Dogfish Head Craft Brewery - "Dragons and Yumyums" pale ale

Warmer weather means super fresh, juicy beer, and today's beer is no exception. A special spring release by Dogfish Head Craft Brewery, this 6.50% American pale ale is called "Dragons and Yumyums", and as it turns out, this beer is a collaboration with the musical group The Flaming Lips. This may be the first beer with its own theme song - check out the bizarre, yet catchy, "The Story of Yum Yum and Dragon"!

Now, I should say I'm generally wary of Dogfish Head's stuff, not because it's bad, but because it's expensive. They have some of the most consistently expensive beer on the shelves, and while some of their stuff is definitely worth getting, I found some of their pricey offerings leaving much to be desired. Today's beer has generated a lot of buzz around the shop, though, so I decided to give it a go. As per usual, Martin O. and I split the six pack, which made it more affordable to try.

This beer is billed as a "lip smackingly tropical pale ale", and judging by the ingredients, I can see why. It's made with dragonfruit, passionfruit, yumberries, black carrot juice, and pear juice - sounds pretty great, right? I admit I'm really not sure what most of these ingredients are. I've never heard of dragonfruit, or yumberries, or black carrots, so I really am not sure what to expect. It's pretty moderate in terms of alcohol, with very low bitterness (25 IBUs), so par for the course for a pale ale. Let's give it a shot.

Pours pretty swiftly, as expected for a light pale ale. It looks remarkably like a rosé, bubbles and all. There's not too much aroma, oddly, for a beer that's supposed to be an explosion of tropical goodness.

So yeah, pretty much what I expected - a soft, juicy pale ale with good fruit flavors throughout. There's a definite citrus flavor in there, like a dark fruit juice, which could be the passionfruit. I don't know what dragonfruit or yumberry tastes like, so I can't tell if there's any in there. Sugar is pretty low. The beer is a little tart, and has a very pronounced burst of flaked what on the finish. Wow! That's really cool. Nice nod to German style beers.

Overall, a super fresh, light, and juicy ale and great for those who want a lighter drink - especially on a hot day. I can see myself having a couple of these out back, some summer's day, waiting for the grill to heat up.

Next we come to the dreaded cost-benefit discussion....it was $15.99 for six 12oz bottles, which in light of what I just had, is a bit steep. The beer was light and tasty, but I can't justify spending that much money on it when there are other options out there for half as much. Now, D'Vines has this beer on growler fill, and is on sale for $9.00 for a 64oz pour. That, I feel, is much closer to the appropriate price point for this beer.