Siracusa Nera
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

Siracusa NeraSiracusa Nera
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From:
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
 
Delaware, United States
Style:
Russian Imperial Stout
Ranked #371
ABV:
10%
Score:
90
Ranked #9,755
Avg:
4.02 | pDev: 9.2%
Reviews:
114
Ratings:
342
Status:
Active
Rated:
Sep 19, 2023
Added:
Aug 04, 2016
Wants:
  10
Gots:
  66
Combining a roasty Imperial Stout with a jammy Syrah wine, this beer is bold and complex. Notes of coffee, dark chocolate and anise from a blend of roasted malts meld with flavors of plums, cherries and stewed fruits from Syrah grape must in this jet black stout. Aged on American oak to add some light toasty vanilla to the mix.
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by CreightonSM:
Photo of CreightonSM
Rated by CreightonSM from New York

4.59/5  rDev +14.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Apr 19, 2017
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 4 by Patches826 from Massachusetts

Sep 19, 2023
Photo of GreesyFizeek
Reviewed by GreesyFizeek from New York

3.25/5  rDev -19.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
On tap at Dogfish Head Taproom and Kitchen in Milton, DE.

This one pours a very dark black color, with a small head, and not much lacing.

This smells like heavy duty roast, tobacco, smoke, leather, tannic wine, and oak.

This sounded pretty interesting, but it ultimately did not work for me. The wine additions didn’t add a ton of sweetness, which kind of seemed needed, as the base stout is super roasty and smoky. I think the wine added some leathery, bitter, and tobacco-like notes, with very little fruit characteristics. The oak aging only served to add more bitterness.

I also think the thinner body didn’t help with the more intense bitter characteristics of this – they might have been able to get away with these flavors if the body was creamier and thicker, a la Founders Imperial Stout, or something like that.

I like the idea behind this, and I like a lot of Dogfish Head beer still, but this one didn’t quite work for me.
Oct 19, 2022
 
Rated: 3.98 by QuentinDishaw from Massachusetts

Jun 06, 2022
 
Rated: 4.31 by Bogdawg from Massachusetts

Apr 10, 2022
 
Rated: 3.75 by TMoney2591 from Illinois

Feb 15, 2022
Photo of KT3418
Reviewed by KT3418 from Colorado

4.75/5  rDev +18.2%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4.75 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.75
Total Beverage has some of these and the bottle date is from 2018 lol. I really enjoyed this, the base stout is very solid to me on its own and then it's like this boozy soaked chocolate raisin.
Jan 16, 2022
 
Rated: 4 by bigred89 from Maryland

Oct 31, 2021
Photo of quinticsquash
Reviewed by quinticsquash from Maryland

3.22/5  rDev -19.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
very dark thin foam, very dark and almost black

fruity and boozy. slight oak, coffee and winey notes.

taste: coffee comes out through very much. subdues a lot of the more complex, tart notes.

mouthfeel: quite fizzy, heavy, and boozy.

overall: fine for a stout, i like the fruitiness but it gets overpowered very easily and the overall flavor is a few too many clashing flavors.
Jul 03, 2021
 
Rated: 4.1 by Satsuma from Florida

Mar 21, 2021
Photo of trevormajor
Reviewed by trevormajor from Ohio

2.05/5  rDev -49%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2
12 oz bottle, vintage 2017, poured into a snifter at 47 degrees F:
L - dark with a hazelnut head that lingered
S - raisins, grape must?
T - strange taste, a bit bitter, like tart molasses
F - medium mouthfeel with medium carbonation
O - This one may have aged a bit too long
Jan 04, 2021
Photo of mvanaskie13
Reviewed by mvanaskie13 from Pennsylvania

4.05/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25
Poured into a small chalice: color is solid black, head is light tan and presents 1/4 inch thick and dissipates quickly to a frothy top with lacing cling on the sides.

Smell is slight roasted malt blended with grape/cherry notes from the syrah must, not overly sweet aroma, hints of chocolate, unique blend of dryer/bitter RIS base with slight sweetness from syrah must.

Taste is similar with RIS and roasted malt upfront with slight chocolate and grape/cherry/raisin/berry mix flavors from the must; plums and chocolate covered cherry flavors seem to emerge with warmth, light, limited oaky vanilla notes.

Mouthfeel is low carbonation, moderate sweetness, light drying bitterness and alcohol.

Overall an excellent RIS variant - really like the vinous but light sweetness provided by the syrah must - seems to soften the potential booziness of an RIS while providing depth; oaky notes are limited but noticeable.
Dec 18, 2020
Photo of feloniousmonk
Reviewed by feloniousmonk from Minnesota

4.09/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Solid Blackness, rich brown head, gets slimmer as we go.

