Higher Math
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Delaware, United States 🇺🇸
Strong Ale Rotating Out of Production|
Score
6.54
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Way back in the early ’90s, a 20-something waiter in New York City named Sam got a taste for small American “microbrews.” A do-er, Sam stopped by a homebrew store and embarked on the first batch of his very own beer. On the way home, he spotted a bag of cherries at his local bodega and thought they’d make his beer a little more interesting.
He was right, and the day after he and his friends enjoyed that first batch, he started researching what it would take to open a brewery.
The rest, as they say, is history. Higher Math is a tribute to that auspicious first beer and celebrates 20 off-centered years of Dogfish Head. It’s a golden strong ale fermented with sour cherry juice and cocoa nibs and clocks in at 17% ABV.
Higher Math has forward notes of cherries, pineapple and stewed fruit, with late notes of cocoa. It has a lingering sweetness and a notable warmth from the alcohol.
He was right, and the day after he and his friends enjoyed that first batch, he started researching what it would take to open a brewery.
The rest, as they say, is history. Higher Math is a tribute to that auspicious first beer and celebrates 20 off-centered years of Dogfish Head. It’s a golden strong ale fermented with sour cherry juice and cocoa nibs and clocks in at 17% ABV.
Higher Math has forward notes of cherries, pineapple and stewed fruit, with late notes of cocoa. It has a lingering sweetness and a notable warmth from the alcohol.
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7.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 10
Overall 7
355ml bottle at Alex’s. Pours a hazy reddish amber with a weak head. Aroma is very bready with some hints of cherries. Taste is the same. Hot stuff, very sweet. Drinking this is just like drinking a bread. Of course, bready aftertaste.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Apr 2017
at 23:42
6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Bottle - Bready, light spicy rye notes. Cloudy copper with a small white head. Sweet Brady and some rye notes. Rich and some heat on the throat. I don’t get the cherry.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Apr 2017
at 23:37
5.1/10
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Appearance 4
Aroma 6
Flavor 4
Texture 6
Overall 5.5
Bottle to snifter. Cellar aged since purchased in Feb 2016. Pours a hazy garnet with no head. Aroma is aged cherry and maraschino cherry. Flavor is artificial cherry up front, in the back it is like a syrupy cocktail. Massively cloying from the retained sugars. Chocolate showed more as it approached room temperature.
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Mar 2017
at 22:43
8.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
12 ounce bottle into signature tulip glass, bottled on 10/20/2015. Pours moderately hazy/cloudy reddish orange/copper color with a small fairly dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a thin spotty lace cap that lingers. Light spotty lacing clings on the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of huge raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, plum, apricot, apple, caramel, brown sugar, honey, toffee, chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, rum, brown bread, herbal, pepper, light nuttiness/coffee, and yeast earthiness. Damn nice aromas with great balance and complexity dark/bready malt, cocoa/cherries, fruity yeast, and light earthy hop notes; with great strength. Slight booze in the aromas as it warms, but pretty minimal. Flavors of huge raisin, prune, cherry, fig, date, plum, apricot, apple, caramel, brown sugar, honey, toffee, chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, rum, brown bread, herbal, pepper, light nuttiness/coffee, and yeast earthiness. Light herbal/spicy bitterness and slight cherry tartness on the finish; with lingering notes of dark fruits, cherry, apricot, apple, caramel, brown sugar, honey, toffee, chocolate, cocoa, vanilla, rum, brown bread, herbal, pepper, and yeast earthiness on the finish for a while. Fantastic complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, cocoa/cherries, fruity yeast, and light earthy hop flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and zero cloying sweetness after the finish. Light dryness from bitter/spiciness, lightly increasing though the glass. Light-medium carbonation and very full body; with a very smooth, creamy/slick/syrupy, and lightly sticky/chalky/tannic balanced mouthfeel that is awesome. Alcohol is very well hidden; moderately warming finish, but not too boozy. Overall this is a fantastic fruited American strong ale! All around awesome complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt, cocoa/cherries, fruity yeast, and light earthy hop flavors; very smooth and dangerously easy to sip on for the huge ABV. Very rich, complex, and well balanced on flavors. Definitely glad I aged this first before reviewing. Unique, but delicious. A highly enjoyable offering all around.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Feb 2017
at 20:36
7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Tap at Capone’s, Philadelphia Norristown. Aromas and flavors: Cherries, chocolate and some sweetness. Pretty good.
Tried
from Draft
on 16 Feb 2017
at 21:54
7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Sample during the "Bob’s Private Bottle Share" on 11/21/2016. Cloudy copper color with a thin white head that recedes quickly to a sparse outer ring. Spotty lacing. Aroma of cherry, malt and yeast. Full-bodied with flavors of dark cherry, chocolate malt and yeast. The finish is boozy and syrupy with a medicinal cherry aftertaste. Decent overall.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Dec 2016
at 22:01
6.3/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 6
Bottle shared. This is a beast of a beer. Pours a clear amber with a small amount of head. Cherry caramel with tons of cocoa. Honey and booze. More cherry, oak and umami. Dry and boozy with a lingering aged honey character. Intense...this is definitely a love/hate beer.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Dec 2016
at 02:02
6.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle. Rich amber beer with a low dark cream head. Caramel and light cherry aroma. Cherry and caramel flavor with rich malt and alcohol. Fuller bodied. Cherry and light chocolate linger with caramel, rich malt, and alcohol.
Tried
from Bottle
on 21 Nov 2016
at 12:27
6.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
bottle - This one says it’s a "golden ale" but the appearance is more of a murky amber. There’s no head. The aroma is of sweet malt, dark fruit, and booze. The flavor is very sweet and sugary with cherries, chocolate, and alcohol apparent. It’s okay but I’m afraid it sounds better than it is. It’s cloyingly sweet and sugary. To be fair the brewer’s description does say it’s "birthday cake in liquid form". It’s alright, but it’s not really $10 a bottle good.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Jul 2016
at 00:29
6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
Bottle from liquor store in Frederick. I’d call this a barleywine, big sugary malt bomb. Muddy, hazy light brown, small beige head. Aroma us sugar, molasses, corn syrup, kind of tangy/sour. Taste is super sweet, prune juice, slick, oily body, kind of syrupy. For 17% ABV, not as much burn as you would think.
Tried
from Bottle
on 25 Jun 2016
at 22:45