Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

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

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.

Ok. I remember discovering this beer about a year ago and scoffed at the price, but I knew, someday, I would buy this beer. I finally gave in today because dudebra was bragging about it. Yeah, it’s ridiculous. The 21% isn’t all that detectable, until you stand up. This smells like hops, and tastes like hops. Crazy hops, huge hops. Like eating raw hops. Oh, and a lot of sweet malt. This ale is so unique, it’s definitely something you have to try at least once.

2008 bottle. Pours a deep amber color with a thin white head that dissiaptes quickly. The aroma shows notes of pine resin, big piney hops, candy sugar, and alcohol. The flavor was much the same with the huge piney hop presence to go with some citrus fruit and big dose of candy sugar and malts to sweeten things up. The alcohol was balanced as well as it could be, but was still present throughout. Everything about this beer is extreme from the hop bitterness to the alcohol. Full bodied with a thick syrupy mouthfeel with the alcohol warmth felt all the way down. It would take me awhile to go through a whole bottle of this. I’d like to see what some age would do to this though. This is really well crafted and something I would revisit on special occasions.

This beer will knock you on your ass. If the Incredible Hulk drank, this would be the only beer he would reach for. Wave after wave, 7 in all, after every sip hit me with the powerful flavor of cloudy orange colored hops. Took me 2.5 hours to finish on July 4th 08