Name: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery
Location: Milton, Delaware
Type: Production brewery (though there is a Dogfish brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware)
Available in DC Market?: Yes
What you need to know: What do you need to know? Well, you probably know quite a bit. Sam Calagione is a rock star in the craft beer world. Dogfish Head is the gateway craft beer for a ton of new industry devotees. Hell, they even had their own TV show. Don’t be surprised to see Dogfish Head branded lunchboxes in your kid’s elementary school someday soon. But seriously, Dogfish is the 11th largest craft brewery, and they still continue to push the envelope in a number of ways. Whether it’s making chicha (mmm, salivary amylase) or beers based off of jazz legends, you can be sure Dogfish is always going to give you something new and different in addition to their line-up of IPAs that are (famously) continuously hopped for different lengths of time.
Beer #1: Hellhound On My Ale
Notes: The second in a series of collaborations with Sony honoring music legends, Hellhound honors blues legend Robert Johnson. A “100” motif runs through this “super-hoppy ale.” For example, it hits 100 IBUs in the brew house, is dry-hopped with 100% centennial hops at a rate of 100 kilograms per 100 barrels. Not too many reviews of this beer out there, so I’m guessing Sam and Co. will more or less be testing this at SAVOR the same way they did with Bitches Brew last year. If you’re a hophead, come on out and try this beer. The profile should be super-citrusy, and that will be accentuated by the lemon flesh and zest that were added in the whirlpool.
BeerAdvocate Grade: A (1 lonely sad review)
Ratebeer Grade: N/A (requires more ratings)
Beer #2: Namaste
Notes: This is one of the highest ranked witbiers on BeerAdvocate (#8). A perfect summer beer, it takes the lightness of the style and adds some zing with dried orange slices, coriander, and lemongrass. It manages to pack a ton of flavor in just 5% ABV. If you need a little respite from the high-gravity tastebud pummelers that will be all over at SAVOR, saunter over to the Dogfish booth, get a little taste of the Hellhound, and then cleanse your palette with this gem of a wit.
BeerAdvocate Grade: A- (182 reviews)
Ratebeer Grade: 95 overall, 100 style
Summary: At some point, we’ll do a post on the SAVOR Flowers collaboration between Dogfish and Sam Adams. Details haven’t been officially released yet, so I don’t have them to give to you. Still, even without SAVOR Flowers for the moment, these two beers are a great bring from the craft beer titan from Delaware. Personally I wish they had brought a beer that they were going to run through a Randall, but hey, between Hellhound and Namaste, I’ll get over that really quickly.
This profile is a part of the DCBEER.COM SAVOR Brewery Profile series. For more information, follow the link to see profiles of all 2011 SAVOR participants.
Beer Review Disclaimer: The beer reviews found on Beer Advocate and Rate Beer do not represent the opinions of this site. We provide these in the hope that they will serve as a resource showing what some craft beer fans have thought of the beers. These reviews can be a helpful guideline, but are not the be-all end-all about a beer’s strengths or weaknesses.
