World Wide Stout

Brewer: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, Milton, Delaware
Alcohol Content: 15-20%

Official Description from Brewer:
"YES! This is the beer you've heard so much about. Dark, rich, roasty and complex, World Wide Stout has more in common with a fine port than a can of cheap, mass-marketed beer. Brewed with a ridiculous amount of barley. Have one with (or as!) dessert tonight!"

Wilk's Take:
Somewhere on a shelf, a lone bottle of Dogfish Head's World Wide Stout cried out to me, practically begging me to buy it.  Honestly, I admit that I have not really had a Dogfish Head beer until this very moment.  I know that seems odd because Sam Calagione has done as much for the craft beer movement as anyone.  At least he has been well publicized.  But when you have a reputation for brewing good beer you must be doing something right.  Now I could have gone with the standard 60 minute IPA, but no, I go for a little rarer sighting, the World Wide Stout.

Between the realm of chocolate liqueur and rubbing alcohol lies the aroma of World Wide Stout.  It is simultaneously inviting and repulsive.  Granted, the repulsion is based on years of childhood illness where I inhaled rubbing alcohol as a method to clear chest congestion, so it might not be a fair comparison for this beer.  There is something definitely pungent about the smell that makes you think you'll lose a few nose hairs in the process.  I drink it anyway.

For a stout, the look of the beer is anything but.  As I poured it out of the bottle into my trusty pint glass I couldn't help but notice a deep amber color reflected from my kitchen lights.  This is not the used motor oil I love seeing, but it wasn't off putting either.  There was also a distinct liquidity about it that betrays the normal heavy of stouts wallowing in snifter glasses at your run of the mill craft beer establishment.

The taste is definitely akin to port wine.  It has to be.  Something that sweet can only remind you of dessert.  There is no bitter here, but Dogfish Head advertises World Wide Stout to be 70 IBU.  Even when you let it sit on that back of your tongue you are not getting anything remotely close to 70.  My fellow drinkers can confirm, but 70 is on the higher end for an IPA, which this is a far cry from.

Suggestion: I'm a sucker for stouts and World Wide is no exception.  It's good.  After a long day of work and a good meal, unwind with one, if you can find it.  With the heavy alcohol content you won't be surprised to find that it comes in a stand alone 12 oz. bottle.

Value: Definitely not a value buy.  For $8 you could get a couple bombers and even a six pack of good beer that could hold its ground to World Wide Stout.  Of course, it's usually from a local brewer and straight from their tap room.

Michelle Factor: She took the picture, does that count?  She passed on sampling.  Just not in the mood I guess.

Three Floyd's XV Anniversary Party - Worst Episode Ever

Maybe it's my fault. As a rookie coming off the bench, maybe I didn't prepare myself or establish the right expectations for the day. I was so excited to have access to this "exclusive" shindig that I failed to read any information about it posted just the day before. I have waited a week and half to even attempt to describe the day's activities because I needed to calm myself down. I wanted to approach it from the most objective perspective I could muster, but in the end I still hate, HATE, what I went through.

My wonderful sister-in-law Genny was kind enough to drop my brother Adrian and I off because I knew that parking was going to be ridiculous. That warning was well publicized by Three Floyd's from the outset, plus I read about previous Dark Lord Days. We arrived at 1:07pm, which was seven minutes after the premises was accessible to ticket holders and the line snaked down the street, around the corner, around a cul-de-sac, and back down the other side of the street. Now, I stood in line to get into a ballgame before with ticket in hand, so I was fine with that, but the line wasn't moving!

The picture above shows how much further we had to wait having already waited in the line for approximately one hour. Many of my taste buds were crying as I watched those around us drinking fine brews and feeling the saliva in my mouth ascending to levels reserved probably for dogs looking at a bacon treat. I had two bottles of CBS in my bag that I was looking to trade so the will power not to crack one of those open was battling my desire to drink a beer. I was hungry too. I skipped lunch because there were fine chefs inside and I love good brewpub food.

It took two and a half hours to get into a facility where we had tickets to attend the event inside. Egregious. When I get to the gate I present my ticket and my driver's license and the woman gave me two options, "To the right is the line to buy the bottled beers, to the left is the tent where they are serving the guest beers along with Three Floyd's beer." We went to the right.

