Dogfish Head: Olde School Barley Wine

I figured I'd take a break from the stouts for a little while and try something outside my typical diet of ambers and pales (and stouts). I haven't had a barley wine in quite some time, but Dogfish is generally a safe pick, so I grabbed their "Olde School."

Unfortunately, Dogfish scored less than a ringer on this one. I give them some props for managing to pull off a 15% ABV brew, but like their 120 minute IPA, this one is way too sweet for my tastes. The predominant flavor is a vaguely fruity malt flavor, and while there is a reasonable amount of hops in here, it's completely overpowered by the other flavors. What's more, the sweetness sticks around on your tongue for quite a while with this one, which--combined with the alcohol taste--leaves you feeling like maybe you should be reaching for a chaser.

Barley wines are supposed to be big, unorthodox, and bold in flavor. But if it's a flavor that your not particularly fond of, bold can be bad. I applaud Dogfish for their willingness to push the limits of brewing, but this is one that I don't think I'll be seeking out again.

Dogfish Head: Chicory Stout

A couple weeks ago, my buddy Joe told me I needed to try Dogfish Head's World Wide Stout. Problem is, by the time I got to the beer store, I couldn't remember the name of the beer I was supposed to get. I grabbed the first Dogfish Head stout I saw. So I made the wrong pick, but I wouldn't really call it a bad pick.

Dogfish's Chicory Stout is a very creamy stout, almost a milk stout. It's even got that faint chocolaty sweetness you tend to get in good milk stouts. But this brew's got some notable coffee flavors as well, which gives it a faintly mocha-esque taste. For a stout, it's got a very mild hop kick. Usually I would complain, but since the malt flavors are not nearly so big and bold as you might otherwise expect, the reduced hoppiness actually works out pretty well.

In fact, the flavors in this beer are so nuanced and carefully balanced that it seems to be a little bit of a departure for Dogfish. The Dogfish brews I'm used to make bold moves with pronounced and unconventional flavors. This beer, on the other hand, is a lot more traditional and reserved. The upside, of course, is that this is definitely a beer that you could have 2 or 3 of in a night before getting tired of it, which I can't say about their 90 minute IPA, as much as I love it.

A very tasty and approachable beer, especially on a cold winter night.

Dogfish Head: Aprihop

I think Dogfish Head Craft Brewery created a new word: Aprihop. What is an aprihop? Definition: (n). A beer combining large amounts of apricots and hops.

Fruit in beers may seem strange at first glance but in reality a ton of breweries are using fruit; including real apricots, apricot juice, or apricot flavoring in a variety of beers these days. What is interesting about Dogfish Head's interpretation of the apricot brew is that they throw in pitted apricots into their IPA recipe. Yes, an India Pale Ale. Not just any india pale ale, but a 7% ipa. So while most apricot beers provide a nice fruit flavor to a wheat beer or a lighter ale, Dogfish Head adds apricots to a borderline imperial ale.

As mentioned in my surmised definition, I think an aprihop has tons of apricots. I make this educated guess because the IPA does not drown out the fruit flavors. The initial burst to the mouth is like a traditional IPA, but the back-end and after taste screams apricot flavors. As the beer warms there is really three stages to this brew. The first is a mild IPA, that is not too hoppy and surprisingly smooth. While there is obviously a lot of hops to get this beer up to the high alcohol threshold, but it is not nearly as hoppy as Dogfish Head's 60, 90 or 120 minute IPA. The second stage is a sweet alcohol burst that matches the 7% label, and the final course is a coating of apricot flavor after a every gulp. All combined on a quick slug, the three stages works together pretty nicely. While I don't add fruit to my beer and I rarely reach for a fruit flavor brew, this aprihop is quite drinkable despite the uncommon aftertaste. Maybe next time I brew I'll add some apricots and try to invent a new word of my own. Cheers.

Dogfish Head: 120 Minute IPA

Your typical run of the mill lager is 5% alcohol-by-volume. Grab yourself an ale, and 5.5-6% is the usual. Move on up the ladder to Belgian dubbels, Strong Ales (e.g. Arrogant Bastard), and malt liqour, where 7-8% is more typical. Then you get to your imperials: Double IPAs, Russian stouts, and Belgian trippels and quads, which weigh in around 10 or 11%. And that's pretty much as alcoholic as beer gets.

Which is why--despite the $12 for a 12 oz bottle--I could not possibly pass up Dogfish Head's 120 Minute IPA, weighing in at an ostentateous, unbelievable, and thoroughly unncessary 21% ABV.

