Dogfish Head Brewery Style: Sahti Alcohol by vol: 9.0% IBU’s: 6 Availability: limited release
Here’s an interesting beer from Milton, Delaware’s Dogfish Head Brewery. The Sah’tea is Dogfish’s take on a 9th century Finnish ‘proto-beer’ according to the brewery’s web site. My roommate had a bottle sitting around in our pantry so one night last week we popped it open and poured a few glasses.
Appearance: The beer poured real nice showing a great head on top of a cloudy but very inviting, citrusy, copper colored body. Lots of yeast particles floating around in this one…like a snow globe, but forgivable in this case being such an intricate beer fermented with a German Weizen yeast to keep the beer opaque.
Aroma: Sah’tea is brewed with juniper berries imported from Finland which was the first thing I noticed in the beer’s aroma. Very raisin-like smell with a hint of booze. Noticed a Chai smell too I t hink
Taste: Really pleasant with a soft but tart mouthfeel. Also noticed a bit of sour apple in there. The bitterness is definitely highlighted by the unique specialty spices. The brewers added a tea made from cardamom (a type of ginger), cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and black pepper which play nicely for a lingering aftertaste.
Final thoughts?: I liked it. A solid beer if you can get over the yeasty appearance and it drinks really well considering all the stuff that was tossed in this beer during the brew. I also think the brewing process of this beer is cool using hot river rocks in the kettle, nodding to long-lost brewing methods. Drink this beer quick though. As it sits a lot of the alcohol begins to creep up and creates a hot, boozey flavor that usually competes with the beer’s natural taste. Drink this beer out of a glass for full effect
Style: Sahti Alcohol by vol: 9.0% IBU’s: 6 Availability: limited release
Unofficial Rating: B
Bottoms up!
Dogfish Head’s founder/owner Sam Calagione discusses his version of Sahti
ps. if you’ve never seen the show Brewmasters which aired on the Discovery Channel about 6 months ago, check it out. It shows how Calagione and his staff come up with the ideas/recipes of their special releases while also giving you an inside look into what it’s like running a large-scale craft brewery.