Beer: Midas Touch
Brewed by: Dogfish Head
Style: Traditional Ale
ABV: 9%
IBUs: 12
Bottle: 12 fl.oz.
Served in: Wine glass or pint glass
Place of purchase: this was a birthday gift for Jugsy (Thanks Ara & Leon!)
Price: unknown
Mugsy and Jugsy hope that this Memorial Day finds you relaxing, enjoying a good brew, and perhaps contemplating the finer things in life. To that end, we bring you a review inspired by the legendary King Midas, who had the ability (or so the story goes) to turn everything he touched into gold!
Dogfish Head touts this brew as the "actual oldest-known fermented beverage in the world!" They followed an ancient recipe using the original ingredients from the 2700 year old drinking vessels discovered in the tomb of King Midas and by their own admission, this brew lies "somewhere between wine & mead... and will please the Chardonnay or beer drinker alike."
In every proper review, your trusted husband & wife team of Beeraucrats will examine the Appearance, Aroma, Taste, Mouthfeel, Drinkability and Overall Rating of the Beer and arrive at a Total Score from 1 to 10.
Dogfish Head Midas Touch
APPEARANCE:
Mugsy: Darkish yellow color. Very slight amount of carbonation visible. Thin head that dissipates to an even thinner head. Looks like a lager. No lacing left on glass.
Jugsy: Amber in color with a very slight murkiness. Practically no head to speak of, but very visibly carbonated during pour, although now appears normal.
AROMA:
Mugsy: Sweet scents of honey come to the nose first. Sweet, dessert wine aroma is next. Extremely sweet smelling, almost like candy.
Jugsy: Smells fragrant and sweet, like a spicy, perfumed essential oil. Floral smells and honey -- smells like mead! Sweet malted barley and light orange blossom scent permeates throughout. If this brew has any hops, I can't smell them.
TASTE:
Mugsy: Sweet! The muscat grapes predominate this. Almost tastes like a very mild, slightly carbonated muscato wine. There is a slightly sugary after taste, but it's not overwhelming. Doesn't taste at all like other beers from any other styles that I can think of.
Jugsy: Yeast and barley flavors hit all at once, but in an unexpected way. Tastes more like wine than beer. Yeast and muscat grapes are strong middle-notes along with the spices (the label says it's saffron).
MOUTHFEEL:
Mugsy: The sugary content of the beer makes for a bit of a coating on the tongue. Goes back easily, if not somewhat watery.
Jugsy: This beer is neither rich nor watery. Has a tongue-numbing effect after a few sips, though.
DRINKABILITY:
Mugsy: The 9% ABV would keep you to drinking only a couple before moving on to something else. Also, the high sugar content coupled with the high ABV would make for a pretty nasty hangover!
Jugsy: Definitely not a brew you can continuously throw back, and not merely due to its 9% ABV, but its sheer overpowering taste! Really drinks more like wine than beer.
OVERALL:
Mugsy: Definitely a neat concept. Not bad overall. May be a little too sweet and little too watery for me. Drink this one cold and finish before it warms up to any degree! Would purchase again at least once, just for fun.
Jugsy: I was really excited to try this beer after finding out about its ancient recipe and heritage. The beer smells amazing and unlike anything I've smelled before, but the actual taste is somewhat disappointing. There's a sharp taste to it, more reminiscent of wine, which nearly always gives me a stomach ache, as this beer is doing now. It's possible the bottle was mis-handled and the taste spoiled; I can't be sure. Definitely should not be drunk on an empty stomach!
SCORE:
Mugsy: 5.5
Jugsy: 6.0
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
2010 promises to be another great year for beer!
Here at Beeraucracy, your two Beeraucrats, Mugsy and Jugsy, promise to bring you many more fun and insightful reviews throughout the year, all from the husband and wife perspective!
At the moment, Jugsy and I are still under the weather (can you believe it?!), and still unable to do a proper review.
That being said, this seems like the perfect time to bring you Beeraucracy's Best of 2009!
We have gone back through all the reviews of 2009; studied and scrutinized - read and re-read, and come up with...
(drum roll, please!)
MUGSY & JUGSY'S BEERS OF THE YEAR -- 2009!!
Ladies first! Let's start with Jugsy's 2009 favorite....
Jugsy: At a mind-boggling 100+ IBUs, my pick for 2009 beer of the year (you might call it my own personal pursuit of "hoppiness") is the Stone Ruination IPA!
Click HERE for the full review 
And now Mugsy's favorite for 2009....
Mugsy: January 1st just happens to be the day that I proposed to Jugsy. So, what better way to celebrate an anniversary than with the Sierra Nevada 2009 Anniversary Ale?!
Click HERE for the full review 
Sometimes it can be difficult to get a husband & wife to agree on anything! However, Mugsy & Jugsy sure do agree that the Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron was one of their mutual favorites of 2009!
Click HERE for the full review
Happy 2010! We wish you happiness, health and lots of beer throughout the year!
