99 Bottles of Beer on the Blog - Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

I've been wanting to try this beer for months - it's a beer-lover's beer. It was the favorite beer of homebrewers in a recent poll, and I've never been disappointed by a Dogfish Head beer. So, when Sam came home for the Bruce Springsteen concert, I asked him to bring a couple bottles. It was $11.00 for a twelve ounce bottle. Tonight, I popped one open.

This is a BIG beer. It tips the scales at 20% ABV - that's 40 proof. The brewers boil it for 120 minutes, and add hops every single minute. Then, after it finishes fermenting, they add more hops to the fermenter every day for a month. 450 calories. Extreme brewing, indeed.

It pours out cloudy and orange, hazy with hoppy complexity and malt sweetness. The first sip was truly surprising - almost lemony and sweet. The lemon comes from the citrusy American hops, and the sweetness is more alcohol than malt. The hop bitterness is not at all overwhelming; in fact, I'd say that Samuel Adams Hallertauer Imperial Pilsner is actually a wilder ride on the hop train.

The mouthfeel of this beer is velvety rich. Its head is thin, but lasts through the entire glass - there's a lot of malt protein to support a head, but plenty of alcohol to thin it out.

This is definitely a sipping beer - at 20% ABV, it's nothing you would want to chug after mowing the lawn. In fact, it is probably something to be shared with a friend, but I'm home alone this evening, so I'll have to make do.

Dogfish Head Brewery makes great, interesting beers. Whenever you see something from them, give it a try - you'll be tasting the leading edge of American brewing. They started out with a ten gallon system - not much different from my own - and they, more than any other commercial brewery, retain the excitement and experimental spirit of homebrewing. They make historical brews based on Egyptian recipes, they make freaky Belgian stuff, and they make one amazing Imperial IPA.

Despite its critical acclaim, this is not my favorite beer ever. It's a hell of a beer, mind you, and it sets an outer limit for what an IPA can be. This is serious beer to be enjoyed by those who are looking for a truly different experience - at a little less than a buck a fluid ounce.