Dogfish Head World Wide Stout is theoretically distributed in West Michigan, their products are after all, on shelves. But for some reason we have not been graced with World Wide Stout in years. I am sure that has something to do with the ridiculous amount of politics in beer distribution. For some time I have been wanting to try some. I was able to sample one, freshly bottled in December.
It pours a very dark chocolate with nice lacing. The aroma was grainy, very similar to Great Lakes Blackout Stout, and was also somewhat muted. I am not a big fan of Blackout Stout so I was starting to think this bottle acquisition might have been a waste. Then I sipped it. My first thought was WOW! I really was not expecting such a sweet, rich, perfectly balanced ale. With some booziness, this is very restrained for such a high abv (~ 18%) ale. When considering how fresh it is I am impressed that there is no alcohol burn, and that it does not dominate in anyway.This ale has the richness that one might expect from a barrel aged stout. It beats out Three Floyds Dark Lord for sure, the same deep malt notes, but not overly sweet and far more balanced.
Overall I am very impressed by this ale, a lot of complexity, and it lives up to the hype. There is some of the graininess in the palate that I am not crazy about, but that is more personal preference than anything else. I am looking forward to cracking the 2010 I have, to see how it ages. (The snowman in the back of the photo had a bit too much to drink. I think that is why he is leaning so hard.)
It pours a very dark chocolate with nice lacing. The aroma was grainy, very similar to Great Lakes Blackout Stout, and was also somewhat muted. I am not a big fan of Blackout Stout so I was starting to think this bottle acquisition might have been a waste. Then I sipped it. My first thought was WOW! I really was not expecting such a sweet, rich, perfectly balanced ale. With some booziness, this is very restrained for such a high abv (~ 18%) ale. When considering how fresh it is I am impressed that there is no alcohol burn, and that it does not dominate in anyway.This ale has the richness that one might expect from a barrel aged stout. It beats out Three Floyds Dark Lord for sure, the same deep malt notes, but not overly sweet and far more balanced.
Overall I am very impressed by this ale, a lot of complexity, and it lives up to the hype. There is some of the graininess in the palate that I am not crazy about, but that is more personal preference than anything else. I am looking forward to cracking the 2010 I have, to see how it ages. (The snowman in the back of the photo had a bit too much to drink. I think that is why he is leaning so hard.)