Dogfish Head Tweason’ale

My foot hits the pavement for the last time before I slow down to catch my breath. My sweet aging Golden Retriever, Neela, is dragging behind me ever so slightly. She’s at the age now where a hike up the city butte and a run around the base means that by the end of the workout, I’m pulling on her, instead of the other way around. I have to admit, I always feel a slight boost of accomplishment when I outlast my Energizer Bunny-of-a-dog.

Alas, here I am at home…kicking back and enjoying my second (ever) Tweason’ale. When my roommate and I decided to review this beer, we were delighted to find that the Dogfish Head Tweason’ale comes in these cute little four-packs, perfect for splitting a couple brews with a friend on the porch. :) I enjoyed my first one a while back, and saved the second for another day. Well…that day is today!

 

First, I Must Confess…

 

I have a confession. I hate fruit beers. When I saw the Dogfish Head label, I experienced a surge of excitement, only to look down and read the description: “A gluten-free sorghum-based ale brewed with strawberries and honey.” My joy shrunk with disappointment. My palate had never been fond of fruit in my beer. So I am admitting this bias to you, before you read my review. (Although, I think it’s safe to say that I gave it a fair shot anyway.)

Dogfish Head Tweason’ale: The Stats

 

• 6.0% ABV
• Released in 2011, available year round.
• Gluten-Free Sorghum-Based Ale brewed with Strawberries and Buckwheat Honey

When we popped this beer open for the first time, the first thing we noticed was the rosey-amber color. It smells strongly of honey, especially when drinking from the bottle. Once poured into a glass, the strawberry notes came forward a bit more, and it began to smell a bit more like beer to me.

The initial taste is slightly sour with a mild sweetness. I was pleasantly surprised actually…this beer isn’t quite as sweet as you would expect from the scent. (This is a positive in my book.) In fact, I found that the sweetness from the buckwheat honey faded rather quickly from my mouth. It didn’t linger or force me to bathe in a sugar high until I took my next swig. Another positive. I also felt they did a great job of masking the sorghum. In fact, I feel the gluten free beer industry in general is improving in this arena. The other compliment I have for this brew is that it is perfectly carbonated. I mean it…perfectly refreshing, without the headache of a typical fizzy fruit beer.

• slightly sour with a mild sweetness
• sorghum masked completely
• smells more like a beer than it tastes
• great comparable alternative to cider

My major complaint about this brew (you knew this was coming…I already warned you that I hate fruit in my beer), is that it tastes more like a cider than a beer. In fact, it smells more like a beer than it tastes. I imagine that the hops are what help it in that department. The Tweason’ale is an incredible refreshing option for a summer afternoon, and to be fair, I might even choose it over a cider. I find that many ciders are horribly back-sugared. This is what happens when you add a bunch of sugar to your cider at the end of the process to replace flavor that you over-filtered out. It’s for this reason that I don’t enjoy many ciders. (There are definitely some exceptions!…as me if you want some recommendations for ciders that *won’t* make you feel like death.) I would love to reach for this Tweason’ale in place of a over-sweetened cider. In fact, I find it to be a fantastic beer alternative to cider! Yes…I know it’s usually the other way around.

Katrina reviewed this beer too! Keep reading to find out what she thought about it…

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Every beer I’ve tasted by this innovative Delaware based brewery has been a full flavored treat; especially in the IPA department. With their highly reputable name known across the nation, I was more than eager to give this gluten free a go.

Upon first introduction, the beautiful redish amber hue united with the crisp, slightly sweet honeyed aroma, becoming quite the intriguing pair. The initial taste is a sweet seduction of fruity strawberry that quickly transforms into a tart sour body with a crisp, refreshing, yet slightly malty finish. It’s cider-like, but with the body of a beer. The sorghum in masked excellently with the strawberry and buckwheat honey. I’m not a fan of fruity beers, but Dogfish Head did a stellar job combining all these flavors into one fluidly refreshing stream of experiences…taste bud experiences.

“Dogfish Head make’s a gluten free? Sweet! Quite Literally.”  -Katrina

The Strawberry Bee logo is the perfect little spokesman. With this beer, you get exactly what you’d expect by glancing at the label. According to Dogfish Head, this beer has quite a complex, labor intensive brewing process. Well, it is worth the extra efforts; a flavorfully imaginative, complex, summer time brew.

My Tweason’ale Experience:

Sweet → Fruit → Sour → Beer → Crisp