Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

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

Bottle. Pours deep amber coloured with a nice lasting and lacing off white head. Aromas of floral hops, syrup, orange fruit, malty, alcohol and caramel. Sweet and bitter-burning flavour with notes of chewy caramel, candy sugar and a grapefruit-like hoppy finish.. Powerfull stuff..

Thanks to Pete for sharing his bottle with me. Pours a deep golden with tiny sediment and a small white head. Aroma is very boozy, near nail polish. However, there are some underlying caramel malty notes, and a citric hoppiness, some mango fruits. Flavor starts with a strong fruit character, nectarine, mango, tangerine, picks up some honey (suckle?). Gets more of the caramel and candy malt towards the finish before more booziness kicks in. Medium boddy and a soft carbonation. Not quite balanced like the others 60 and 90 but still an interesting beer.

Wow this is a manly beer. Pours a mildly thick orangish-brown, with a very small white head. The aroma is of grapefruit, some other fruit, but is totally dominated by alcohol. The taste is very things get crazy. The flavor is a bit complex, it drinks thick, but your hit with oranges, grapefuits, pine, and then the alcohol hits you. I actually felt a bit of burn on the way down. All in all this was a nice beer, not what I expected, but it is a nice treat every once in a while. Hats off to Dogfish Head for coming up with this different beer.

I am not normally an IPA fan, but this was so highly rated I had to try. It is flavorful, yet not bitter. The hops are pronounced and had a pleasant aftertaste, but it didn’t linger too long.

Bottled 1st May 2009. Nice dark amber, good head dying away slowly. Expecting hop aroma but got rich fruity barley-sugar on nose and palate. Complex though and not simple candy-sugar. Strong and only just ready, but no green taste at all. Trying to place the overall complex impression, it reminds me of some English stock ales I tasted in the ’70s e.g., Gale’s "Prize Old Ale" drunk young. Ageing for a decade? Who knows, I used to store old ales for a decade and 8 out of 10 eventually tasted of gravy..if you buy it to store buy at least enough to sample every 2 years, you might catch it at its peak.

bottle@beerbistro Incredibly strong candied fruit malty aroma. Also strong alcohol smell but not quite astringent. Hazy orangey colour. Moderate head is slightly off white. Very spicy and sweet up front with a moderate-to-thick mouthfeel. Taste of alcohol but not too boozy. Lots of malty flavours, but no overpowering hops. Aftertaste leaves sugars on the tongue. On the whole it is insanely complex. The taste, aroma and complexities of the beer evolve as it warms to room temparature.

Ok, so I took the advice from Dogfish themselves, and shelved this one for over a year (I’ve got some stored that have been shelved for 3+ years), and all I can say is WOW! (Not sure if the brewer changed the ABV from 21% to 18%, or just RateBeer, but this one was before the ABV changeover.) It pours a murky orange-brown, with a thin head that leaves trace soapy lace down the glass (impressive for @20% ABV). The nose is immaculate, with tons of dark fruits, huge amounts of toffee, caramel, alcohol (almost isopropyl in nature.... obviously NOT in the brew), and just a hint of burnt malt. The flavors are so complex, more reminiscent of an American take on the English Barleywine than a Double IPA. Lots of caramel and toffee, mixed with an abounding cherry essence and melony citrus. Also noted are figs, multiple chocolate essence, molasses and dark fruit esters. The finish closes on the tannin aspect of the dark vinous fruit, a mouthful of balancing hops (rested very well and controlled via the aging process), and a hefty touch of superbly-integrated alcohol. This is surprisingly drinkable for such a large ABV. The mouthfeel is rich and sweet, with a highly complex palate... albeit a smooth, oily texture to make for a nice pull. Excellent brew, and VERY tasty! Love it!

Bottled May 09. Well there is talk of hops in this beer but I taste liquid candy. Like an after dinner drink. The booze is well hidden but there is no hop bite, no bitterness at all. Not my deal, wife loved it....lush.