Name: Midas Touch

Brewer: Dogfish Head Brewery

Style: Beats the hell out of me, Mead maybe?

Cellared On: July 2nd, 2007

Original Tasting: July 3rd, 2007

Dogfish says that the recipe for this brew is the “actual oldest-known fermented beverage in the world”. I definitely believe them because its taste is pretty freakin bizarre by today’s standards. Very fruity smell hits you before you even pore it out. A very heavy grape flavor turns into a sweet honey finish as you drink it. There’s a pretty heavy body to this brew. I definitely warmed up to it the more I drank, but I never really felt like I was drinking a beer at any point.

Six Month Tasting: February 9th, 2008

Right after pouring I still noticed the grape fruity smell, but it almost seemed to have a bit of a floral quality to it now. What head there was was disappearing as quickly as I poured. There’s still a big fruity flavor to this brew, but the grapes have noticably subsided now. That’s a good thing, as I can now more clearly taste flavors of orange and honey coming through. The finish is light with sweet honey and other fruity on the tongue. Very well balanced, and even more mead-like now.

One Year Tasting Notes: August 7th, 2008

Not too much has changed in the smell or look of this beer.

Flavor-wise, the grape flavors have continued their slide, letting the honey flavors come through strong. There’s still some hints of orange, but they’ve slipped away with the grape over the past six months. There’s not too much complexity here, but it’s still fun to drink. The body is surprisingly heavy and fairly syrupy.

I think it peaked six months ago.

Cellar Outlook: This sure does have the hallmarks of a cellarable beer. High ABV (9.0%) with lot’s of raging flavors. Unfortunately, reports have not been kind to this brew’s performance in the cellar so far. Maybe it’ll surprise me, but I think I’m going to be disappointed come January.

Six Month Cellar Outlook: The fruit is holding up well, and I think it will continue to do so. I think the grape flavors will fade even more with time, hopefully exposing some other secret tastes along the way.

One Year Cellar Outlook: I don’t see this getting any better at this point. I’m pretty sure it peaked six months ago.

Next Tasting: July 2008