Dogfish Head doesn’t specify which hop oils were add to the box of their latest variety pack but each one has a hop cone to smell. I think it would be even cooler to have people guess the hop as well to see who has the hop expertise.
Scratch
25 Dogfish
Here is what you will find inside the covers of The Dogfish Head Book: 25 Years of Off-Centered Adventures: “readers will gain an understating of the “How & Why” behind the brewery’s growth and success through heartfelt stories of Sam, Mariah and Andrew’s trials and accomplishments. Chock full of wisdom, entertainment and a whole lot of timeless lessons learned – everything from memorabilia and co-worker-told tales to the brewery’s business philosophy and “Rules of Thumb,””
This looks to be a grand addition to anyone’s beer library and a good lockdown read.
Sanitize
You shouldn’t be surprised to hear that distillers from coast to coast have turned their eye to sanitizing liquid. Granted Dogfish Head and spots in Portland are not going to meet the extreme demand but the quick pivot made by these companies is yet more proof that they are more “essential” than Governor Newsom can imagine. I say buy all that you can from these locals and post about it, with a hashtag of your governor or mayor.
Featured Review – Slightly Mighty from Dogfish Head
The final lo-cal IPA for February comes from Dogfish Head with Slightly Mighty. The twist here is that the East Coast brewery has added Monk Fruit extract to add sweetness and tropicality.
SM pours a mix of orange and yellow. Getting a little citrus hop nose from it. Stands in the sessionable camp to me rather than watery. Not a lot of spritziness here but it sends a hop message through. It has a good balance. Malt raises a hand, as does some sweetness but the roof of the mouth bitter sticks for a goodly time for a 4% and 95 calorie beer.
Collaboration Post Day – World Wide Utopia
For those who have not had Utopia from Sam Adams, well this is new collaboration with business partner, Dogfish Head might be a close approximation for you to try. Not that World Wide Stout is something to sneeze at.
Jim & Sam 1
Unless I dozed off this upcoming collaboration pilsner is the first get-together since Sam Adams and Dogfish Head joined financial forces. From logo to ingredients this hoppy pilsner skews to the DFH side of the ledger but could have a nice Brut like taste to it considering the honey added.
Featured 19.2 Review – SeaQuench from Dogfish Head
I thought I would kill three birds with one stone and get a Dogfish Head beer since I hadn’t had one in such a long time, and try SeaQuench, their popular seller for the first time, and get the 19.2oz can too.
The lime (from either peel, juice or different varietal) comes through in the aroma. That is immediately cut by a one-two punch of salt and then wheat. At first SeaQuench comes across as sour but with each progressive sip, it becomes less aggressive. It has a cocktail quality to it. Lime Rickey maybe.
I can’t quite wrap my head around why this is such a popular beer, not from a taste standpoint, because this is a nice American twisted Gose, but because of the salt. I think the American palate has tilted towards extremes. Sugary. Salty. Sour and even bitter to a certain extent but this mixes tart and salt. I do wonder if a brand extension is in the offing too.
As far as the larger format can, this is a perfect choice at 4.7%. This would be a great beach beer.
SamDog
Just when you thought it was over, the shuffling begins anew. This time biggest of the craft beer guys (since the Brewers Association keeps raising the cap), Samuel Adams is merging with Dogfish Head.
You can read about the dollar amounts and the shares owned by whom on other sites and you can head to Twitter for the semi-comedic hot takes but I want to focus on questions I have for the combined brewing group in the future.
First, the aforementioned cap raising will need to be raised once again, maybe not this year but even with the smaller amount that Dogfish produces they will more than likely be pushing up to the line sooner rather than later. If the Brewers Association was loathe to kick Boston Beer out of the club, they sure as heck ain’t gonna kick out Boston Beer and beloved icon Sam Calagione in one fell swoop. Each time Boston Beer is snuck in it seems to raise more consternation amongst the members about what and who the Brewers Association stands for, expect it to be a thorny issue again. It probably won’t lead to a rival band of brewers in their own group but you might see an internal split with larger members on one side and smaller in their own group.
The next agenda item is what the mixing of the companies will be. Operated separately just under the same umbrella? Sharing some resources but brewing kept separate? Boston Beer is tilted to the non-beer side just a skosh in recent years with ciders and seltzers and hard this and hard that. How does that affect the brewing philosophy in Rehoboth Beach? The slightest deviations are going to be analyzed by beer fandom.
How does this affect the future of Jim Koch and the Calagiones and how will that affect the street cred of both? More interestingly, what happens when both retire off to a remote island, what do the two brands stand for then? It is not bad to have a CEO from another beverage company in charge but who is the totem for fans to latch onto when the names on the back of jersey change?
I am sure that this merger will be a topic of conversation and re-evaluation for years to come.
Roden-Dogfish-Bach
It is pretty rare these days to find a brewery that hasn’t done at least one collaboration and that number just added a historic member as Rodenbach collaborates for the 1st time in nearly 200 years with Dogfish Head. The beer is still in the planning stages and who knows, it may have to sit in barrels and be then be blended. At this point it might be anything. I would like to see some brewed in Belgium and some in the US and then blended. Look for more updates next year
Sean Suggests for October 2018
I could not settle on 1 solitary theme for this month’s beer picks, so two are big and boozy and the light one is still at least a brown ale for the random hot days we encounter in SoCal October.
~LIGHT
Indie Brewing / Embers 5.50% ABV
“A sessionable brown lager that’s perfect for the fall!”
~MEDIUM
Fremont / Bourbon Barrel-Aged Dark Star 13.60% ABV
“This year’s release is a blend of 24, 18, 12, and 8-month Bourbon Barrel-Aged Dark Star in 7-12-year old Kentucky bourbon barrels. The roasted and chocolate malts complement the smooth oats to bring you a stout delight wrapped in the gentle embrace of bourbon barrel-aged warmth. A touch of sweetness dances in balance with the hops to finish with a wave, and then she’s gone.”
~BIG
Dogfish Head / Fruitfull Fort 15.00% ABV
“A twist on our beloved Fort, Fruit-Full Fort is brewed with four types of berries – Raspberry, Blackberry, Boysenberry and Elderberry! This juicy blend of dark berries creates depth and complexity reminiscent of a jammy red wine. “
All of these beers can be found at Sunset Beer Co. (unless they got bought up real quick)