Dogfish Head-Sierra Nevada Life and Limb Rhizing Bines

I received a bottle of Dogfish Head-Sierra Nevada Life and Limb Rhizing Bines from Dogfish Head and poured it into one of the new IPA glasses. The beer pours a golden color with a very lofty and frothy off-white colored head that leaves a think but nicely patterned lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of pepper, fresh cut grass, wheat, light hints of caramel, and a pungent hop oil. Orange, apricot, and tangerine provide subtle accents as well. The taste is bitter and hop-forward with lemon, pine, pepper, and grass flavor all coating the tongue with an oily residue. A solid malty backbone provides support for this beer, a little more so than I expected. It has has a light wheat taste white somewhat bridges the gap between the bitter and the sweet by adding a light dryness. Tangerine, orange, passion fruit, apricot, and pineapple give the a noticeable fruity character. On the finish, oily residue is left behind on the tongue with a pronounced bitterness. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. Overall, this beer wasn’t as bitter as I had expected, but it was definitely a hop-forward with with plenty of hop profile. It has a quite refreshing quality about it while driving home hop oils that linger.

Dogfish Head Birra Estruca Bronze

I picked up a bottle of Dogfish Head Birra Estruca Bronze from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a bronze color with a lofty and frothy white colored head. The aroma consists of wheat, grapes, pomegranate, honey, caramel, and raisin. The taste is light and fruity with white grapes, pomegranate, raisin, and honey all on the front end. An earthy root flavor comes out and spices the beer a bit and it finishes with pepper lingering on the back of the throat. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV. I can’t say that I liked this beer off of the first sip, but it grew on me as it warmed up and as I drank more of it. The fruit juices were too sweet at first, but they mellowed and became more complimentary as it went on, so I may actually get this beer again.

Dogfish Head Positive Contact

I picked up a bottle of Dogfish Head Positive Contact at State Line Liquors in Elkton, MD. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white colored head. The aroma consists of wheat, lemon, apple juice, and a spicy pepper. The taste is smooth and sweet on the front end with apple juice and light lemon flavors. A hint of cayenne hits the back of the throat from the head, and a cilantro spice mixes in there as well. All of the added flavors provide a light accent and are not too overpowering. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. I thought that this apple cider/beer hybrid was rather delicious and very enjoyable. It was most refreshing and had a dry finish, completely attributable to the cider content.

Dogfish Head URKontinent

At Al’s of Hampden, I ordered a glass of Dogfish Head URKontinent. The pours a black color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, toasted malts, and flowers. The taste is hazelnut, coffee, chocolate, and toasted malts that hide somewhat in the background. It has a floral finish and a light cherry accent. The Belgian yeast provides a sweetness and a little bit of earthiness to the backbone of the beer. The alcohol content is 8.1% ABV. I enjoyed the variety of flavors in this beer, and appreciated how it was created from ingredients that originate all across the globe.

Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA (2012 Bottle)

I picked up a bottle of Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA from DiCicco’s in New York. The beer pours a golden color with an extremely lofty and frothy white head that leaves some lacing on the glass. I was extremely surprised at the amount of head associated with this beer, having had both the blended 75 Minute IPA and the draft-only brewed 75 Minute IPA before. The aroma consists of caramel, lemon, pine, tangerine, and orange. There is lots of bitterness in here, but no maple. The taste is bitter with lemon and orange sitting on top of a solid caramel base. Hints of maple do poke through on the finish, and it leaves notes of oak and grass behind. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. This was quite a delicious brew and slightly different than I remember from having both the blended and brewed version of this beer. The maple syrup was a nice touch, but this definitely had a great bitterness to it.

Dogfish Head Tweason'ale

I picked up a bottle of Dogfish Head’s gluten-free offering Tweason’ale from Brass Rail in Campbelltown, PA. The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head that does not last very long. The aroma consists of lots of strawberry, candy-like strawberry, and hints of honey. The taste is light and refreshing with a large strawberry profile. Bit of honey sweeten up the base of the beer, and there is a light background to it. The body of the beer is light and carbonated and reminds me of strawberry ginger ale. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. For a gluten-free beer, this is quite an enjoyable beverage. There is a great fruit flavor with sweetened honey accents that make this an enjoyable beer, on an level.