Fortunately, my friend Dale met us near the front of the line. I let him cut the line. I didn't care at this point. I was tired, thirsty, hungry, and decidedly peeved about the whole situation. Not to mention the group behind us let about six people cut the line. Dale was our beer gopher. As my brother and I stood waiting to buy beer, Dale went to grab a couple of Alpha Kings. Yes, you read that right. Of all the selection of beers they were offering we decided to get the flagship formula. Why? Because it was the easiest brew to get. When Dale returned he handed us our Solo cups and graciously said, "First round is on me." I chuckled a little assuming that the beer had to come with the price of admission. Nope. $5. Damn, I'm at a beer garden at a lame state fair, right?

The picture above is the line to buy bottled beer along the side of the brewery's warehouse. Another hour and a half. Thankfully I was able to try "Baller Stout," the XV anniversary brew which is a combination of Dark Lord, Surly Darkness, Struise Black Albert, and Mikeller Beer Geek Brunch, before I decided if I wanted to buy it. Who am I kidding, I was going to buy it regardless. It was very tasty. Velvety smooth, but really hits you with coffee on the front end and cayenne notes on the back end. When I actually drink a bottle I could offer you a better opinion, but since I felt like a jilted lover drinking it, probably a good idea to leave the bias aside.

It took us another hour and a half standing in line before we bought our beer. I walked away with four bottles of Baller Stout, a bottle of Biggs' Stache (limited barrel aged brew), and a bottle of Alpha Klaus just because I wanted it. My time in line also yielded a bottle of Goose Island Bourbon County Stout which cost me a bottle of CBS. With beer securely in my bag, in was time to forage for sustenance.

At 5 o'clock, with five hours still ahead of the celebration, the food was gone. The celebrated chefs, nowhere to be found. The two food trucks that they brought in to supplement? One was closed and waiting for all the guests to enter the brewery (yes, still a line outside) and the other had a long, winding line since it was the only food on site. The bands that were lined up for entertainment? Inside the warehouse.

I left. I could not fathom spending another second of my time there. On a scale of one to worst episode ever you can imagine where I rated this event. Am I on a soapbox? You bet I am! $25 per ticket gets you into a party where you have to spend $5 on beer, an equal if not more amount on food that wasn't even there, and $30 per bottle of anniversary beer. I've never been to Dark Lord Day, but I'm guessing that I'm never going to go either. Having tried that beer (and it is by far the best beer I've had to date) I have no need to go back.

Alternatively, now that I'm a seasoned veteran, I can always approach the festivities from a different perspective. However, my favorite craft beer establishment threw a one year anniversary celebration for its patrons and provided Zombie Dust free of charge (along with another craft beer selection) and the food was free as well. In fifteen years, maybe Three Floyd's is slowly morphing into an entity whose mystique far outweighs its service. The product is outstanding, don't get me wrong, but if the precedent of Dark Lord is the new trend in craft beer (i.e. CBS, Darkness, etc.) then I may just pass and stick with the Alpha Kings.

Why did I do that?

Leading up to the unique beer sale at Wise Guys (yes, I renamed it) I was trolling around craigslist and eBay looking at how much some of these beers were going for.  And I revisited an old favorite: Dark Lord by Three Floyd's.

There it was, in my hometown nonetheless.  It seemed like a reasonable price at the time and besides, I already convinced Brett to go in on half.  The only thing I had to give up was the bottle.  I had no problem with that as I am not in the habit of keeping the bottles.  I was only interested in the prize within.  So I arranged a meet with the buyer and ponied up $60 for the 2011 brew.  Why did I do that?

Finally the day of the sale came and we lined up outside the store with a dedicated crowd more than likely chasing after the same beer: Founders CBS.  We were ushered into the narrow first aisle of the store and told about the quantities available.  They were selling 8 bottles of CBS that morning and there were roughly 60 or 70 people in line.  Very interesting.  I don't remember the specific counts of the other beers but we had six names in six beer drawings and the outlook seemed promising.

"You know," Melanie started, "we should have gotten back in line and come up with aliases to increase our odds."  This was a brilliant idea!  Unfortunately one that was shared after the name collecting stopped.  If ever I find myself in that situation again, you better believe I'll remember that piece of advice.

First up was the CBS.  They were selling it for approximately $18 a bottle.  These bottles were fetching as much as $60 on eBay so the investment alone was worth the wait.  Alas, we struck out.  And the next round was lambic beers from Upland brewery in the form of raspberry, peach, or hell, I can't remember.  We lost out on those too.  Spirits were fading.

