What the…?!! Dogfish Head Delivers a Beer and Wine Hybrid!

Introducing the Nobel Rot... Dogfish Head never ceases to amaze us!

So you have this battle of wine vs. beer all over the bars, restaurants and even the Internet. For instance, there’s beer authorities like Brooklyn Brewery’s Garrett Oliver calling out wine connoisseurs worldwide to battle him in the arena of which is better to pair with food and he’s kicking ass with his ales and lagers. Then there are some wine people who say beer makes them fat and it’s not as sophisticated a beverage, while many brew heads like me think wine makes us sleepy and simply cannot compare in terms of range in flavors. 

The Wine Sign. Booo!

Well, whatever gang sign you throw up—the “Westside W” for wines or the “A” for ales—Dogfish Head might get the Nobel Peace Prize with a hybrid this consistently eccentric brewer is bringing to fine package stores across the nation in a couple weeks. Yep, they did it again by creating the Noble Rot (9 percent ABV), which ‘Fish’s Founder and President Sam Calagione claims “…is the most ambitious hybrid of beer and wine in thousands of years.” Hopefully soon, I will see about that!

Regardless, cheers to Dogfish and anyone else ballsy enough to experiment and further expose all the glory ales and lagers have to offer. You will see it in a 750 ml bottle for $12.99 by early February.

Check out Dogfish Head’s official press release below with the full breakdown and history behind the Nobel. Crazy!

Deuces!

Ale

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From Dogfish Head: 

Noble Rot is the most ambitious hybrid of beer and wine in thousands of years

Complexity comes from grapes infected by benevolent fungus

Clay is the perfect material for capturing time in a bottle. As molecular biologists have discovered by unearthing ancient tombs, organic residue trapped in porous chards of pottery reveals quite a bit about what our ancestors drank on the special occasions of burial feasts.

It's interesting that thousands of years ago – in places such as Turkey, China and Central America – these momentous occasions were celebrated with hybrid beverages. These alchemistic mixes incorporated exotic ingredients like saffron and hawthorn fruit with multiple sugar sources like honey, grapes, rice and barley.

As often as we look forward and innovate, Dogfish Head has looked backward for inspiration as we explored ancient recipes like Midas Touch, circa 1740 B.C., in Turkey and Chateau Jiahu, circa 7000 B.C., in China.

Now we are bringing this hybrid concept into the future with Noble Rot.

"This is the absolute closest to equal meshing of the wine world and the beer world that's ever been done commercially," says Dogfish Head Founder and President Sam Calagione.

For Noble Rot, 49.5% of the fermentable sugars come from grapes, and 50.5% come from grains. Two unique white wine grapes, sourced with our friends at Alexandria Nicole Cellars in Prosser, Wash., add complexity to this saison-esque science project.

The first addition is unfermented juice, known as must, from viognier grapes that have been infected with a benevolent fungus called botrytis. This "noble rot" reduces the water content in the grapes while magnifying their sweetness and complexity. The second is pinot gris must intensified by a process called "dropping fruit," where large clusters of grapes are clipped to intensify the quality of those left behind.

"It's been fascinating to watch the cross-pollination of wine and beer," says Alexandria Nicole Founder Jarrod Boyle. "We're excited to be involved in this."

Noble Rot, which clocks in at 9% ABV, is brewed with pils and wheat malts and fermented with a distinct Belgian yeast strain. It has a spicy white wine body and a dry, tart finish.

Noble Rot will be available in 750-ml bottles ($12.99 MSRP) and on draft in the next few weeks. We are very excited to bring a beverage like this into the beer, food and wine worlds simultaneously.

Besides, we always wanted to see if a beer with the word "rot" in the name would actually sell.