Economy Size Geek

Offical Site RateBeer
From their site:

This recipe is the actual oldest-known fermented beverage in the world! Our recipe showcases the known ingredients of barley, white Muscat grapes, honey & saffron found in the drinking vessels in King Midas’ tomb! Somehwere between a beer, wine and mead, this smooth, dry ale will please with Chardonnay or I.P.A. drinker alike.

He Said:
Now that I’ve been through a competition - I figure I can do this one by the numbers a little more.

Appearance: It is seriously clear. It has a copper/golden color - basically imagine mead combined with saffron and you get the idea. There is no head to speak of and it has almost no carbonation.

Aroma: It’s still pretty cold - and there isn’t that much aroma - especially because it doesn’t seem like there are any hops in the beer. What little aroma it does have is sweet and floral with a hint of alcohol.

Flavor: It has a very thick texture on your tongue. It feels more like syrup going down the back of your throat. The lack of hops and carbonation mean that there is no bitterness to its flavor. It is not sweet at first - but the finish definitely has a sweetness to it. There are a lot of flavors going on in this beer. I can taste the grapes the more I drink it. It almost gives you a warm feeling at the back of your mouth when you swallow it. As you let it warm up, the sweetness and burn become even more pronounced.

Overall: This is another unusual beer. I’m not even sure beer is the right word because it has so many flavors that are off the path of beer. I think it should be thought of as the love child of a belgian strong ale and a mead. This combination puts it in its own category. I would recommend it to some one who wanted to try a beer that prefers wine/mead.

My Vote: I’m not always a fan of the Dogfish Head brews - but I’ll admit I like this one - in a once in a great while kind of way.

She Said:
I first read about this beer in Travels With Barley, a book given
to me by my loving husband for Christmas the year before last. The author
devoted almost an entire chapter to I believe what he called “extreme
beers”. I started looking for it after reading about it and didn’t find it
until our fateful trip to Muncie, IN in January. For those who don’t know,
we went to Muncie for the sole purpose of drinking beer at Muncie’s famed
Heorot (a beer bar). Dirk and I probably drank six beers each that night.
AND ate way to many friggin’ nachos.

But I digress.

Dogfish Head’s Midas Touch Golden Elixir is a curious brew by Dogfish Head
that purports to be derived from one of the oldest known beer recipes in
the WORLD. Hats off to Dogfish Head… those people are CRAZY!

Once poured, it’s color alone is worth noting — simply put, it looks like
honey — especially since there is no head and very little carbonation. At
9% ABV, the nose is strong, smells more like a dessert wine than a beer.
Wait, maybe that’s because it is brewed with muscat grapes!! :) When the
brew touched my lips, I was surprised at how much carbonation there was.
Not that it was a lot, but definately more than it looked like inside the
glass. Inside my mouth, it tasted nice, albeit a little syrup-y for my
taste, but it went down smoothly and the honey and saffron really linger.

I probably wouldn’t buy this beer for regular consumption, but would buy
it in a heartbeat for something “different”, to make a point to someone
that not all yellow beer tastes the way you think it will, or just to
support Dogfish Head. The website suggests pairing it with pan-asian
dishes or curries, which frankly sounds enticing.

My vote: Give it a try — how often do you get a chance to get a history
lesson from the very beer you hold in your hand?