Dogfish Head's Faithful Ale (pearl jam 20th year brew)

So is anyone else excited about Faithful Ale being released tomorrow. I'm all $hit$ and Giggles over here

http://www.dogfish.com/community/news/press-releases/faithfull-ale-release-plans.htm

Wow thought there would be more interest in this......what a fail on my part

I love DFH and I love Pearl Jam... what I don't love is that DFH pulled out of Tennessee. Therefore... I can't get excited

Dang, a $12.50 bottle of beer

Had the beer in the brewpub today and it was actually Great! Nice smooth light colored Belgian dubbel.......

I'll have to keep an eye out for it.

The beer did not do the band justice, IMO. It was not a bad beer, but I would never seek it out again. Had it not been for PJ20, it would be a fairly forgettable beer.

I'm really a fan of a lot of Dogfish brews, including the Miles Davis tribute ale which I loved, but this was far below average.

I'm a HUGE PJ fan. I went out and got a bottle of Faithful, and even had it on tap at a local craft beer store. It is like a smoother Mexican lager. Does that sound appealing? Does it sound like Pearl Jam? How did Dogfish not go for a NW style ale?

It's not worth the $15. Seriously. Throw on some No Code and drink your homebrew. It'll make you smile more than this beer.

At least it inspired me to make my own PJ21 tribute ale in the coming months.

Someone said it's a Belgian Dubbel and you are comparing it to a Mexican Lager? What is going on here?!

hahaha yeah I'm telling you, that was my first reaction.

I was thinking about it more last night, and now I firmly believe that this was a screw up on Dogfish's part. I think that something went wrong, and instead of dumping it out and taking the loss, they slapped the label on it and shipped it out. That's a strong accusation, but this beer is so simple and weak compared to all the other DH brews I've had that I don't think it's an outlandish explanation.

I can say that I've tasted 90% of the DH beers out there, and this one is not remotely related. DH has always produced complex brews, especially for tributes like this, but this one is bleh. Just plain bleh. No complexity whatsoever.

As a Pearl Jam and DH fan, I'm as disappointed as could possibly be.

Let me know what you think bknifefight, because I really couldn't get Mex lager out of my head.

Well, hearing the reviews, I doubt I would go out and seek it. BeerAdvocate is blocked here at work, what kind of score is it getting there?

Its Black and Blue with a faint hint of currants on the nose and the back of the palate...

EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTED...

bknifefight said:

Well, hearing the reviews, I doubt I would go out and seek it. BeerAdvocate is blocked here at work, what kind of score is it getting there?

Click to expand...

I just checked ratebeer and 365 people gave it a total of 56/100. I'd say that's a hug fail for any brewery let alone DFH.

Drinking this as I type. Being a huge PJ fan as well as a fan of the way DFH pushes the boundary, I really want to like this beer. But, alas, like others before me, I am very disappointed. Not sure what to call it - definitely not a dubbel. I guess maybe it's a Belgian blonde, though on the sweet and mild side. Actually seems cloying to me - though I think it might be the pilsner grainy-ness. I can see the comparison to a Mexican lager - in fact, if you listen to the "Sip Clips" video on DFH's website (http://www.dogfish.com/brews-spirits/the-brews/occasional-rarities/faithfull-ale.htm), Sam Caligione talks about how Mexican lager was actually an inspiration of sorts for this beer.

Man, I really wanted to love this beer. A huge swing and miss in my books.

I second Jlem's feeling of being let down.

Big PJ fan, I figured I would give it a shot.

Its like a watery belgian with a funky nose. I usually dig all DFH has to offer, but am sad to say the empty bottle / bottle art was the best thing about it.