Dogfish Head Brewery's Bitches Brew via Boothbay Part 1

So much to say about my "research" based trip to Boothbay this past weekend, for the first Craft Beer Comes to Boothbay tasting event, sponsored by the Maine Brewers' Guild, yet so little time, on my end, to provide the details in a tidy fashion. Please bear with me, if this post becomes a two-parter, as summertime napping for the little duo is hit or miss these long days!
Okay, let's start with the ironic nature of my experience: the festival had over twenty breweries from Maine--quite an impressive number for this craft beer loving fan. However, it wasn't the beer from Maine that captured my heart on Saturday, it was the beer from Delaware's Dogfish Head Craft Brewery--namely, their intense Bitches Brew which is categorized as a Russian Imperial Stout!
You might be puzzled as to how I could be sampling beer from a non-Maine brewery at this event, but long story short: the founder of Dogfish Head, Sam Calagione, named his brewery after an island in Maine, where he spent his summers as a youth. He knows the co-owner and founder, Win Mitchell, of the Boothbay Craft Brewery and decided to be one of the creators/sponsors of this new event, as a way of thanking & celebrating his Maine roots and fellow brew masters.
I casually spoke with Sam & his wife, Mariah, on Saturday, while we were eating tasty BBQ. They were both lovely and gracious with their time & super supportive of my beer review blogging adventure!
Speaking of beer reviews, let's dive into the Dogfish Head Bitches Brew!  These are my tasting notes, prior to reading the description, honest! (Check out the picture, below, that I took of the signage provided by Dogfish Head at the event.)

Taste: Dark velvet, chocolate cake with a red licorice, fruity hops aroma--bold flavors & smells.

Color: Deep brown like roasted coffee beans.

Thickness: moderate to heavy in body, with a dark tan, thick, head; produces a full & creamy mouthful in which the aftertaste lingers.

ABV: 9% --Yum, this is definitely a slow sipper!

Mom Factoid: It turns out that Sam's mom, whom I met too, taught special education as well! So, when finding out that working with special needs students was part of my background, Sam gave me a nod of understood appreciation for how challenging that field is. Bottom line, I may have gone to the Boothbay event in search of the local Maine brew scene, but I left there feeling connected to the positive people from Delaware's Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and I know that I will be tasting as many of their beers as I can in the future for the "research" purposes of this blog! Cheers :)

PS Speaking of tasting beers, I did my fair share on Saturday and will focus on the Maine side of my field trip in Part 2!