Dogfish Head Craft Brewery Bitches Brew

Bitches Brew

 

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Delaware, United States 🇺🇸

  Stout - Imperial Rotating Out of Production
Score
7.65
ABV: 9.0% IBU: 38 Ticks: 111
In honor of the 40th anniversary of the original release of Bitches Brew, Miles Davis' 1970 paradigm-shifting landmark fusion breakthrough, we've created our own Bitches Brew -- a dark beer that's a fusion of three threads of imperial stout and one thread of honey beer with gesho root. It's a gustatory analog to Miles' masterpiece.

Featuring the album's iconic artwork, created by the late Mati Klarwein, on its label, Dogfish Head's Bitches Brew was unveiled at SAVOR, An American Craft Beer & Food Experience, on June 5, 2010, at the National Building Museum, Washington DC.

Haven't experienced the Bitches Brew album? Two 40th anniversary editions of Miles Davis' Bitches Brew -- a Legacy Edition and a deluxe Collector's Edition -- are available.

According to Dogfish founder and president Sam Calagione, the ale is "the ultimate partner for chili or spicy curry chicken" and best enjoyed "sipped cool, not cold, from a snifter or red wine glass while listening to the Bitches Brew album."

Sam was drawn to the alchemical spirits in Bitches Brew right out of college, acquiring a copy of the album "within months of the first time I brewed a batch of homebrew in my apartment in New York City. I listened to it when I was writing my Dogfish business plan. I wanted Dogfish Head to be a maniacally inventive and creative brewery, analog beer for the digital age. You could say that my dream was to have Dogfish Head, in some small way, stand for the same thing in the beer world that Bitches Brew stands for in the jazz world. You can imagine how excited we are to be doing this project 17 years after I wrote that business plan."

"There's a spirit of innovation, of creativity and individuality, that's at the core of Miles' music," said Adam Block, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Legacy Recordings. "Sam and Dogfish Head approach their art from the same place and consequently the marriage is an easy and cool one."
 

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3.8
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 16

berries, honey, vanilla on the nose. a thin light tan head on a near black body. Slightly roasted coffee, some spice, cocao, vanilla and cream create a pleasing IS taste profile. Sweet honey and biscuit malt are not over the top. A clean body and medium density. A solid, well blended Stout reminiscent of a bottom fermented Baltic Porter.

Tried on 23 Sep 2025 at 20:14


8.2
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 9 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Bottled. Pours an inky calm dark with brownish head. Chocolate and honey amoing other things. Finishes somewhat dry. Great stuff.

Tried from Bottle on 20 May 2025 at 01:02


7.5
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 8

Tap. Brown colored with a small tan head. Aroma was complex with hints of coffee, spice and aromatic honey. Taste is also complex but not as much as aroma.

Tried from Draft on 21 Mar 2025 at 05:13



7.9
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8.5

Black pour. Strong wood nose.strong wood flavor. Strong sugar taste overpowered by fruit and wood. Total fruit and wood palate.

Tried on 22 Feb 2020 at 02:16


7.8
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 8

Early rating from Beer Buddy

Tried on 21 Nov 2019 at 01:44


6.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

Refrigerated 75 cL brown bottle poured into a snifter. Black with small beige head. Aroma is chocolate, medium/thick body, medium/lower carbonation, and some lacing. Taste is dark chocolate, herbal, ash, with dryer finish.

Tried from Bottle on 28 Oct 2018 at 00:49


6.9
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5

End of spring tasting, out on the front porch watching the sunset. The single 12 oz bottle from a six pack goes into a tall, narrow beer glass. Ebony black body, finely bubbled, medium brown head. The smell, toasty, tobacco, nice. The taste, not quite with the scent, light chocolate, berry, smoky. I have my druthers, this is not there. Oh well.

Tried from Bottle on 30 Mar 2018 at 23:13


7.1
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5

Bottle pour from The Drinkery, Londonderry. Appearance is opaque black with negligible light brown head, no lacing. Aroma is roasted malts with dark fruits and sort of mix of tart/bitter that I can only assume is gesho root. Taste is moderate roasted malt and dark fruits along with sweet honey notes, earth, herbs. Palate is medium bodied with average texture and mix of sweet/bitter/tart finish. Overall, a cool concept with the intermingling of different influences to mirror the fusion of the Bitches Brew album. My brother in law is really into jazz, and this album in particular, and after the first sip he said, "I get it." I don’t have the same appreciation for jazz but will take his word that this works on a level I’m not aware of. That counts for something but just as this album is a little difficult to listen to, this beer isn’t something I’d have over and over again.

Tried from Bottle on 21 Jul 2016 at 22:23


6.8
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7

(Tap) clear, very dark brown color with a small brown head; aroma of dried fruit, brown sugar, smoked fruit; dry, intense flavour with a long, light bitter finish

Tried from Draft on 03 Apr 2016 at 18:55