Beer Me! — Dogfish Head Craft Brewery — Milton, Delaware, United States

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Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

(Boston Beer Company)

6 Cannery Village Center
Milton DE 19968
Telephone: +1 302-684-1000
Toll-Free: +1 888-834-3474
Hours: Tours on Fridays at 2:00pm.
Brewer: Tim Hawn
[Contact] [Update]

Notes

Opened: 1997

Annual Production: 75,000 bbl

Contributors: Bryan Selders, Brett Kendrick, Guy Drouin, Mario Kornmesser, Tony Knipling

Formerly located in Lewes DE. Besides their brewpub, they also operate alehouses in Gaithersburg, Falls Church, and Fairfax.

Updated: December 22, 2020

News

2019-05-09: Boston Beer Company and Dogfish Head Agree to Merge in $300 Million Deal (Brewbound)
2015-09-29: Another beloved craft beer has found a deep-pocketed backer (Yahoo!)
2011-03-15: Dogfish reins in distribution (Delmarva Now)
2010-06-02: 9,000 year old beer recreated. Only in British Columbia, pity. (Toronto Star)
2010-03-02: International Man Of Mystery Floris Delée Joins Dogfish As Brewmaster (Dogfish Head Craft Brewery)
2009-06-18: Dogfish Head brewery tour offers look at making of unique ales (Carroll County Times)
2009-06-05: 9,000-year-old brew hitting the shelves this summer (Scientific American)
2009-01-30: Dogfish Head Brewery's beer of the gods (Lehigh Valley Live)
2008-11-24: A Better Brew: The rise of extreme beer (The New Yorker)
2007-11-19: Dogfish Head: Brewing Up Relationships (Business Week)

Beer List

120 Minute IPA

Other Strong Beer

21.00% abv.
- Date: July 10, 2007 (#6585)
  
  Package: bottled
  
  Place: Liquid Solutions, Tigard OR
  
  Score: 14½ points
  
  Appearance (3½)
  Amber, some small flakes. Almost no head.
  
  Aroma (2½)
  Spicy. Sweet pickles, or maybe pickle relish. Alcohol.
  
  Mouthfeel (7)
  HUGE body. Low carbonation. Intensely malty and intensely alcoholic. Sweet relish flavor like the aroma. Hugely alcoholic finish.
  
  Overall Impression (1½)

60 Minute IPA

American-Style India Pale Ale

6.00% abv.

Date: December 22, 2003 (#5158)

Package: bottled

Place: Club Liquor & Beer, Menasha WI

Score: 16 points

Overall Impression (3)
60 IBU. Bright deep golden. Big thick head. Perfumey hop aroma. Medium body. Big perfumey hop flavor with a resiny bitterness. Maybe some DMS, or maybe it's just the hops. Not as obnoxious as the 90 Minute IPA. Thanks to Jay Jackson for the bottle!

90 Minute IPA

American-Style India Pale Ale

Awards:

Champion, 2003 Realbeer.com Battle of the Beers

Date: November 15, 2002 (#4529)

Package: bottled

Place: Pick'n Save, Oshkosh WI

Score: 16 points

Overall Impression (3)
"An Imperial India Pale Ale", at 90 IBU. This beer is a deep copper color, very hazy, with a good head. It has a big citrusy herbal floral fruity hop aroma, and quite a bit of caramel. Huge malty body. Huge citrusy spicy hop flavor. Huge bitterness start to finish. It's a Hop Monster, but there's too much of everything…maybe after a couple years' aging it might mellow out some.

ApriHop

Garden (Fruit) Beer

6.60% abv.

Awards:

Gold Medal, 2004 World Beer Cup

Au Courant

Garden (Fruit Wheat) Beer

7.00% abv.

8.50% abv.

10.00% abv.

Date: April 19, 2008 (#7020)

Package: bottled

Place: Place unknown

Score: 15½ points

Appearance (2½)
Red-amber. Thick haze. Big purple-ish head.

Aroma (3)
Raspberry, more fruity than tart. Perfumey.

Mouthfeel (8)
Thick. Malty. Big raspberry flavor. Fruity, mildly tart. Big malty background.

Overall Impression (2)
Sure doesn't feel like 10% abv. "Malt beverage fermented with raspberry and blackberry purée".

Date: July 10, 2007 (#6584)

Package: bottled

Place: Liquid Solutions, Tigard OR

Score: 18 points

Appearance (3)
Bright amber. Moderate foamy head.

Aroma (3)
Moderate spicy hops. Mild alcohol.

Mouthfeel (9)
Really big body, really smooth. Lots of alcohol, but not "hot". Lots of malt, really chewy. Very nicely balanced. Just a hint of oak character.

Overall Impression (3)
"An oak-aged Imperial India Pale Ale...A two-thread blend of your and wood-aged Imperial I.P.A." Imperial IPAs are usually mainly hop juice. This is a massively malty, well-balanced beer.

Date: March 15, 2012 (#8752)

Package: bottled

Place: Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha NE

Score: 16½ points

Appearance (3)
Golden, hazy. Moderate head.

Aroma (3)
Mildly spicy, earthy.

Mouthfeel (8)
Medium body, moderate carbonation. Sweet, honey, mildly yeasty flavor. Peppery. Warming.

Overall Impression (2½)
Brewed to a 9000-year-old Chinese recipe.

