Dogfish Head Hellhound on My Ale

Like a lot of folk and blues musicians, I do tend to ramble some. And some times, those ramblings even make sense, sometimes they have music and poetry, too. This is not one of those. This is a blind tasting, without any information before typing and drinking. I went back in and corrected some mistaken information. Here come the notes:


Dogfish Head Robert Johnson's Hellhound on My Ale.  10 % ABV, ale brewed with lemons.

Dogfish Head began their music series with the Bitches Brew ale, to commemorate the anniversary of Miles Davis' album of the same name. I've got to say that I don't know if there's an anniversary of Robert Johnson's to celebrate, or any particular connection to his music that this beer creates. (Duh. 2011 was his centennial year. )Maybe there is, but "ale brewed with lemons" doesn't speak immediately to the life of Robert Johnson, unless I'm completely wrong about that. (and I've since learned that it is a tribute to Blind Lemon Jefferson.)

Appearance: hazy, amber. lasting white head on top.

Aroma: mild hop approach, but plenty of fruit and citrus, lots of malt-delivered fruit-y character. Terrifically pleasant. I'm happy.

Taste: So, I'm spinning the classic Columbia album, "King of the Delta Blues Singers", from the "Thesaurus of Classic Jazz". "Rambling on My Mind" is on right now. All the lemon in this makes me stay a second, no matter how hard she treats me. We've gone through Preaching Blues and When You Got a Good Friend, and are 5 tracks away from the title that lends it's name to this ale, in a fashion, "Hellhound on my Trail". Bitter and sour, with a lean malt body, the hops and the citrus addition become primary.

As I often report from the lines of label copy on beer bottles, I know quote from the album: "Robert Johnson sang primitive blues about women, His references were earthy and only thinly disguised. He lived the life he sang about and which ultimately killed him. He was not unique in that respect. /..."

I'm still not 100% sure that this is the best beer with which to give him tribute.So the blues equal bitter, therefore a lemon-infused ale? Maybe something earthier? Richer, darker? "Hellhound" has no direct relation to lemons. Maybe I missed something?