I was already holding a bottle of Hoppin' Frog's Frog's Hollow Double Pumpkin Ale which was a 2010 Great American Beer Festival Gold Medal winner.  I was happy with that.  I just wish that I could get some of these other beers.  And then it happened.  The total take away was at least doubling up on the last four beers sold:

4 bottles of Hoppin' Frog Naked Evil @ $25 each - $100 (Why did I do that?  I sold one bottle right on the spot because I couldn't imagine what I would do with four, so we'll scale it back to $75)

2 bottles of Stone Vertical Epic, years 2006 and 2008 @ $42 each - $84 (Why did I do that?  Turns out Stone has been brewing Vertical Epic since 2002 and they release the beers on the following dates: 2/2/02; 3/3/03; 4/4/04; etc. and they will stop on 12/12/12.)

2 bottles of Hoppin' Frog DORIS @ $13 each - $26 (Why did I do that?  I had a bottle at Beer Geeks the week before and it was good and remember BORIS got this whole thing started)

2 bottles of Victory Otto @ $10 each - $20 (Why did I do that?  To be honest with you, I have no frickin' idea.  It was just a limited release)

$205 on 9 bottles of beer averaging $23 bottle which translates to about $1 an ounce.  Ok, that softens the blow a little bit.  Plus I walked away with the Pumpkin Ale which I think was $17 and a bottle of Abita's 25th Anniversary Double Dog for $6.  All told Wise Guys got $228 from me that Saturday morning.

Here's the problem I have: It was a total scam!  Ok, the beer is real and I have it, but my friend Brett calls me half an hour later and says, "So I was at Nick's Liquors and they have Hoppin' Frog DORIS and Naked Evil on the shelf."

"Son of a bitch."

Ok Wise Guys, great marketing scheme.  You bring in foot traffic and hype up beer only to ensure it's sold in one day.  However, good luck getting any more of my money.  Apparently Nick's Liquors doesn't need bells and whistles to sell their beer.  Might be better priced too.

Post Script: This spawned a nasty habit.  I went on eBay and spent $20 on Vertical Epic year 2007 and $10 on Vertical Epic year 2010.  $42 at Wise Guys for beer I could have got on eBay at half the cost.  Granted, year 2002 is going for about $600+.  And I spent $75 on CBS because I didn't think I'd actually win that auction.  Why did I do that?  I can't even drink it now and feel good about it.

Rare beer attack - Sneaky bastards

So I follow a couple dozen people/breweries/beer bloggers on twitter.  Sometimes they provide useful information, other times I gloss over it like a kid being begged by his mother to make the bed.  However, one tweet rose above the others, even though it was so plain:

"Limited release beer sale coming soon....stay tuned for details!!!"

Thanks @wiseguysliquors, that made my day.  What could it be?  The intended effect worked and I was captivated.  Ok, I'll admit, I really didn't care.  Honestly, rare beers are all hype right?  The value of the beer is related to the scarcity moreso than the actual taste.  Or not.  Dark Lord seems to be popular, but with a rabid fan base and loyalists touting it as the best beer ever could just be pulling my chain.  I might think it tastes like crap!  I stayed tune for the next tweet which came about 10 days after the first:

"Our limited release beer sale will be on Saturday 10/29 @ 9:15 a.m. at our Merrillville location."

Well no shit.  You just opened your new store only two months earlier so picking your flagship location was not a stretch.  Still not telling me anything useful.

"We will be using a lottery system to determine who will get the opportunity to purchase these special items to be as fair as possible"

That's good.  The last thing you want is dedicated beer drinkers to start lining up outside your store before a beer release.  You would end up with a tent city of people drinking the night away before you opened.  That helps a lot.  But is it worth my time?

"the beers involved will be announced on Monday 10/24!!! thanks for your patience!"

Damnit.  Really?  Three more days to find out what the hell you'll be selling?  Does that mean the deal with the distributor fell through on some stuff?  Does that mean your distributor won't tell you?  Alright, until Monday...

"Saturday's limited release beer sale will include the following beers:"

140 characters, saves on advertising dollars I suppose

"victory otto, hoppin' frog DORIS, hoppin' frog naked evil, upland lambics, vintage stone vertical epics and founders CBS!"

And there it was.  The hook that the sneaky bastards were using to drive foot traffic.  It could be argued that only one of those beers was rare or highly sought after.  Then again a trip through craigslist or eBay just tells you what the secondary market is offering for these brews.  Craft beer has almost become an investment.  The Founder's Canadian Breakfast Stout alone was a myth!  You could triple your money!

I rounded up my team.  Thanks to Adrian, Brett, Melanie, Michael, and of course Michelle for accompanying me to Wise Guys Liquors that morning.

The conclusion tomorrow...