Dogfish Head Noble Rot

On a visit to Brass Rail in Campbelltown, I ordered a glass of Dogfish Head Noble Rot. The beer pours a pale golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of sweet grape, lemon, grass, and pepper. The taste is sweet with a slight grape sourness. Pepper and grass have a strong presence, and wheat provides a good base with lemon accents. A nice bubbly and carbonated mouth feel greets the tongue on the finish. The alcohol content is 8.3% ABV. This combination of wine and beer makes for a rather tasty and pleasant experience. I think it would prove to be a great beer to give to wine connoisseurs to get them to convert to craft beer.

The Bruery-Dogfish Head Faster, Bigger, Better, Bolder (Gradually, Quietly, Steadily)

I picked up a bottle of The Bruery-Dogfish Head collaboration Faster, Bigger, Better, Bolder (Gradually, Quietly, Steadily). The beer pours a pale golden color with a lively and lofty frothy white head. The aroma consists of lemon, wheat, orange (kumquats?), peppercorn, and grass. The taste is light and citrusy with lemon and grass on the front end with a smooth orange accent, which comes from the kumquats. The finish leaves a dry flavor in the mouth with grass, peppercorn, and some wheat. The alcohol content is 8.25% ABV. I would say that I was a little disappointed in this beer, coming from two brewing giants. It wasn’t bad, but I really didn’t enjoy the finish and thought it reminded of an adjunct lager.

Dogfish Head Faithfull Ale (Pearl Jam's Twenty)

I picked up a bottle of the Dogfish Head tribute to Pearl Jam’s Twenty called Faithfull Ale at Al’s of Hampden. Naturally, I opened the bottle, reviewed it, and drank it all while listening to Pearl Jam’s “Ten.” The beer pours a pale golden color with a frothy white head that leaves some lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of lemon, currants, wheat, yeast, candisugar, and grass. The taste is light on the tongue with plenty of lemon, currants, and Belgian yeast to keep the tongue happy. It starts sweet but moves into a slightly drier grassy flavor. The after taste is a bit sugary and very bready as well. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I have to say that this was quite an enjoyable beer that had some sweetness, but the grassy and earthy flavors gave it a bit of a dirty tinge, just like the grunge era that Pearl Jam helped define.

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA Through a Watermelon

On the same night that Al’s of Hampden poured glasses of Founders Canadian Breakfast Stout, Al decided to run Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA through a watermelon. I’ll pause a moment to let that sink in to your brain. Dogfish Head. 120 Minute IPA. In an actual watermelon. While it may fringe on lunacy to have 120 Minute IPA in anything other that a freshly washed glass, I was quite intrigued and excited to order a glass.

The beer pours a brilliant amber color with pink accents and a bubbly and foamy white head. The aroma, in stark contrast to the 120 Minute IPA on its own, is full if fresh water melon and is similar to that of a Jolly Rancher watermelon candy. There is also some caramel in the aroma, but it is hidden in the background, and surprisingly, the alcohol and bitter pine hops are nowhere to be found. The taste is like none other. Many beers are made with watermelon, but none provide the fresh thirst-quenching capabilities of Dogfish Head 120 Minute through a watermelon. While it taste fresh, it also has watermelon candy-like characteristics and a nice sugar and caramel undertone. Again, the alcohol was non-existent on the palate, and this beer was on the opposite end of bitter that it usually is. All in all, an entirely different beast. The greatest danger would be that there is no alcohol bite to warn of the 18.0% ABV, and I could have drank this beer all night. So the next time you are at the grocery store, grab a four-pack of Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. And a watermelon. You will not regret it.

Great American Beer Fest 2011

I was fortunate enough to attend my second Great American Beer Fest in 2011, the previous one being 2010. Last year, I bought tickets to the Saturday night session, but this year I sprung for the Saturday Members Only Session. Overall, I thought the members session was a more behaved crowd with shorter lines.

I’ve read plenty of places about the lack of brewery representation at the individual brewery booths, and I echo that sentiment. However, I would like to focus on the breweries that provided representation, as I hope the positive words will encourage other breweries to do the same next year.

I had some wonderful interactions with brewers, managers, and other brewery staff from Penn Brewery, Fat Heads, Troegs, and Starr Hill. Sam Calgione, being the rock star that he is, was an enormous presence and it was easy to tell as Dogfish Head had probably the longest line all day. Other lines, such as Sam Adams when they released the Utopias, would back up, but only Dogfish Head was consistently long throughout the festival.

