Dogfish Head 90 Minute Imperial IPA

Brewed by Dogfish Head Brewery
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Milton, Delaware USA

Bottle. A nice dark coppery red and a thin white head. Aroma is rich with resin, dark honey and plum. Rich caramel malty flavor is overlaid by citrusy, piney hops and finishes into a pleasant piney bitterness. Smooth and finely carbonated. Really more like a barleywine than an IIPA, given the high ABV, but it’s exquisitely balanced and packed to the brim with wonderful flavor. It’s a classic for a reason.

Bottle. Pours a clear golden with a thick, fluffy off-white head. Nice lacing. Strong, sweet and spicy hop aroma with malt. As it warms, it becomes more heavy on the sweet malts; cloying. Flavour is malts with a candy-like sweetness. Hops roaming around somewhere in the background, but not very outspoken. Has some similarities with a Belgian strong ale; a blend of alcohol, brandy and plums. But the sweet malts reminds me more of a overly sweet brown ale. Finish is grassy, and quite sweet and malty. Cloying. Develops some liquorice notes as it warms. Faint spicy notes lingering. Not very bitter; a medium bitterness lingering. Soft palate. Interesting, but too cloying for the style and could do with more hops. 03-06-09.

Pours a surprisngly clear rich copper color, with a thick, pillowy white head, with OK lacing, but nothing special. Aroma is all N American hops, with the classic grapefruitiness of Cascade, add to that pine resin, spruce boughs, crystal malt, and fresh cedar. Palate starts surprisngly sweet, then ends up quite sour in the finish, which is a sensation I thoroughly enjoy. Pine, grapefruit, malt, lemon, apples, with surprisingly restrained hops, although you get all of the character. No booziness or alcohol, very, very well done. My favorite example of my favorite style.

Pours a beautiful copper orange color with a thick creamy white head. Beautiful aroma of pine, flowers and tropical fruits. Flavor is surprisingly sweet up front, with citrus and honey notes. But plenty of grassy, pine and grapefruit hops grab your tongue and don’t let you forget this is a big IPA. Mouthfeel is medium and very smooth, but just slightly sticky. Even at 9% ABV, the alcohol is almost unnoticeable. Even if you took away much of the hops, this could stand alone as a good beer. Add the big hops, and it’s a great one.

On draft at Sugar Maple. Pours amber-orange with bright white, two-finger head that fades to a film. Aroma of pineapple, pine, some floral notes. I could sit and smell this for quite some time. Flavor is sweet and stick upfront and very resinous. There is a small amount of citrus and also a little malt in the background. Finishes fairly dry with a considerable dose of hop bitterness and alcoholic. More alcoholic tasting than I remember, but still one of the best overall DIPAs around.

Can’t believe I haven’t rated this yet, so here goes. Pours a nice amber orange with thick white head. Very pleasant citrus hop aroma, pine, grass, and a decent balance of malts. Flavor is not what I was expecting, but in a good way. A lot of DIPAs have a similar flavor, this one does not. This is a readily available (for me), very solid DIPA that is a change from the norm. Awesome job DFH.

On Cask... golden amber color, great citrus and hop aroma... I have had it in a bottle and on tap but on Cask was the best by far... very smooth hop flavor well balanced with citrus and sweets...

On tap. Golden to amber in color with. Great aroma of citrusy hops and some malts. Very crisp . Pleasant hops flavored well balanced by sweetness of malt. Complex, well balanced, perfect beer.