! For our He Said/She Said reviews, we thought it would be interesting to tackle styles of beer neither one of us drinks regularly or has a set opinion on. We’d been wanting to get our Untappd Ancient Ales badge, and thus the plan was born!

But first, to Buffalo! Dogfish Head isn’t sold in Ontario.

We managed to get our hands on 3 different Ancient Ales to sample: Chateau Jihau, Sah’tea, and Theobroma. Over two days- these are strong beers in big bottles!- we sampled and took notes.

First up: Chateau Jiahu

This beer is based on a recipe found in pottery in ancient China. We were pouring into a tulip glass and a goblet. Hey, these beers are pricey so we got out the ‘fancy’ glassware! Both of us noticed the intense carbonation in this beer immediately. It bubbled more like what I would expect from a champagne than a beer. There was also a fair amount of sediment present. I found the aroma to be very sour, whereas hubby just found it (quoting here) “weird”. Both of us found the taste to be more in line with a mead or wine than a beer. That is to be expected, I imagine, given the heavy use of honey in the style. It was very boozy and we knew we were drinking 10% beer. Speculations were held on just how drunk the ancient drinkers must have been. At the end of the large bottle, we’d both had enough. Neither one of us were big fans of this particular beer, although it was great to try. Bravo to Dogfish for resurrecting the recipe.

Second: Sah’tea

According to the website: ”A modern update on a 9th century Finnish proto-beer. ” Right then: time to dive in. The nose on this was really spicy. We both found that and really loved the overall aroma. In fact, hubby notes it was even “sexy”. It had less carbonation than in the other beers we tried, but still bubbly. There was actually some head on this beer. Yay! As in the Jiahu, there was a ton of sediment in our bottle. The taste followed through on the spicy aroma. I even found it a bit woody in parts, though hubby didn’t seem to find that. As Juniper berries are used, I would suspect them of bringing the herbal notes. This was definitely the most ‘beer-like’ of our samplings and the one we liked most. We would have this again for sure, though probably in a half pint or a smaller bottle.

Third: Theobroma

We did this on the second day. We were really looking forward to its promise of cacao and chilies. The recipe is based on an ancient Honduran alcoholic chocolate drink. Alcohol and chocolate! What’s not to like? I found the nose on this to be WHAM! booze! Interestingly, hubby didn’t find it had much aroma at all. Maybe I was hallucinating in the anticipation of chocolate. As with the other ancient ales, there was more carbonation present and not much head. The taste on this was more complex than the other two. We both found it very sweet upfront and then a tingling on the tongue as it leaves the palate. This could be from the use of chilies. The chocolate was really not to be found, sadly. I got more honey than chocolate from the sweetness. Much like with Chateau Jiahu, finishing the bottle was enough for both of us. We’re glad we tried it, but probably wouldn’t seek it out again.

We had a lot of fun tasting these beers and comparing notes. With only a few minor cat-based interruptions, we were able to sample ancient ales inspired by 3 different time periods and cultures. I think it is amazing that Dogfish Head is doing this and it certainly provides a unique opportunity to look into the past.