Photo from NPR
Thanks to a biomolecular archaeologist who studies "fermented beverages," Dogfish Head has revived a beer from the Neolithic period: Meet Chateau Jiahu.
Essentially, the archeologist used all sorts of advanced-sounding scientific methods to figure out what used to be inside the ancient pottery he came across at a burial site in China. Dogfish Head then recreated the ancient brew (named after the burial site) using the same ingredients: Wildflower honey, Muscat grapes, barley malt, hawthorn fruit, and Chrysanthemum flowers. Sounds lovely, doesn't it?
Interestingly, the archeologist (Dr. Patrick McGovern), points out that booze at this time was not just beer, wine, or mead but a mixture of all three.
This wouldn't be Dogfish Head's first foray into ancient brews. NPR notes their Midas Touch brew was "teased from pottery found in King Midas' 2,700-year-old tomb."
If you're intrigued, the next batch of Chateau Jiahu should be hitting the shelves end of August/early September, according to the Dogfish Head site. It's packaged in wine-sized bottles for $13 a pop, and only 3,000 cases will be brewed this year.
Full story from NPR here.
3 comments:
It's pretty awesome that you posted this. Kristen and I had this at Dogfish Head's 15 Beers for 15 Years dinner and it was delicious, among our favorites of the bunch. This is definitely a wine drinker's beer. Not hoppy at all and just sweet enough for Kristen to enjoy. Very smooth and surprisingly light tasting. The 9% ABV isn't very light though, so this one can definitely catch you off guard. Especially in the midst of a 15 beer marathon of drinking, barely offset by a five course cheese laden meal.
Kristen enjoyed it so much she took to calling it MatisJiahu. As in the popular Hassidic Reggae singer.
So witty she is.
Even more awesome that you guys tried this! And liked it. (I love Kristen's nickname for it) That dinner sounds awesome. Did you try the Midas Touch too?
a few years ago a certain dentist and this blogger tried a high priced special Samuel Adams brew that cost us a crap load of money... and tasted like a crap load! I appreciate the insights on this new Dogfish Head brew, but I am not plunking down the $15.
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