The Beer Archaeologist

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/124099064.html

by quasistar • 15 years ago

35 14 15 years ago

I thought this was really cool... I wonder what that beer tastes like.

I tasted Dogfish Head's Midas Touch a couple months ago, when the American Brewers Association came to São Paulo for a little road show of sorts.

Now of course, no one can possibly know how it compares to the original brew it attempted to reconstruct. I remember in particular a rather long ramble about how they were pretty sure but not quite that they were doing the right thing using the saffron as conservant.

It's well-worth giving it a try if you're lucky enough to live in the few places in the US where you can easily and reliably get a hold of it.

If you need to do the connoisseur thing, you'll say it resembles a ale, but trully it resembles nothing I have tasted enough to deserve a lable. Call it experimental, or indie, hell, it's Dogfish.

It's got honey and grape notes in it that make it almost taste like a weird crossover between beer and wine. Very fruity, would feel a little bit dry on the tongue if it weren't so perfumed. The saffron itself is amazing and comes as part of a second layer of scents once you take a sip of it.

It's a very drinkable beer (in spite of its hops), but maybe a bit too sweet and perfumed to stick to it for a whole night. It struck me as candidate for a really great companion to a home-made chicken and pequi risotto, mmm.

evilduck3• 15 years ago

I tried some at the Great American Beer Festival last fall (served by Sam himself!). It's worth trying simply because it challenges your palate, like all DFH products. Your description is pretty spot on, though I can't say it was uniquely good enough to seek out and purchase more of it.

The ingredients are barley, white Muscat grapes, honey and saffron, and their original formulation included thyme, but doesn't include it anymore. With grapes added and lacking hops, it's not "officially" a beer by BJCP style standards (a specialty beer maybe...it's technically a gruit).

desigooner• 15 years ago

what's better is a Randall'd version of Midas Touch .. passed through fresh lemons + mint..

rwmj• 15 years ago

From the way you describe it, it sounds like a "barley wine"[1] (actually a type of very strong beer, despite the name).

[1] https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Barley_wine

lucasjung• 15 years ago

>It's well-worth giving it a try if you're lucky enough to live in the few places in the US where you can easily and reliably get a hold of it.

I live in the boonies and I've bought it a couple of times from the corner liquor store, so I don't think you have to be all that lucky to get a hold of it. They don't always have it in stock (is it seasonal? I'll have to ask about it next time I'm in there), but I'm not in the mood for it that often, either. I like it, but I have to be in a particular mood to really enjoy it. To me, it tasted almost like a cross between mead and beer.

_mayo• 15 years ago

Related, there's an episode of 'Brewmasters' that covered DFH brewing this beer. It's worth checking out (although the show's been cancelled).

Luyt• 15 years ago

The whole article on one page: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/The-Beer-A...

The Beer Archaeologist

Related Stories