I ran into the Fat Heads guys while at Mountain Sun Pub & Brewery, and they were quite pleasant. They pass along some swag and we had a short conversation. It was great to follow up with them at the festival and discuss their medals. With Troegs, we discussed moving to the new brewery and the medal that they one as well. No one was more please than Penn Brewery at winning with St. Nikolas Bock (wonderful beer!), and my fiancee and I discussed having our rehearsal dinner at the brewery.

Without the brewery representatives present, none of these interactions would have occurred. It’s the small things like this that will keep me buying beer from these breweries, as well as attending GABF. It’s nice to have someone knowledgeable about the specific beer being pour present to discuss it and answer any questions. Otherwise, you get responses like “do you like light or dark beer?” from some of the volunteers. Anyways, here is my quick tasting notes from the festival of the beers I tried:

Hoppin' Frog Mean Manalishi

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours an amber color with a frothy beige head. The aroma is sticky oils, grapefruit, and tangerine. The taste is bitter and hoppy with pine, resins, grapefruit, tangerine, and a pepper finish. The alcohol content is 8.2% ABV.

Jackie O's Kentucky Monk

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours an orange amber color with an off-white bully head. The aroma consists of brown sugar, yeast, and raisin. The taste is sweet, yeasty, and smooth with brown sugar, raisin, and orange. Some melon and bourbon comes out in a rather pronounced manner. There is some hints of oak and vanilla as well. The alcohol content is 10.5% ABV.

New Holland Envious

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a dark amber color with a frothy tan head. The aroma consists of raspberry and a light yeast accent. The taste is sweet with fruitiness, mostly consisting of raspberry, pear, and a hint of oak. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV.

*New Glarus Raspberry Tart

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a red-tinted amber color with a bubbly off-white colored head with red hues. The aroma consists of sour raspberry, vinegar, and sweet yeast. The taste is puckering but nice with a great raspberry and sugar flavor. The alcohol content is 4.0% ABV. This was one of my favorites of the festival.

MillKing It Productions Axl Pale Ale

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a golden color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of grapefruit, tangerine, and caramel. The taste is bitter and dry with grapefruit, tangerine, and a biting pepper finish. The alcohol content is 5.8% ABV.

New Belgium Kick

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of sour pumpkin and vinegar. The taste puckers a bit with wheat and pumpkin flavors before a pepper finish. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV.

Blue Mountain May the 4th Be With You Maibock

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of caramel, pine, and lemon. The taste is sweet with caramel, pine and grass hops, and a peppery finish. The alcohol content is not available online.

Trinity Brewhouse Decadence

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a cloudy orange-amber color with a filmy beige head. The aroma consists of grapefruit, caramel, tangerine, and pepper. The taste is dry and bitter with a sweet undertone. Caramel, oils, pine, grapefruit, and tangerine come out with an oaky after taste. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV.

Portsmouth Fruit Gruit

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a brown-amber color with a filmy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of hay, barnyard, strawberry, and blueberry. The taste is fruit paste, strawberry, blueberry, and banana. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV.

Allagash Fluxus 2011

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours an orange-amber color with a frothy off-white colored head. The aroma consists of pepper, hay, grass, and lemon. The taste is dry, barnyard, hay, and pepper with a slight sour lemon finish. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV.

Public House Revelations Stout

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a black color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, oak, and coffee. The taste is biting chocolate with some coffee accents and a milky finish. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV.

Barley Brothers Double Espresso Stout

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a black color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of coffee, cream, oak, espresso, and chocolate. The taste is dry with espresso, cream, roasted malts, and chocolate. The alcohol content is not available online. Overall, this beer was smooth and very good.

Four Peaks Hop Knot IPA

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma is sticky and oily with grapefruit and tangerine smells. The taste is bitter, oily, and resiny with pine, tangerine, and grapefruit. The alcohol content is 6.7% ABV. This beer completely reminded me of a Double IPA, not the IPA that it is.

Samuel Adams American Kriek

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a red-amber color with a bubbly pink head. The aroma consists of a tart cherry that is pie-like. The taste is tart yet sweet with cherry, pie filling, coconut, and a bit of vinegar sourness to it. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV.

Papago Brewing Orange Blossom

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of orange, meringue, and pepper. The taste is orange creamsicle, wheat, and a slightly sweet yeast. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. This was a decent beer, but had a somewhat watery finish.

