Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

This monster destroys your mouth from the very first drink. Aroma was, you guessed it, very hoppy. Pours a very hazy gold color with a mild head. Very easy to drink. Well balanced.

Revisited comments Aug 2009. I enjoy the aroma, and mouthfeel of this beer, and have never experienced the same in any other beer. A hybrid Ale, Wine, and after dinner liquor. Magical and hoppy. Oh yeah, and 20% abv.

Aroma is sweet and hoppy. Pour is a hazy almost orange color. The alcohol is well hidden by the sweetness coming around mid-taste so as not to leave to strong a flavor in the mouth. Smooth and easy to drink, one of my favorites.

My trepidition for the 60 Minute and fierce devotion to the 90 minute really made the 120 Minute IPA from Dogfish Head a wildcard. It came down to the same old grapefruit hoppiness versus grain hoppiness, the latter decidedly better for my palate and temper. This was all about which camp the extremely luxurious 120 Minute IPA would fall into. I am pleased to report neither, as this beer is in a class all its own, and a very good one at that. A roasty toasty aroma, dripping with tagini and peanut butter, zapped by orange rind and sanded down with a dry, stining floiral frangrance. Strane it isn’t boozier, but the taste quickly corrects that. Alcohol and sugar immediately flow from them mouth of the bottle, into my digestive system, and straight back to my ears, putting a crimson glow into their tips. A syrupy texture drags the rest of the beer with it, including a sweet pine burn, the taste of fresh biscuits, honey and marmalade. Swoon! After these flavors have had amplke opportunity to ransack your tongue, the 120 Minute IPA gets sweeter until it peaks, practically popping with flavor in a buzzing and busy milieu. Toss in a handful of sweet spices like all-spice and cinnamon and the 120 Minute IPA makes for a very flavorfully gouging experience. Drink alone, because the sheer abundance of flavor might make you reel once or twice.

Beautiful hay/straw color with nice thick white head. Massive hoppy/floral aroma. Alcohol is very present as it moves across the palate. Very syrupy and sugary. Not as enjoyable as the 90 minute, but a must try for IPA fans.

12 oz bottle from Binny’s. Aroma: Sweet, citrusy, complex hops, strong alcohol. Not really a lot going on though, surprising. Appearance: Hazy, auburn-orange, very cloudy. Small, light, highly carbonated head. Flavor: Initially sweet, then alcohol in the middle, finishes sweet. Lots of alcohol in the throat. Complex hop taste. Palate: Slight burn from alcohol. Light body, smooth, light carbonation. Overall: Very strong, has quite the kick! Very alcoholic aftertaste. Its worth trying a beer this high in ABV, but not really a repeatable one.

2008 bottle purchased at Willow Bend Liquors (Lutz, FL) pours a hazy, apricot amber color with an extemely thin white head. Very unique and unusual aroma. There are sweet, simple syrup notes mixed with an almost shoe polish-like oily resin aroma, and a mixture of citrus and piney hops. The flavor is unlike any I’ve had before and difficult to describe. Initially it is very sweet and syrupy, with some caramel/toffee malts, dried fruit followed by the hop bitterness and warming alcohol in the aftertaste. I was expecting the 21% to completely overpower everything else, but it was fairly well disguised considering the extremely high percentage. I’m a big fan of their 60 and 90 min. varieties so I was glad to to find this one and give it a try.

The price assaults your wallet while the beer assaults your senses. Top notch all the way! Hops, big citrusy, oily hops. Some malt but, did I mention the hops? Must have to say that you’ve gone to the extreme if you like hops.