Showing more restraint than is normally possible I am just now breaking into the Dogfish Head Pangaea beer that Eric (my brother-in-law) got me for Christmas. First – let me say he did an awesome job on the x-mas front. I am already planning to rig the drawing next year so he gets my name again. Don’t worry – they’ll all forget in 345 or so days that I ever made such an outrageous claim.
On to the beer – for those of you that aren’t nerds like me Pangaea refers to the supercontinent that existed during the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras about 250 million years ago, before the component continents were separated into their current configuration. This beer is named for the land mass because they take an ingredient from each continent to create it. Specifically Crystallized ginger from Australia, Water from Antarctica, Basmati rice from Asia, Muscavado sugar from Africa, South American quinoa, European yeast, and North American maize. The video to the right explains a lot of this and you can also visit the Dogfish Head website if you want to read it all again. (CTRL-C / CTRL-V)
So if someone goes to all that trouble to get the ingredients you’d assume the finished product was pretty good. Not surprisingly it is. The taste is a little spicy and you can definitely taste a hint of ginger. It isn’t at all overpowering and unlike some more flavorful beers it has an extremely clean finish.
The bottle suggests drinking the beer “cool not cold from a snifter or wine glass.” I am fairly certain that is because the smell of this beer is as good as the taste and definitely part of the experience. At 7%ABV it isn’t a beer to chug either – the wine glass kinda forces you into slow sipping. It is never a bad idea to read your bottle before you get started. Pictures after the jump. They give a pretty good idea of the color of the beer and the bottle which at close to two pints will hopefully survive with the wine topper for another round tomorrow evening. Overall this was a great beer and a great present and definitely something I am adding to my seasonal beer list for next year.
Update: Yes the wine stopper kept the beer fresh for a day. I would try the experiment for a longer time period but found it unnecessary.
The bottle – waiting patiently for me to take it’s picture.
A very excited Kabuki!
This is how all my blog posts should be written. Thanks again Eric – great find – awesome beer.
