Dogfish Head Midas Touch

I've been anticipating this one for a long time. Not quite the 2700 years since the recipe was first concocted, according the the brewers, but a long time. This beer is reverse-engineered from a drinking vessel discovered in the tomb of King Midas, hence the name that Dogfish Head have given it. Whether the legendary king actually turned things to gold or not with his touch, he did well with selecting his brewers.

This is not your traditional beer, and in fact barely tastes like beer at all. I'm most reminded of mead, or a slightly sweet white wine, and the alcohol content, at 9%, tends toward wine country, too. It's quite an image to conjure, the ancient party of Iron Age warriors drinking vast bowls of this heady concoction until they believed that their king could turn things to gold with his touch. And I can definitely see them drinking it in mass quantity.

The brewer recommends drinking it from a white wine glass, which I may have to do with my next four-pack, but didn't try this time around. It does well from a glass, but drinks well from a bottle as well, although I recommend decanting, not because there's a head, which there isn't, but because it opens up the flavors and aromas, allowing you to get the varied experience that is this beer.

Veganosity: Most of Dogfish Head's brews are vegan, but Midas Touch, containing honey, is not. Starting this week, I'm going to alter the scoring system from the slightly boring letter grades I've been using up to now. Instead, I'll grade each by comparing it to a movie. Midas Touch inaugurates this system receiving the grade of Jaws. It's classic, it's tremendous, it's repeatable, and like the film, it broke the rules when it was introduced. Also, I can think of few things that would be more enjoyable sitting on a beach on a cool summer night after a hot summer day.

Speaking of summer, next week's brew will be Gritty McDuff's Vacationland Summer Ale. This is going to get me halfway through a tour of New England via microbrews, and I may have to start tracking the states my brews have come from in an effort to hit all 50 by year's end. For now, my name is Joe.