Rosabi
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

22oz bottle into a pint glass. bottled 5/24/14, so over 5 years old. Pray for me....

Actually looks pretty good initially, dark amber body with only a few carbonation bubbles. A big off white head persists in some form throughout leaving pretty good lacing. Later on, the body becomes a bit murkier.

There is a sweet malty aroma with just a hint of spice. Onto the acid test....

Well, as you might expect, at this age, this is a solid malt bomb. It seems a little watery. There is no wasabi presence, the only heat in the back of the throat is from the abv. As it stands, not unpleasant, but quite bland.

Mouth between medium and thin. Finish sweet and malty with a little warmth, and at times, a hint of floral.

Overall, not an unpleasant drink, but age does not help this one one bit

 

 

 

 

**
10/23/14
Appearance : opaque with colorful reddish orange hue, white head. Aroma: hops, grass, straw, horseradish/wasabi comes later but once you key in on it, its there, and can start to feel that lovely burn in your sinuses. Taste: Odd (though not unexpected). Wasabi is very present, but seems to be disconnected from the main flavor. Some ash, sour fruit, citrus, grapefruit, Feel: medium carbonation. Some creaminess,that seems to evaporate. Strange taste makes this hard to evaluate. Moments of interest, but overall falls short. A nice effort by dogfish head is appreciated but i can’t say I’ll spend $14 on this again."

**

 

 

 

 

 

The Rosabi was ok....not sure how old the bottle was that I drank as I see it has been retired. It poured a hazy golden with fizzy white head that dissappated quickly and did not leave any lace. The scent was common to most ipas....pine citrus touch of spice. The taste was also close to an ipa. I was expecting a bit of a kick....not sure why....I guess Rosabi is close to Wasabi.....death by word association. The mouthfeel was medium in body. Overall it was good and glad to have tried it.

Definite wasabi, on every level: green, rooty nose, with that freshly-grated horseradish stench; great red-gold color, with ample, billowy-pillowy head, not to mention lots of sticky spider-web lacing; and in the taste, as well as the odor, the wasabi seems to be supplanting hops as the inflection point of the imperial pale ale: chthonic bitters, green potato-skin notes, touch of rutabaga, sharp carrot-top and chard intense herbal leafy tones. Not, ultimately, the most sessionable, let-me-drink-a-lot-of-this IPA; but fucking interesting as hell, and a very well-executed expression on this seemingly atrabilious idea.

This starts with a very earthy tone, some malt, and the Wasabi. I get caramel, toffee and light hop. Sounds good but I just didn't like the combination.

Pours cloudy amber reddish color with a 3 finger foamy beige colored head that was full of bubbles of all sizes, fading very slowly and leaving great spider web foamy lacing and rings as it went down.

Smells of caramel, sweet malt, toffee and what seems like the wasabi up front. The second wave is candied sugar, brown sugar, herbs, grapefruit, orange and grains which may actually be the red rice listed on the bottle as it have a very different smell. Mild spices and a strong caramel sweetness hides the alcohol completely, releasing aroma's that resemble maple syrup as it warms up.

Taste is a little strange with a very earthy presence combining with the sweetness that leaves a funny aftertaste. It seems like the wasabi alters the malt presence and drives this away from the hoppy sweetness and citrus in the nose to more like dirt and roots; it seems the wasabi root (listed on the bottle) doesn't taste like the green blob of wasabi that comes with sushi. The heat is minimal and the sweetness remains, but the beer tastes like it's dirty. The enjoyable citrus, caramel and malty presence in the nose starts to turn into a graham cracker tastiness, and then drives off the side of a cliff and loses all the nice pale ale flavors that seemed promising at first. I appreciate the attempt to brew with wasabi, but this combination just didn't do it for me like the nose did.

Mouthfeel is creamy and buttery smooth, with a medium to chewy body, moderate bitterness, minor heat and nice sweetness from the citrus hops and caramel malts. The finish has orange and hop bitterness, very mild earthy spices, bready malts and crackers, and then finally the root or wasabi plant which finishes like ginger. I should have had this with a sushi dinner, it may have been the perfect compliment. Overall it was decent and another nice Dogfish Head experiment, I applaud their creativity as always, but this is not something I'd seek out or go for again.

 

 

Look:
2 finger head, poured from a 750ml bottle. Head retention is quite good and lacing continues for quite some time. After the head recedes, I was left with a nice foam ring around the glass. Deep amber/brown color and quite hazy and opaque.

Smell:
Smells of powerful hops, fruit, and caramelly malts. There definitely is a spicy aroma that arises with each swirl of the glass.

Taste:
At first there is a hop bite, then a sweet caramelly wave that comes through. It is not long before you get the rush of tangy wasabi. It comes in very forcefully along with some warmth. It's very noticeable, but it doesn't overpower your taste buds. Then there is a nice floral-hoppy finish that balances all.

Feel:
Fairly full boded brew. A little thick and syrupy feeling.

Overall:
Loved this one as I do all of Dogfish Head's brews. This one was so unique and unlike anything I have tasted before. I am a huge wasabi fan so this one was right up my alley. I will grab another one of these if I see one as it looks like it has been retired.

I am an off-centered person and I love their off-centered beers!