How do you get so much alcohol in a beer? You develop a special strain of extra-resilient yeast and feed it generous quantities of sugar. As a result, the 120 Minute is sweet--really sweet. Despite all the hops they throw at it, this beer is not really all that bitter. It's sugary and carmelly and finishes with a little bit of orange zest of all things. All the hops really manage to do is take the edge of the sweetness, which is crucial because otherwise it would probably have a pretty gross aftertaste. It's also a little bit syrupy. You can taste the alcohol, but it's nowhere near as bad as I expected. Considering the fact that this beer has more alcohol than certain hard liquors, that's pretty remarkable.

I guess I have to give Dogfish credit for boldly going where no beer has gone before. But having been there once, I doubt I'll be back. 120 Minute is an impressive specimen of alcoholic engineering, but taste-wise it just doesn't offer much. It's kind of absurd that one of these little bottles has almost as much alcohol as a pitcher of Coors Light, but--all things considered--I'll take the pitcher.

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery: 90 Minute Imperial IPA

Following Hofer's lead, tonight I went out of my price range and outside my locality to enjoy a fine beer . Now omnipresent at liquor stores on the west coast, I could no longer resist picking up some more bottles of Dogfish Head. Hof introduced the readership to this Delaware brewery a ways back and even let the people out west know when Dogfish Head beers started popping up in select bars and stores up and down the left coast (see older posts). Recently I began seeing Dogfish Head so often in liquor stores but continued to purchase in moderation because it's a pricey brew ( a four-pack going for as much as $13). After months of enticement and continued expansion, I finally broke down and picked up a few of their beers that I had yet to try.

Reaching back into the wallet, I decided to pick up some of Dogfish Head's 90 Minute Imperial IPA. This beer is a double india pale ale with a 'single constant 90 minute hop addition'. Throw in an extra dry hopping stage and you have one hoppy beer. The hops provide an excellent lacing to the brew and a thick head. After you pull some liquid through the foam, believe it or not the taste starts out with a strong malt splash and then eventually changes into a sweet hop flavor. As the beer warms you begin to taste woody and butter hop flavors and a slight alcohol taste. It's a really tasty imperial IPA and not nearly as boozy as some other 9% offerings.

Overall this brewery makes some interesting and fun craft beer. I have been sending this article about the brewery to all my friends . Even if you're not into Dogfish Head's strange brewing tactics and unique recipes it's a great read and will add to your beer knowledge. So while, I don't often stray from my west coast brews, Dogfish Head is a welcomed change of pace. Cheers.

Dogfish Head: Midas Touch

Dogfish Head is a line of beers I'm used to seeing in Philly since it's a Delaware based brewery, but recently they've begun distributing some of their brews in San Francisco. One of their beers intrigued me, since it was labeled as an "ancient ale." This was definitely a genre of beers I was not familiar with, so, curious to see what an "ancient" ale tastes like, I picked one up.

If this beer tastes like anything, it's a little bit like a belgian trippel. But there's a lot more packed into this than your typical abbey style ale. It's a very sweet brew, with a notable honey taste to it. It also has a little bit of spiciness to it. There is a mild maltiness to the beer, and almost no hops to speak of. It's fairly-well carbonated, which adds a pleasant bubbly texture to a beer that is otherwise very thin-bodied. It finishes with a faint lingering bitterness that you find in many belgian beers.

This is one I highly recommend, if only for the uniqueness. It might be a bit too sweet for some, but it's not the kind of sweetness that sticks around on your tongue, thanks to the bubbly carbonation and the thin body. It's mild enough that it's unlikely to displease, and the random grab-bag of flavors might just be the new combo you're looking for.

Dogfish Head: Raison D'Etre

The very first beer I posted on this blog was a "hybrid" brew: a hefeweizen-amber ale. Well here's hybrid #2: Dogfish Head's Raison D'Etre. I've labeled it a Belgian Amber Ale, but it less thoroughly "Belgian" than Leffe Brown. I don't even know how to put a name on it, but you probably know that distinct Belgian blond or Belgian brown taste (and if you don't, go grab a leffe and you'll immediately see what I'm talking about). So it's a little less sweet, and a little earthy, and very very malty. Raison is very mildly hopped and, true to its name, tastes vaguely like raisins. However, it's decently carbonated, which keeps it from tasting syrupy.

To those of you who have a taste for Belgian Ales, I highly recommend this one. And if you also like brown ales, a la Fat Tire, then it's a double bonus. Cheers!