Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

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

Bottled. Golden colour, white sparkling head. Big Cascade nose, with an alcohol note. Big on mandarin, with exotic fruits and new mowned hay in aroma. This is a fullbodied beer but not overly. It actually felt lighter and more balanced than DFH 90 min. Mandarin is also prominent in flavour, with notes of dried orange with a sweetish undertone. The bitterness feels very balanced. Tasty beer!

750 bottle 2003 vintage poured a clear golden amber with an offwhite head. Aromas was earthy,carmel, pine, and citrus. Palate was on the syrupy side. Flavors of sweet carmel, maple, subtle charred oak, with a strong alcohol finish,

Bottle shared with HogTownHarry & tupalev -- courtesy of Dave B. I had heard this beer was good but never did I imagine it was this good! Pours a clear, slightly bubbly, orange-amber with a small lasting foamy white head. The aroma: hopjuice baby! Oh yeah, I friggin’ love it -- I am going to just sniff this all night. Sniff. Sniff. The flavour: Holy Sh!t! Can a beer taste better than this? the following superlatives come to mind: Excellent! Impessive! Delicious!...you get the idea. If I must describe it further then I would say the flavour is a wonderful blend of juicy hops and toasty malt and is surprisingly well balanced. I freaked when I saw this was 21%, I exclaimed loudly "There’s no way!", hell I’m still shocked as you would never know it by the taste. Palate is syrupy and has a Barley Wine texture. Quite simply one of the best beers I’ve ever had and I’d argue one of the best beers period.

2004 bottle. This gem pours a brilliant hazy harvest moon to pumkin orange, some ruby highligths, with a small fizzy off-white head, mostly diminishing, with soe spotty lacing. Wonderful, inviting aroma of fragrant floral hop bouquet, candied citrus hop with medium roasted caramel malt, bready, with notes of peach, apple, pear, apricot, and grapes. Thick syrupy (maple) caramel malt flavor, lightly bitter and moderate acidity with a sweet citrus hoppy finish, medium bitterness and light acidity and buttery bread malt, some alcohol notes, though not very noticeable given the ABV of this monstrosity. Full bodied and warming all the way into your stomach, very smooth and drinkable, except that one will more than likely do you in. Wow! What a beer, and an Imperial IPA at that. Much smoother and more drinkable than the 60- and 90-minute IPA’s; not to take anything away from those great DFH brews.

A whiff of hoppy aroma fills the room as you pop the cap. Your are teleported into a pine forest. A hazy brown beer that does not impress at first sight, but as you lift the glass, it punches you in the nose. Badass hoppy bitterness combined with full sweet malt. Amazing.

Pridominantly alcohol and some floral aroma. Pours gold with nice head. Lacing stay throughout. This stuff is great. Sweet, hoppy (no shit) and warm with a dark alcohol finish. Like a port. Had it on Randall and it was even more fresh than the bottled version. This is a true hop monster.

On tap at the Blue Dog in Lansdale as part of a DFH tasting. Pours a translucent golden with a small white head that left decent lacing. Aromas is candied sugar, orange and a sweet maltiness. Flavor is sweet, real sweet but I actually like that about this. Alcohol picked up in the flavor. Almost a bit sticky yet nicely balanced. This is an extreme beer and I’lm glad I got a chance to check it out. Thanks to Rob (owner of the Blue Dog) for making sure I got free sample while we wait about an hour for a table at the joint. This thing gives you an instant buzz.

Bottle brewed in 03. Small off-white fizzy head that mostly diminished with minimal lacing, transparent, minimal carbonation, and an orange hue. Nose was malty, caramel, sweet and mildly hoppy. Flavor was sweet, malty, caramel, not overly hoppy, and some subtle bitterness. Tingly palate. Medium body. Will seek out a more current bottle to see how it compares to the 03 as the hops were really subdued from what I was anticipating.