SanTan HopShock IPA

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours an amber color with a frothy white head. The aroma consists of grapefruit, sugar, tangerine, and orange. The taste is mostly grapefruit and bitter with pepper, oils, and some tangerine. The alcohol content is 7.1% ABV. This was a delicious and good IPA.

*Twisted X Siesta Prickly Pear Ager

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a golden color with a filmy white head. The aroma consists of pear and guava. The taste is slightly sour with pear, guava, agave, wheat, and a nice hint of orange. The alcohol content is not available online. This was one of my favorites of the festival.

*Twisted X Senor Viejo Imperial Black Lager Tequila Aged

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a dark brown color with a thin filmy tan head. The aroma consists of agave, caramel, and pepper. The taste is agave and tequila right up front, but is smooth and wonderful. The alcohol content is 8.2% ABV. This was one of my favorites of the festival.

Uncle Billy's Brew & Que Insomniac Coffee Stout

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a black color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of coffee, chocolate, and cream. The taste is dry with fresh coffee and a chocolate background. The alcohol content is 5.8% ABV. This beer was quite awakening with plenty of coffee.

Port City Octoberfest

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma is malty with caramel and pepper smells as well. The taste is sweet caramel, pepper, and grassy hops. The alcohol content is not available online. This was a good Oktoberfest beer.

*Equinox Remi's Saison IPA

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of pepper, lemon, barnyard, and hay. The taste lemon, hoppy, pine, pepper, hay, barnyard funk. The alcohol content is not available online. This was one of my favorites of the festival.

Funkwerks Cherry Saison

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a red-amber color with a bubbly off-white colored head. The aroma consists of tart cherries and pie crust. The taste is tart cherries, pie crust, pepper, lemon, and hay. The alcohol content is not available online.

Great Basin Bitchin' Berry

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a red-amber color with a filmy white head. The aroma consists of blackberry, raspberry, and wheat. The taste is sweet, fruity, and smooth with plenty of raspberry and blackberry flavors. The alcohol content is not available online.

New Planet Off Grid Pale Ale

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours an amber color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of toffee, caramel, and toast. The taste is dry and has plenty of toffee and a hint of pine. The alcohol content is 5.0% ABV. I thought this was not bad, for a gluten-free beer.

Strange Brewing Cherry Kriek

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a red-amber color with a thin bubbly white head. The aroma consists of cherry pie filling, sugar, and crust. The taste is sweet and cherry pie-like, and very tart. The alcohol content is 5.1% ABV.

Upslope Pumpkin Ale

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

Seeing this beer won the gold medal, I decided to try it. The beer pours an amber color with a bubbly off-whiie colored head. The aroma consists of lots of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and graham cracker. The taste is spicy, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and has a hint of pumpkin. The alcohol content is 7.3% ABV.

*Trinity Brain of the Turtle

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a dark amber/brown color with yeast flakes floating and a bubbly beige colored head. The aroma consists of vinegar and cherry pie. The taste is puckering with cherry tart and lots of vinegar and some yeast accents. The alcohol content is not available online.

Dundee Oktoberfest

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours an amber color with a bubbly off-white colored head. The aroma is malty with some caramel smells and a hint of grass. The taste is caramel, malts, and dry grass, but most of all it is very carbonated. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV.

Short's-Dogfish Head-Three Floyds Cornholio

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a black color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of cough syrup, chocolate, plums, and popcorn. The taste is chocolaty and very dry with popcorn, pepper, plums, and a bit of cough syrup accent. Overall, it was very spicy. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV.

Dogfish Head UrKontinent

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a black color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of tea, rooibos, amaranth, herbs, and chocolate. The taste is dry with dark chocolate, but the rooibos take focus with a big tea accent. The alcohol content is 8.1% ABV.

Dogfish Head Tweason'ale

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a golden color with a bubbly white head. The aroma consists of honey and strawberry. The taste is smooth with a light roasted flavor, strawberries, and a honey finish. The alcohol content is 6.0% ABV. This beer was very good for gluten free and I couldn’t tell as much as others in the category that it was gluten free.

*Red Brick Brick Mason Vanilla Gorilla

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a dark brown color with a foamy tan head. The aroma is full of smoke and vanilla. The taste is very smoky, has some coffee, a light chocolate undertone, and a vanilla finish. The alcohol content is 7.8% ABV. This was one of my favorites at the festival.

Swamp Head Saison du Swamp

From Great American Beer Fest 2011

The beer pours a pale straw yellow color with a frothy cream colored head. The aroma consists of pepper, lemon, and hay. The taste is lemon meringue, barnyard, hay, straw, and pepper, making a very delicious beer. The alcohol content is not available online.

