"Bitches Brew", The Beer

While "Bitches Brew" sounds like a cheeky name some home brewer came up with while combing his beard one night out in his bike shed/brewery, it's actually the name of a popular studio album by jazz musician Miles Davis. Bitches Brew is widely considered to be one of the greatest jazz/progressive jazz albums ever recorded and I have to recommend picking up the re-released box set of these sessions if you have any interest in jazz. Certain tracks are also available for free streaming on youtube!

Back to the story you came here to read though...

Dogfish Head has brewed a special dark ale for the 40th anniversary of the original release of Bitches Brew. The gist of the thing is that it's got like, three different imperial stouts coming together in one bottle, man. Then, to top the whole thing off, that crazy cat Sam Calagione threw in some honey beer and a little gesho root for some really far out flavor.
(NOTE: I'm only 23 so I have to refer to Marlon Brando's character in A Street Car Named Desire for most of my jazz slang. Don't act like you're not impressed.)

Label Art and Blurbs(to include ABV): This label art may even be cooler than the last beer I reviewed. It's the actual cover from the record and was created by Mati Klarwein. ABV is listed as 9.0%

Nasal Observations During Pour: This beer has one smell and one smell alone, Chocolate cake with chocolate icing.

Visual Observations During Pour: You could hide more bodies in a pint of this stuff than the entire New Jersey waterfront. Wow, talk about the closest shade brown can get to jet black. The yeast sediment at the end of the pour had been stained close to black as well. It looked more like chocolate sprinkles than yeast, reinforcing my theory that this might actually be a milkshake.

Head(Foam): The head on my pour was about a half of an inch thick. It settled down fairly quickly to about an eighth of an inch, but whose measuring? The brackish brown color reminded me of water pollution, which I now consider extremely appetizing.

Nasal Observations After Settling: I'm serious about that one smell only.

Visual Observations After Settling: I can only assume the yeast ended up settling down, but for all I know there is a wild party happening in the center of this glass. I can't even see a shade of luminescence. I think this is the color that the ocean is at two miles deep where crazy alien lightening bug-like fish are darting in and out of your submarine's one spotlight while you shit yourself silly.

First Taste: The beginning of my first taste was a vividly sweet, chocolatey, roasted malt. Almost immediately, the sweetness started leveling out while a more creamy flavor found its way through. I wouldn't assume there was honey in here if you hadn't told me, but when I really feel for it I can taste the golden sauce lingering after the creamy malts start to lose their footing, sliding down my throat.

Second Taste: I'm really starting to explore the honey side of this beer. After a quick google, I found out that Gesho Root is basically to mead what hops are to beer. It grows wildly in Africa and is popular in beer brewing there because hops aren't readily available.

Aftertaste: The aftertaste of Bitches Brew is really only unique from other imperial stouts because of that ultimately mellow buffer the honey lends after each swallow. I've never tasted Gesho Root by itself, but this beer is given an IBU rating of 38 which is definitely tolerable by my moderately hop enjoying standards.

Overall Opinion: Love it. I'm quite fond of dark beers, but I'll draw the line from time to time on Imperial Stouts. Sometimes I find them just a bit too harsh at the end of the taste. I would really love to see more dark beers experiment with the soothing effects of honey. As far as the three different stouts combined in the final product of this beer go, I couldn't tell one from the other in any way.

Last Taste: As I approach toward the last few gulps of my pint, I still get the rich, roasted, chocolate malt flavor that constitutes an Imperial Stout. Actually, I've started eating sharp cheddar cheese, further calming the raw beer flavors on my tongue. It's worth mentioning that dark beers are generally more appreciated as they warm up, and Bitches Brew is no different in this.


As far as food pairing goes, Dogfish Head suggests chili or spicy curry. I haven't ever paired an imperial stout with curry, but they really do go well with a hearty bowl of chili on a crisp, late autumn night. I'm enjoying this sharp cheddar as paired right now. It seems to negate some of the flavor, but brings out the light smokey flavor of the roasted malts.

Bitches Brew is a bottle conditioned beer, so my only question I have is, "Does bottle conditioned mean this juice will stay hip for another 40 years like my man Miles' tunes!? Skibiteebeat Skibiteebat!"