Dogfish Head Bitches Brew makes its return

According to the folks over at beernews.org, Dogfish Head's Bitches Brew will return to shelves this month. This was a beer brewed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the landmark Miles Davis record of the same name. You can see a full description of the beer at the Dogfish website.

Joining it will be a re-release of Hellhound on My Ale, another beer made to honor a musician (blues legend Robert Johnson) and Faithfull Ale, a beer brewed to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of Pearl Jam's album Ten. It's a Belgian style golden ale brewed with black currants. I can't verify for sure, but I'm pretty sure this was once a brewpub beer brewed under a different name, specifically Au Courant.

I'm a fan of all three musical acts, so these beers are fun based on that alone. Thankfully, they're worth drinking, too. (Well, the two of them I've had, at least.)

Bitches Brew is a big imperial stout with a pleasant honey flavor at the end thanks to blending in Tej. It doesn't sound like it should work, but it does. The initial aftertaste is surprising but wonderful. The beer was featured on the short-lived show Brew Masters, and as a result became very difficult to find. Bottles flew off shelves the same day. They sometimes sold for $40-50 on the aftermarket. Expect this one to sell like mad this time, too. But do make the effort to find it; it's delicious.

The Hellhound is a pretty good imperial IPA with some lemon zing to give it a twist. Like most of DFH's big IPAs it's very sweet and thick and borders on syrupy. This one works better than their others due to that lemon, in my opinion, which gives it a bit of needed zest. Clocks in at a robust 10% alcohol by volume, so it's a big beer. If you don't care for their 90 min or Squall take a pass, otherwise give this one a look. It's a nice sipping beer, especially on a warmer day. This beer was once brewed under a different name, too. It was a brewpub exclusive called A Romantic Aromatic.