* A festival favorite

Dogfish Fish Palo Santo Marron

My fiancee picked me up a bottle of Dogfish Head Palo Santo Marron from a bottle shop in Delaware. The beer pours a dark brown color with a frothy tan head. The aroma consists of smoke, palo santo wood, chargrill, and some chocolate. The taste is dry and smoky with plenty of charred palo santo wood making the most of the profile. There is some chocolate, vanilla, caramel, and toasted malts adding accents as well. There is a nice alcohol burn on the back of the mouth as well. The alcohol content is 12.0% ABV. This is a big beer with plenty of alcohol burn, but the palo santo wood gives it all of its character with somewhat of a charred flavor.

Dogfish Head-Epic Portamarillo

When I was at Stateline Liquors, I noticed some bottles of the Dogfish Head-Epic collaboration Portamarillo, made famous by the show Brewmasters. The beer pours an amber color with a frothy tan head with some nice lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of tomato, hickory, smoke, and toasted malts. The taste is malty and chocolaty at first with some tomato funk to it. I’m sure your familiar with that flavor, as it is exactly like eating a raw tomato. The beer has a nice grilled finish but is very light on the tongue. Hints of toasted malts are in there as well with some salt and earthy and dirt-like hops. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I really liked the tomato accent to this beer, and it balanced it very well without making it like tomato juice, which is not a positive flavor for me. This beer really makes you think about being outside by the grill, and it also goes very well with pizza.

Sierra Nevada-Dogfish Head Limb and Life Volume 2

When I returned to the Dogfish Head Brewpub for the Life and Limb Volume 2 tapping, they also had the other Sierra Nevada collaboration Limb and Life Volume 2 on tap, so I decided to give it a try. The beer pours an amber color with a thin filmy off-white head. The aroma consists of light maple syrup, caramel, coffee, and spruce. The taste is malty with caramel notes and light coffee accents. There is some maple flavor that makes up the dry finish. In a way, this beer almost reminds me of an Oktoberfest. The alcohol content is 4.8% ABV. I liked how light and refreshing the beer was, and considering it was sessionable, it could be drank all day. However, if both beers are on tap at the same time, I am steering my order to the Life and Limb first.

Sierra Nevada-Dogfish Head Life and Limb Volume 2

While in Ocean City, Dogfish Head tweeted that they had just tapped their collaboration with Sierra Nevada, Life and Limb Volume 2. I previously had the first version, but I was rather excited to see this beer on taps again. The beer pours a black color with a thin tan head. The aroma consists of maple, birch, chocolate, coffee, and toasted malts. The taste is smooth and sweet with lots if maple on the front end before some toasted malts, coffee, and chocolate come to light. There is a biting and bubbly finish. The alcohol content is 10.2% ABV. I recall this beer being just as good as the first batch with its wonderful maple flavor. This was the first time I had the beer on tap and I hope to acquire a bottle or two for my cellar.

Dogfish Head Fort (2007)

I was recently on vacation in Ocean City and we decided to drive up to the Dogfish Head Brewpub in Rehoboth. While at the brewpub, my buddy Matt and I decided to order a vintage bottle of Fort, vintage 2007. The beer pours a cloudy amber color with lots of red hues and a thin filmy white head. The aroma is warming with alcohol, a most notable presence, and raspberries, yeast, and raisin aromas as well. The taste is big and bold with plenty of raisin comprising of the base of the beer. On top of the raisin, the raspberry comes to life and provides a tart finish with a warming alcohol after taste. The alcohol content is 18.0% ABV. I had heard good things about Fort, and I was most impressed with the flavor profile of this beer. It kept itself from truly tasting like a “fruity” beer by having a prominent alcohol flavor, but the yeast base and tart raspberry finish were the most enjoyable parts of this beer.

Dogfish Head Pangaea

While at the Dogfish Head Ale House in Falls Church, I ordered a glass of Pangaea with my dinner. The pours a golden color with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of wheat, pepper, lemon, grass, pine, and biscuit. The taste is dry and peppery with a ginger bite and some biscuit undertones. Yeast comes out to sweeten the beer before the grassy finish with a slight lemon accent. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. The Pangaea has a wonderful blend of flavors, and I think Dogfish Head did an excellent job combining an ingredient from every continent on Earth.