Date: February 18, 2003 (#4691)

Package: bottled

Place: Woodman's Food Market #20, Green Bay WI

Score: 17½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Brewed with roasted chicory and organic Mexican coffee. Deep dark red. Big thick dense head. Chicory shows up nicely in the aroma. Light body. Sweetly malty, nicely roasty but not burnt, with a hint of herbal hop flavor. Sweet, smooth, clean, and reasonably complex. Not very assertive, but tasty nonetheless.

Date: November 6, 2001 (#3984)

Package: bottled

Place: Green Bay Rackers, Green Bay WI

Score: 16½ points

Overall Impression (3½)
Bright red-amber, thick head. Woody, malty, alcoholic aroma. Medium body, lots of malt, oaky character. Drying alcoholic finish.

Date: October 30, 2001 (#3966)

Package: bottled

Place: Sam's Wine and Spirits, Chicago IL

Score: 15½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Deep red-brown, good head. Massive fruity hop aroma. Light body, huge fruity hop flavor, mildly bitter. Moderate caramel flavor, quite a lot of alcohol, very drying. Think of a cross between an IPA and an American Brown Ale.

Date: March 15, 2012 (#8751)

Package: bottled

Place: Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha NE

Score: 16 points

Appearance (3)
Yellow, hazy. Low head.

Aroma (3)
Tart. Floral. Apricot.

Mouthfeel (8)
Light-medium body, fizzy. Tart, apricot flavor up front. Honey finish.

Overall Impression (2)
Brewed to an ancient Mesopotamian recipe.

Date: November 6, 2001 (#3983)

Package: bottled

Place: Green Bay Rackers, Green Bay WI

Score: 16 points

Appearance (3)
Hazy, golden, good head.

Aroma (3)
Musty, malty, winey aroma.

Mouthfeel (8)
Medium body, creamy, lots of honey flavor. Grape flavor is obvious, saffron is less so.

Overall Impression (2)
Brewed from barley, honey, white muscat grapes, and saffron. Thanks to Bert Zelten for the sample!

Date: February 18, 2006 (#5842)

Package: bottled

Place: Liquid Solutions, Tigard OR

Score: 17½ points

Appearance (3)
Bright deep golden. Very high carbonation. Thick dense head.

Aroma (3)
Big malt, mildly grainy, not too sweet. Some spicy hops, some earthiness.

Mouthfeel (9)
Huge body, real smooth. Not as fizzy as it appeared. Massively malty. Alcohol is very warming, but not really apparent in the flavor. Mild hop flavor in the finish.

Overall Impression (2½)

Date: October 19, 2008 (#7481)

Package: bottled

Place: Liquid Solutions, Tigard OR

Score: 16 points

Appearance (3)
Black. Moderate dense head.

Aroma (3)
Big black cherry fruitiness. Alcohol. Malt.

Mouthfeel (8)
Thick. Malty. Dark and chocolatey. Alcoholic. Lots of wood flavor. Malty, black, fruity finish.

Overall Impression (2)
A good strong beer that needs some age. "Brown ale...aged on Palo Santo wood".

Date: February 20, 2008 (#6900)

Package: bottled

Place: Liquid Solutions, Tigard OR

Score: 16 points

Appearance (3)
Amber, low head.

Aroma (3)
Definitely some ginger in there.

Mouthfeel (8)
Big body, fizzy. Lots of sweet malt and lots of ginger. Malt and ginger. Ginger and malt.

Overall Impression (2)
"A flavored malt beverage brewed with crystallized ginger."

Date: February 23, 2003 (#4692)

Package: bottled

Place: Woodman's Food Market #20, Green Bay WI

Score: 16 points

Overall Impression (3)
Brewed with Belgian beer sugars and green raisins. Bright red-brown. Thin head. Dark caramel and dark fruit aromas with a hint of hoppiness. Light-medium body. Fairly sweet. Lots of caramel malt with some raisin flavor. Some green-not-yet-ripe-fruit flavor. Quite warming. Tastes like a good Dubbel, but I prefer the "raisiny" flavor of Special B malt to these green raisins.

Date: February 25, 2003 (#4699)

Package: bottled

Place: Woodman's Food Market #20, Green Bay WI

Score: 14½ points

Overall Impression (3)
Bright golden, high carbonation, thick head. Very mild herbal hop aroma, with very mild skunkiness. Light body, smooth. Big fresh malty flavor with only a mild bitterness. Finishes malty and a little sweet. Seems like a waste of Columbus hops to use them in such a not-bitter beer.

Date: March 15, 2012 (#8750)

Package: bottled

Place: Joslyn Art Museum, Omaha NE

Score: 20 points

Appearance (3)
Golden, hazy. Dense head.

Aroma (4)
Smoky. Figs. Yeasty. Very earthy.

Mouthfeel (10)
Light body, fizzy. Sweet, honey, earthy flavors. Figs/dates. Sweet, clean, fruity finish.

Overall Impression (3)
Very interesting. Very tasty. Brewed to an ancient Egyptian recipe.

Date: July 14, 2003 (#4962)

Package: bottled

Place: TrimB's Restaurant, Appleton WI

Score: 15 points

Overall Impression (2½)
2002 bottling. Black. No head. Smells like roasty nail polish. Medium body. Sweet. Winy. Alcoholic. Tastes more like Port than Port does. Reputed to sell for $150 per case, this beer has some impressive vital statistics as measured by Siebel:

Alcohol by volume: 23.04%
Apparent extract: 7.55%
Real extract: 15.18%
Original extract: 43.52%
Specific gravity: 1.02998
Calories: 666.65 per 12 ounces
Alcohol by weight: 17.69%