Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Milton, Delaware USA

Pours golden orange with a small white head that leaves some lacing. Nose is quite woody which isn’t at all what I expected, also some overripe fruit. No real robust citrus/pine that I wouldve expected...makes me wonder how old this bottle is. Palate is much the same, some caramel toffee malt with subtle fruit & wood. Finishes quite short with very lttle hop bitterness or at least much less than I expected. Also a bit sticky. Not at all what I expected here & either was an old bottle or just my expectations were way off...Certainly not bad but not even close to exciting.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: one of the greatest small pleasures as a beer critic is knowing a beer is absolutely fantastic on the first swig alone. From the first sip to the last drop, I knew Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA was a beer I loved and I think most other drinkers out there would too. It’s just that good.

POUR, COLOR AND AROMA

This beer pours smoothly to a beautiful, clear shade of amber. There is some carbonation evident and it produces a perfectly-proportioned, white, foamy head which leaves gorgeous lacing on the glass. The aroma is equally impressive with a potent scent of grapefruit and a little pine. I could tell this was going to be a tasty and bitter beer just from the nose alone.

TASTE

I don’t have a checklist of things I look for in an IPA or even in a beer in general, but if I did I’d have to say Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA would meet all the requirements and then some. From the first taste I get a strong citrus taste with a bitter hop bite. It’s so good it makes me cluck my tongue just to savor it all.

Now, plenty of beers are strongly-flavored, but that doesn’t necessarily make them good. Thankfully, in the case of this beer it’s not only strongly-flavored but absolutely delicious as well. It’s a crisp, tart and refreshing as an ice-cold glass of freshly-squeeze lemonade on a hot summer’s day. But this is no seasonal, it’s a beer that really has a timeless, year-round value.

FINISH

Although this beer definitely has a bitter hop bite as it finishes, it is not a difficult beer to drink by any means. The mouthfeel is intense and the flavor is so tasty it’s one of the few instances that such a mouthfeel actually improves the beer. It finishes rather smooth and does leave a bitter aftertaste. However, since Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA is so tasty to begin with, it’s an aftertaste you can savor.

BODY

I’m not sure where I draw the line between light, medium and full-bodied beer. This beer is 6% ABV which may sound a little heavy but it definitely does drink like such. With a high drinkability and delectable palate, Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA lends itself to drinking in large quantities. Lightweight drinkers might find it to be a bit more than they bargained for, but even a moderate craft beer drinker would have no problem handling a few bottles in succession.

FINAL THOUGHTS

When people ask me why I like India Pale Ales so much I would tell them just to try Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA and they’ll be able to figure it out easily. You really don’t have to be a beer connoisseur or a hophead to love, let alone like, this beer. It’s luscious, easy to drink and has a real body – that’s what I call a perfect beer.

NOTE: Watch the video version of this review at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikustz-yJ0E