Dogfish Head Brewing

Dogfish Head Brewing By Pete Ricks. I've guess I've always admired the extremist. As a brewer, you have to admire what dudes like Sam Calagione and the other brewers at Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware are doing with beer, and a variety of other fermentables, these days. To say that Sam Calagione pushes the envelope of brewing would be an understatement. I would characterize Sam's brews as more like taking the envelope, putting it through a paper shredder, and reinventing it in ways that envelopes have never been seen before. It is too bad that so few consumers in this country realize how much great craft beer is brewed right here in America. Actually, if more people did know about the types of beers that Dogfish and others were brewing, there would be less for those of us who really appreciate a finely crafted beer, so maybe we should keep it a secret. I was convinced of one thing after my visit to Dogfish. When it comes to driving the new brewing revolution in this country, these guys are definitely up at the head of the pack. I had the pleasure of visiting Sam Calagione at the Dogfish Head Pub in Rehoboth Beach recently for a little beer sampling and chat. I also met Mike Gerhart, the new distilling expert and brewer at the pub. You can tell these guys are serious about their extreme brewing. The first beer I sampled was a pint of the Shelter Pale Ale. A bit nutty I thought, but refreshing and clean, and a good beer to rinse the palate with before the extreme beers to come later. Then Mike presented me with an experimental Belgian style that they had been working with. Sam likes to experiment with beers at the pub brewery so he and the other brewers can work out the kinks on a five-barrel system. Well, they had been experimenting this brew all the way up past 20% ABV. A souped up version of the Dogfish Raison D' Etre, Raisin D' Extra was the name of this brew, although Sam and Mike kept calling it D'extra. I was expecting a blast of alcohol when I sipped this beer, but surprisingly, it was well balanced and refreshingly drinkable. I did notice the alcohol several minutes later so it was definitely there, but not in a way that you would expect from a 20% plus ABV beer. D'extra indeed! The Dogfish Beers I think it is safe to say that there are not too many breweries or pubs in America today that offer the variety and depth of quality craft beer that you can sample at Dogfish. To have such a wide range of beers, and specialty liquors now too, all brewed at one location is rare. Let's start with the beers under 6% ABV. The Pale Ale, as mentioned above, is nutty, yet refreshing and clean. The Chicory Stout is a blend of roasted malts, coffee, chicory, and a few other ingredients that you would not normally expect in a stout. Complex, interesting, and definitely refreshing if you like a good stout. OK, that is it for the beers around 5% or below. Stepping up into the 6-8% ABV range, there is an Indian Brown Ale, a few seasonals, and the highly acclaimed Raison D' Etre. The latter being a deep brown Belgian Ale brewed with green raisins and beet sugar, among other things. The Dogfish 60 minute IPA, the baby of the bunch, also fits in this range as it clocks in around 6% ABV and 60 IBU. The 90 minute IPA checks in at 9% ABV and 90 IBU. Are you getting the theme here? Good, wait until we get to the 120 minute IPA! After the 90 minute IPA, we have the Immort Ale, an 11% ABV beer brewed with juniper berry, vanilla, maple syrup, and smoked barley. This beer is very complex as it is fermented with both English and Belgian yeasts, then aged on oak. World Wide Stout is billed as the world's strongest dark beer, and at 18% ABV, who is to argue? Lastly, there is the 120 minute IPA which is boiled for 120 minutes with constant additions of high alpha hops. This beer weighs in at a whopping 20% ABV so a little goes a long way. But that's not all Johnny Most recently at the pub location, new brewer Mike Gerhart has been distilling up a storm of Rums, Gin, fruit flavored Vodkas, and his latest project, Senor Sam's Takella. Mike is an experienced, well trained brewer, having lived and trained in Berlin and at large American breweries like Coors. While at Coors, Mike had the opportunity to enroll in some correspondence distilling classes through the Harriot Watt University in Scotland. He is putting his distilling training to good use as the Dogfish distillery is already operating over capacity, just like the brewery. In order to sample these distilled creations, you will most likely have to visit the Dogfish Pub in Rehoboth Beach as distribution is just getting ramped up. You will enjoy your visit! Dogfish is a return to craft beer tradition as local ingredients are at the heart of just about every brew. The brewery has recently been moved to a larger facility and tank capacity has been expanded. After starting with a half barrel systems ten years ago, Dogfish is on pace to brew over 20,000 barrels of beer in 2004. What makes that figure even more impressive is that we are not talking about some 20,000 barrels of wimpy, downstream beer, but full bodied, real beer. A true American craft beer success story, it is easy to see why Dogfish is at the top of the American craft beer food chain. DOGFISH HEAD CRAFT BREWERY 6 Cannery Village Milton, DE 19968 302-684-1000 DOGFISH HEAD BREWING & EATS 320 Rehoboth Avenue Rehoboth, DE 19971 302-226-BREW www.dogfish.com