Robert Johnson's Hellhound On My Ale
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

Robert Johnson's Hellhound On My AleRobert Johnson's Hellhound On My Ale
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From:
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
 
Delaware, United States
Style:
Imperial IPA
ABV:
10%
Score:
88
Avg:
3.93 | pDev: 13.49%
Reviews:
578
Ratings:
1,882
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Apr 08, 2021
Added:
Mar 15, 2011
Wants:
  134
Gots:
  374
Hellhound is a super-hoppy ale that hits 100 IBUs in the brewhouse and 10% ABV. It's dry-hopped with 100% Centennial hops at a rate of 100 kilos per 100 barrel brew-length. Can you tell we're stoked for this mighty musical centennial?

To accentuate and magnify the citrusy notes of the Centennial hops (and as a shoutout to Robert Johnson's mentor Blind Lemon Jefferson), we add dried lemon peel and flesh to the whirlpool.

58 IBU
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by superdedooperboy:
Photo of superdedooperboy
Reviewed by superdedooperboy from Georgia

3.88/5  rDev -1.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
750-mL brown bottle poured into a Dogfish Head Signature glass.

Deep clear golden-amber with a full three-fingered head of rocky beige foam that recedes fairly slowly to a fat topping, leaving behind thick rings of stickage on the walls of the glass as it empties.

Spicy and a bit earthy in the nose, with a whiff of lemon peel and basil.

Medium-full-bodied with a pleasantly mild carbonated mouthfeel. A slightly sweet, caramel-tinged opening leads swiftly into a dominating hop profile that doesn't fade away even long after the finish. Notes of lemongrass, herb, white and black pepper, a bit of tangerine and a touch of citrus pith. Fairly balanced throughout, though a bit dry in the finish, with lingering notes of grapefruit, lemon and grassy herb.

Flavorful and rather complex, though the mix seems a bit disjointed. Alcohol content isn't overly present in mouthfeel or flavor, but sneaks up quite easily; a full bottle isn't so much a chore to move through, but is more than enough to satiate even the most adept beer lover. The overall combination of flavors is an interesting and unique melange, though not for everyone; sharing a bottle is highly recommended.
May 05, 2011
More User Ratings:
Photo of moodenba
Rated by moodenba from New York

3.67/5  rDev -6.6%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Blues fan. Son bought the bottle for me.
Apr 08, 2021
Photo of feloniousmonk
Reviewed by feloniousmonk from Minnesota

3.9/5  rDev -0.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
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?
Oct 17, 2020
 
Rated: 4 by brittanylicious from Indiana

Oct 20, 2019
 
Rated: 4.23 by Specules from California

Aug 30, 2019
 
Rated: 4.19 by Oh_Dark_Star from Washington

May 04, 2019
Photo of GuyFawkes
Reviewed by GuyFawkes from Illinois

4/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Bright yellow/orange hue.

White head; nice lace.

Lemon citrus nose.

Medium mouthfeel.

A refreshing lemon citrus flavor; not too bitter.

Well done; booze is well hidden!
Apr 04, 2019
 
Rated: 3.99 by dafla67 from Pennsylvania

Mar 28, 2019
 
Rated: 5 by Reggie_Dunlop from Pennsylvania

Jan 13, 2019
 
Rated: 4.43 by JohnDon from Texas

Oct 04, 2018
Photo of MikeWard
Reviewed by MikeWard from Pennsylvania

3.86/5  rDev -1.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
1pt 9.4oz bottle into a pint glass. bottled 10/21/13, so 4 1/2 years old here. This should be interesting...

hazy bordering on murky dark amber body. with good bubbly cream colored head. slow carbonation. decent lacing.

aroma is of old malts.

taste isn't bad at all. sweet, malty, faintly lemon which gives it some bitterness. a little sour. A decent drink, given the age.

mouth closing in on full, finish bittersweet, and slightly sour on the back of the mouth.

overall, given that this is categorized as a DIPA, and it's 4 1/2 years old, this is not a terrible drink at all. in fact the longer it goes on, the more pleasing it becomes. The hops have completely faded of course, but the lemon and lemon peel still give it some residual bitterness. 10.0abv is very present, so the beer must be respected.
May 04, 2018
 
Rated: 4 by jhlosito75 from Pennsylvania

Dec 28, 2017
 
Rated: 4 by GreenBayBA from Wisconsin

Oct 26, 2017
 
Rated: 3.67 by themegamancave from Illinois

May 04, 2017
 
Rated: 3.84 by BarrelAgedG from California

Apr 22, 2017
 
Rated: 4.39 by CreightonSM from New York

Apr 19, 2017
 
Rated: 3.79 by therealJAYZ from Pennsylvania

Mar 21, 2017
 
Rated: 4.05 by Kurzman from Rhode Island

Feb 08, 2017
Photo of q33jeff
Reviewed by q33jeff from New Jersey

3.82/5  rDev -2.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
**
03/02/2014
Aroma Is lemon and hops. Yellow- orange color. Tart citrus flavor with the strong caramel dry grainy English ale flavor. Alcohol present. Very ""in your face"", but a good ale."
**
Jan 17, 2017
 
Rated: 3.9 by MI_beerdrinker from Texas

Oct 17, 2016
Robert Johnson's Hellhound On My Ale from Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Beer rating: 88 out of 100 with 1882 ratings