Noble Rot
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery in Milton, Delaware, United States 🇺🇸
Fruit Beer - Grape Ale Rotating Out of Production|
Score
6.98
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Hmmm. We wonder if anyone will buy a beer with the word "rot" in the name?
This saison-esque science project gets complexity and fermentable sugars from two unique wine grapes sourced with our friends at Alexandria Nicole Cellars in Prosser, Wash.
The first addition is unfermented juice, known as must, from viognier grapes that have been infected with a benevolent fungus called botrytis. This noble rot reduces the water content in the grapes while magnifying their sweetness and complexity. The second is pinot gris must intensified by a process called dropping fruit, where large clusters of grapes are clipped to amplify the quality of those left behind.
"This is the absolute closest to equal meshing of the wine world and the beer world thats ever been done commercially," says Dogfish's Sam Calagione.
Noble Rot is brewed with pils and wheat malts and fermented with a distinct Belgian yeast strain. It has a spicy white wine body and a dry, tart finish.
Noble Rot first went on tap at our brewpub in February of 2011 and went into full 750ml bottle production in January 2012.
This saison-esque science project gets complexity and fermentable sugars from two unique wine grapes sourced with our friends at Alexandria Nicole Cellars in Prosser, Wash.
The first addition is unfermented juice, known as must, from viognier grapes that have been infected with a benevolent fungus called botrytis. This noble rot reduces the water content in the grapes while magnifying their sweetness and complexity. The second is pinot gris must intensified by a process called dropping fruit, where large clusters of grapes are clipped to amplify the quality of those left behind.
"This is the absolute closest to equal meshing of the wine world and the beer world thats ever been done commercially," says Dogfish's Sam Calagione.
Noble Rot is brewed with pils and wheat malts and fermented with a distinct Belgian yeast strain. It has a spicy white wine body and a dry, tart finish.
Noble Rot first went on tap at our brewpub in February of 2011 and went into full 750ml bottle production in January 2012.
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6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
A pale beer with little head. Fruity, vinous aroma. This has a nice spicy character, herbal, fruity, this beer has a lot of character. Apples, fruits like that. Balanced, fun, unique character. Hard to put my finger on the different elements, probably because I’m not familiar with botrytis character. Good stuff, though, nothing else quite like it.
Tried
on 23 Feb 2012
at 16:50
7/10
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Appearance 10
Aroma 4
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 8
750 ml bottle. Pours crystal clear pale gold with a largish white head with pretty good retention; leaves some nice lace. Aroma is pretty bland--it smells macro-ish even. There might be a hint of rotten grapes in there, but it’s barey detectable. Taste starts out sweet but quickly turns sour and leaves the mouth dry with a bit of tannic bitterness. Tastes like no saison I’ve ever had. It’s a Dogfish experiment, through and through. Body is medium, carbonation is fairly soft, finish is long and dry.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Feb 2012
at 22:10
7.8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
Pours pale yellow into a shaker. Bright white soapy head with medium retention recedes leaving spot lacing to bubble surface. Sweet yeast, grape and cracker aromas. Dry with sweet dusty grapeskin and berries upfront turning to marshmallow before the lasting berry and resin finish.
Tried
on 17 Feb 2012
at 15:09
7.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
On tap at Parkway Tavern, pours a pale golden yellow with a small white head. Aroma of wheat, white wine / grapes, candied sugar and horse blanket. Flavour is that of a white wine, very vinous and full on the palate with a monolithic flavoour profile. Full out assault of white wine, though simultaneously light on the palate. Delicious.
Tried
from Draft
on 17 Feb 2012
at 10:40
7.6/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8.5
Raisin and stewed apple nose. Crystal clear golden, medium head, minimal lace. Tangy and funky, apple and honey notes with subtle hints of cobweb. White grape and seeds appear toward the end. Quite vinous. Dynamic and unique. It is weird at first, not your typical saison, but every sip became better than the last.
Tried
on 09 Feb 2012
at 16:59
8.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 8
Draft at Paradiso Dupont, courtesy of Darrell, thanks! Hazy yellow color, thick white head, solid lacing. Aroma of dusty and sour lemons, sourdough bread Taste is similar with light spice. Wow.
Tried
from Draft
on 02 Feb 2012
at 17:57
6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Draft @ the brewpub. Pours a pale hazy yellow color with a small white head. Has a fruity spicy grape aroma. Sweetish fruity spicy grape flavor. Has a fruity malty spicy yeasty grape finish.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Jul 2011
at 06:11
7/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Sampled from the tap at EBF. Poured a clear pale yellow with a white head that lasted and laced slightly. Aroma had a lot of earthy/doughy funk with some sour grape notes and earthy grains. Flavor was extremely funky with earthy and dough notes as well as slightly tart grapes and a dry finish. Definitely different and funk heavy.
Tried
from Draft
on 19 Mar 2011
at 16:19