In the nose: char, bourbon barrels, anise, molasses, deep dark chocolate.

In the mouth: Big sweetness, well tempered. So smooth, yet robust, big-boned, boisterous and bodacious. What's in this? "A Russian Imperial Stout with Syrah grape must added and aged in oak."
Well, there you go. Some vanilla, toast, coconut, and then the wine comes through. Mmmm, yes.
Full bodied, full flavored. I like it. It is good.
Oct 17, 2020
 
Rated: 4.23 by aszatk01 from Pennsylvania

Oct 01, 2020
 
Rated: 3.93 by CisPiece88 from Nebraska

Aug 19, 2020
 
Rated: 3.73 by Unclevince from West Virginia

Jun 19, 2020
Photo of Rug
Reviewed by Rug from Massachusetts

4.52/5  rDev +12.4%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.5
Bottled 9/27/18

So I’ve only had one beer in this vein before, Night Shift’s stout with pinot noir grapes, and the grape just didn’t shine through all that much. Hopefully that changes with this one given thier reputation for strange beers

Pours a very dark brown with just a ring of light brown bubbles and leaves no lacing

It’s funny, this smells like your run of the mill stout, roasty and malty with some smoked notes, and the grape is just a background note. Even more subtle suggestions of vanilla and oak

Wow, the grape comes in right away in the taste, almost giving this a tartness, very jammy and intense, but not overbearing if that makes any sense. After the initial fruitiness (and slight barrel character) subsides, there is an intense creamy roast, with notes of black coffee and caramel that lasts long into the finish, but still with some dark fruit notes and a touch of nuttiness. Complex as all hell, some solid oak radiating throughout the sip

Obviously full bodied, this has light tingly carbonation and doesn’t finish too heavy. Not overly sweet in finish, just a bit chalky if anything

God damn, this might be one of my favorite stouts ever. Admittedly, I’m a DFH super fan, but I can put all bias aside and proudly say this is an incredible beer, and for only $4 a bottle. Unquestionably picking up more

EDIT 9/27/21 - 3 years after bottling

I decided to set some of this aside to have it at 3 and 5 years. It hasn’t changed a whole lot, but the light grape in the aroma has matured into chewy raisin. It tends to be a bit more roast forward in taste now, mostly on the swallow. On the other hand, it’s a bit more creamy as well. It’s lost a bit of balance but nothing that affects the score
Jun 02, 2020
Photo of Ozzylizard
Reviewed by Ozzylizard from Pennsylvania

3.81/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
$ 13.00 (Including tax)/4-pack of 12 oz bottles ($ 0.271/oz). Purchased 5/4/20 at Franklin Beer, Franklin, PA. Reviewed 5/12/20.
“BOTTLED ON 09/27/18 0855” stamped on neck in yellow. On shelf at store. Stored at home at 42 degrees and served at 60 degrees in a hand washed and dried Jester King snifter.
Appearance – 3.5.
First pour – Brown (SRM 20), clear.
Body – Black (SRM 40), opaque. When held to direct light, same.
Head – Average (Maximum 3.5 cm, aggressive center pour), burlywood, high density, average retention, diminishing to a three mm crown and thin partial cap.
Lacing – None.
Aroma – 3.75 – Thick roasted malt mixed with a weak vinous overtone, no hops, no yeastiness.
Flavor – 4 – Begins moderately bitter with roasted malt, no hops, no yeastiness. A slightly sweet vinous flavor follows. No alcohol (10 % ABV as marked on the label) taste or aroma but a moderate gastric warming occurs. No tannin or vanillin from the oak are detected. No diacetyl, no dimethylsulfide.
Palate – 3 – Medium, watery, soft carbonation.
Final impression and summation: 4. Other than the slight vinous aroma and taste, this is indistinguishable for any run-of-the-mill RIS. Well, other than the price point which is lower than most IPAs. In fact, it is a bargain. Label is simple and contains little information.
May 12, 2020
Photo of DonBowman
Reviewed by DonBowman from Pennsylvania

4.18/5  rDev +4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25
Almost black out of the bottle with tannish head and lace. A fairly thick chocolate with a syrah grape finish. 10% alcohol that sneaks up on you quickly. This is a unique, hgh quality imperial stout.
Apr 19, 2020
 
Rated: 4.5 by MonkeyPilates from Minnesota

Mar 12, 2020
Siracusa Nera from Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Beer rating: 90 out of 100 with 342 ratings