Dogfish Head - Miles Davis' Bitches Brew (Batch 2)

Russian Imperial Stout, 9% ABV

"A bold, dark beer that's a Fusion of three threads Imperial Stout, and one thread Honey Beer with Gesho Root, a gustatory analog to Miles' Masterpiece..."

Sorry my picture is kind of weird and bad. I couldn't get my camera flash to behave.

Appearance: Well, it definitely looks like an RIS. It's totally dark, opaque, oil. The head when first poured is about 2 fingers deep, and it leaves no lacing.

Smell: For me, predominantly coffee, chocolate, and a touch of resin from the hops.

Taste: It also tastes like how it smells. It's definitely rich with chocolate and coffee, but there are also notes of leather and dark fruit.

Mouthfeel: Pretty smooth, and not exceedingly thick. It drinks fairly easily for the style, but for many it is probably a sipper (including me -- I liked it, but I definitely didn't take it down all at once.)

Overall: It kind of has Dogfish Head Syndrome -- again. Which means, it's probably a good beer, even a great beer, but they go on for hours about all of the weird stuff they've put in and how this is going to be such a unique drinking experience it's going to blow your damn mind. For me, Bitches Brew was a great RIS, and one I'd love to have again, but the whole bit about the honey beer with "gesho root" was totally lost on me. Still, it is a solid effort even if overall they didn't deliver the exact flavors they promised.

4/5