Monday, March 21, 2011

Beer of the Month - March

The beer of the month for March is Dogfish Head Craft Brewery's Midas Touch Ale {9% abv}. My introduction to this beer came a couple months ago at the Laurrapin Grille in Havre De Grace, MD. I was in attendance to check out the great tunes of my brother-in-laws band, The Rivals, and I ended up looking through the see-through fridge behind the bar for something I hadn't tried before. Fortunately for me, they had a very eclectic assortment of bottled brews. That's when I saw it; Midas Touch in a dark bottle with the fingerprint label. After three sips I knew it'd be claiming the BOTM crown for March.

Dogfish Head as a brewery began life in 1995, in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The company aimed to provide original beers and great foods for the local beach community, but the business grew faster than they imagined. From an extremely small brewing setup which required use 15 times a week, to the current industrial-sized brewery in Milton Delaware, Dogfish Head's quality products have always found their way into restaurants, storefronts and homes of their fans.

Dogfish Head's exponential growth history repeated itself again in late 2010, with their involvement in the Brew Masters TV Series on the Discovery Channel. With even more exposure, they've unfortunately had to pull some distribution to better handle the now near-worldwide demand. Dogfish Head recently addressed the public online to calm the nerves of their constituency. Even though some feel slighted, with the current economy there's no point in expanding in a manner that only addresses the short-term, so I completely respect their actions.


Midas Touch Ale is a lovely golden color in the glass, with virtually no head. The first sip of this ale is an explosion of flavor, rare for most brews. You can definitely taste the labelled ingredients, including muscat grapes and honey, but it takes a skilled palette to detect the subtle saffron aromatics. For some background for those of you who don't drink wine, muscat grapes are typically used in dessert wines. Actually, wine is a good way to describe the feel of this beer. It's easy to tell this brew has fermented for a longer period of time than most, which lends both to the alcohol content and complex taste. Don't misinterpret the ingredient list, Midas Touch isn't sweet, it's a quite refined blend of flavors. This great brew from Dogfish Head Craft Brewery's lineup is hard to find, expensive and comes in four-packs. Use the search function on the Dogfish Head website and call ahead. Seek Midas Touch out with vigilance. 4 stars.

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