Dogfish Head Red & White

The other night I was enjoying some wine while blasting zombies in the head with the other Connoisseurs in a game of Left 4 Dead. Of course I reached that point where you start to get a little cloyed and ready to move on to a good beer, so it was lucky I had picked up a bottle of Dogfish Head Red & White, because it is the perfect thing to switch to after a nice dry white wine.   

For starts the aroma of this beer has the malts and spices that you would hope for combined with nice lemon zest and oak notes. The oak barrels this beer was aged in provide a nice background for the Belgian character of this beer, giving you a point of reference to keep going back to as you navigate through the hints of orange, clove and cinnamon. And then it finishes dry and fresh, inviting you to take another sip immediately. It is not bitter and the hops appear as a distant gleam on the horizon, so I would not pair this beverage with any of the traditional spicy bar food that accompanies IPA’s and other craft beers so well. The nuanced subtlety of this beer seems better suited for some nice steamed salmon with lemon juice and butter, or perhaps some chicken piccata.

While Dogfish head makes a lot of my favorite beers they also produce some high concept stuff that I don’t quite get. Still their attempts to play with the same palate that a good wine would use has impressed me, take their Chateau Jiahu for example. I guess what I am saying is that I would be really happy to keep seeing Red & White on the shelves. While I enjoy all those craft beers that scream with flavor, more people need to make beers that whisper seductively as well.