Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: American Strong Ale
Milton, Delaware USA

Bottle. Orange/khaki colored, small white head, and really cloudy. The least translucent light colored beer I’ve ever seen. Unique nose of oranges, cloves, sweet hops, and of course...alcohol. The flavor completely masks the alcohol, leaving it tasting of fruit, some hops, brown sugar, syrup, banana...and probably more that I’m forgetting. It was nowhere near the hop bomb of bitterness I was expecting, more of a strange, enjoyable citrusy sweet beverage. It’s definitely a slow sipper and went great with slightly spicy food. I enjoyed this and would certainly like to get it again.

From mcbackus via trade. The pour was a clear dark copper color with a scant white to off-white head. The aroma was lots of hops, sugary sweet malt, floral notes and some alcohol. The flavor was sugary malts, floral and pine hops and some surprisingly well balanced alcohol heat. Thick, chewy mouthfeel. More easily tamed than what I had built up in my head.

A Mes rate: bottle from Spec’s in Houston.
An awesome red brown colour thin tan rim. Heavy plastic and rubber, some soy, molasses and dark fruit. Massive alcohol though it’s hard to tell it actually is alcohol when it gets to this strength rather than it being some mad pungent fruit like you have never experienced. Massive sugary alcohol. It’s just all over powered by the stuff. All mouth no trousers. Impressive but I just can’t enjoy drinking it. There is a lot I like about it, it’s just not going down well and the huge hops and bitterness I was expecting is almost completely overpowered by the alcohol.

Holy hot dogs... wow this was intense. Huge alcohol, hops, and age in the nose. An overwhelmingly high malt sweetness that is not hot with alcohol, but still has a strong alcohol taste. Strong caramel, vanilla, and rich mixed fruit, leaning more towards oranges. Overall a very tasty brew. Strong esters compliment the strong hops, and even take forefront, I believe. Good, a sipper, but a good brew I will have again...

Although I appreciate this beer, I did not like it much at all. It pours as cloudy gold as possible, letting very little light through. It tastes very syrupy and sweet, and surprisingly its hop taste is not very apparent for having a whopping 120 IBUs. However, it definitely does a nice job warming as it goes down thanks to the ridiculous alcohol content. Dogfish Head did a pretty cool thing with this brew, but I won’t be trying it again any time soon.

Holy mackerel!!! The aroma is outrageous, the mixture of hops and amount of hops, just explode from the opening of the bottle. It’s not too shy on malts either, with some medium bodied malts, and some interesting aromas as well a perfume of alcohol, close to the aroma of nail polish. It’s appearance is a dark copper, with a fully developed head, some colors outside of white. It’s flavor is incredible, with hop oil exploding, but extremely well complimented with medium bodied malts. There is definitely alcohol the citrus is present, but subdued. It’s extremely well balanced. Excitingly smooth for a big boy. This is not a session, this is a celebration or nightcap beer, inheriting qualities of a barleywine.

Bottle aged a few years (2 or 3, I forget) in the cellar. Its certainly sweet young, and aged contributes more to the sweetness. Notes of plum, apricot, and mango blend with toffee and brown sugar. Pineapple and orange play a supporting role. Finish is warming. Paired delightfully with North Hendren’s Black River Gorgonzola.

Murky. Not much head. Very sweet. It does’t bash you over the head with bitterness, which is a nice change.