Beer: Palo Santo MarronBrewer: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, DE USA
Type: Strong ale
Bottle: 12 fl. oz. bottle
ABV: 12%
Served in: Pint glass
Place of Purchase: Silver Liquor, Sherman Oaks, CA
Price: $15.99 per 4-pack
Recently, one of our Beeraucracy readers brought it to our attention that Mugsy and Jugsy had been focusing way too much on West Coast breweries, and he reminded us that there are some excellent breweries "East of the Rockies." Of course there are! And we are only too happy to drink (and review) them for you!
Having said that, Mugsy and Jugsy were also beginning to realize that there were a few too many Belgian and IPA reviews and not enough of all the other styles of beer. We're rectifying this immediately! (Although, we still reserve the right to review our favorite styles!)
The Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron calls itself a "Malt Beverage aged on Palo Santo Wood" and according to the bottle, this special Brown Ale is aged in handmade wooden vessels measuring 10,000 gallons - the largest brewing vessels built in America since before the Prohibition. This brew's distinctive caramel and vanilla flavors actually come from the Paraguayan Palo Santo wood used to make the tanks.
As an aside, "Palo Santo" means "Holy Wood" in Spanish (not to be confused with Hollywood, which is just over the hill from Mugsy & Jugsy's place!)
To quote directly from the bottle: "We have wood. Now you do too."
In every proper review, the Beeraucrats will examine the Appearance, Aroma, Taste, Mouth-Feel, Drinkability and Overall Rating of the Beer and arrive at a Total Score from 1 to 10.
Palo Santo Marron
APPEARANCE:
Mugsy: Dark! This beer looks like a cup of black coffee. Absolutely impossible to see through, even when held to light. Have to look very closely to see carbonation. Thin, but malty looking light brown head. One could easily mistake this for a glass of Coca-Cola. Lots of creamy head retention as glass empties.
Jugsy: Super dark black / brown - no light penetrates this brew! If I squint just the right way, I can see ruby tones near the bottom of the glass and a slight pinkish hue in the medium, tan frothy head. Leaves behind thick lacing.
AROMA:
Mugsy: Deep, roasted malt mixed with chocolate. Slight hint of vanilla also, maybe Bourbon vanilla? If sniffing this with the eyes closed, I would think it a glass of chocolate milk.
Jugsy: Sweet! Heavy chocolate, toffee and vanilla candy scents right off the bat. Caramel and coffee aromas are secondary. The faintest touch of roasted malts are present as well. If I were blindfolded and had to go on smell alone, I would think I was smelling a sugary iced-coffee drink!
TASTE:
Mugsy: Incredibly chocolaty, like cacao. Strong flavor of roasted malt. Tastes like those candy chocolate malted balls. Surprisingly, there's a little bit of hop flavor in there, too. Aftertaste is of vanilla. Tastes very much like a porter.
Jugsy: Definitely sweet and chocolaty. The beer equivalent of a coffee ice-cream flavored root beer float! Surprisingly sweet with a complex flavor palate. Toffee, chocolate and coffee flavors linger alongside toasty malts in the aftertaste. The vanilla flavor almost masks the high alcohol content. Very pleasant taste!
MOUTH-FEEL:
Mugsy: Very creamy & rich. Very heavy. Imagine drinking a bowl of melted chocolate ice cream that's been watered down with a porter. This is a meal - or at least a dessert - in a glass. Even though the hops are not incredibly present in the taste, there's a fair bit on the tongue.
Jugsy: Creamy, rich and smooth. Carbonation is mild. This is a heavy beer, but absolutely lovely to drink.
DRINKABILITY:
Mugsy: A bit too heavy to be a session beer, unless you're on the Arctic Tundra & throwing these back to keep warm! Also, the 12% ABV (12%!!!) would become prohibitive at some point. However, I'm only feeling a little bit of it right now. Guess I'll have to drink more!
Jugsy: If my taste-buds alone ruled this category, I'd drink it all night! However, due to the 12% ABV and the hearty nature of this brew, it needs to be relegated to the oft-neglected "dessert beer" category. One can only have so many root beer floats!
OVERALL:
Mugsy: Quite complex and very well-rounded, balanced beer. If not for the "Brown Ale" description on the bottle, I would have thought this a porter or a stout. Would go well with rich desserts, fruitcakes or chocolaty treats. Would love to drink again, especially if the cost were just a little more affordable. (Feeling the 12% ABV now, by the way.) This beer would be great on one of those cold, winter nights in front of the fire with a girl named Jugsy.
Hmmmm... Gonna have to make that a reality... tonight!
Jugsy: I was not excited about reviewing this beer, despite generally being a fan of Dogfish Head, but Mugsy and I were determined to get out of our Belgian / IPA habit. Not excited, I should say, until I smelled it and became captivated by its curiously sweet aroma! This beer was a delight and a dream. For me, it's the first beer I've tasted that can truly be a companion for any dessert. I love it!
SCORE:
Mugsy: 8.05
Jugsy: 8.88
Beer: Midas Touch
