Review: Sah'tea

I had to buy a bottle of Dogfish Head Sah'tea ($14 for a 750 mL bottle at Total Wine & More) after reading about Dogfish Head brewing it in The New Yorker. It's a modified sahti, which is a Scandinavian style that, according to BeerAdvocate, dates back to the 1500s. The malted grains were boiled in wooden vessels that had heated stones dropped into them. The wort was then poured into another vessel that was lined with juniper branches, which served as a filter while infusing the wort with juniper.

Dogfish Head used hot rocks and juniper in Sah'tea, but, in their typical iconoclastic style, added more herbs and spices to compliment the beer. According to The New Yorker, they added cardamom, coriander, ginger, allspice, rampe leaves, lemongrass, curry powder, and black tea to the Sah'tea test batch at the end of the boil. I'm guessing a similar mixture is in this batch.

My notes:

A cloudy golden color without really any head to speak of. The smell is sweet, tea-like herbal and spicy and very nice. The taste -- as the smell -- reminds me of Belgian beers. Lots of spice and herbal flavors are working here, but the beer isn't cloying: the chai tea and juniper are under control. It's been a while since I had a beer with juniper in it, but this beer reminds me that juniper berries are good stuff. The high alcohol level is totally hidden: I don't detect it at all. It has a slick and smooth body, which I would expect from a 9 percent beer.

This is a great beer and another winner from Dogfish Head. Their Theobroma slightly shook my faith, but Sah'tea has restored it.

For tea fans especially, I highly recommend this beer. Though at $14 per bottle, it will remain an occasional treat for me.