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| From the alehouse website. |
A couple of weeks ago, I (Jeff) was in Gaithersburg, MD, for work. Luckily for me, right around the corner from the hotel I was staying at was a Dogfish Head Alehouse. I was able to go there a couple of times that week to try out some of their beers.
Shelter Pale Ale: This was my least favourite beer. Maybe it was because before this trip, I was used to offerings like the 60min and 90min IPA. This beer had pretty much no flavour. They describe it as their “most approachable beer”. I should have known better that the description was a gussied up version of “bland.”
60 Minute IPA: This is the Dogfish Head beer I’m most familiar with - I’ve even seen on occasion on the LCBO shelves. It’s a good IPA - not too hoppy for those looking to try a brew with more flavour.
90 Minute IPA: The 90 minute was Dogfish Head’s first “continuously hopped” IPA. Supposedly that means it gets a strong hop flavour without it being crushing. Ummm, okay? All I know is that it’s good. But at 9% ABV, you probably don’t want to have too many of these.
Raison D’Etre: I would say most people know Dogfish for their aggresively hopped beers - but they do offer maltier focused beers like this Belgian brown ale. After tasting the beer, you can tell that “raison” could easily be replaced with “raisin”. There is a lot of sweetness and raisin flavour to this beer.
Burton Baton: This is a blended beer made up from an imperial IPA and English style ale. The two beers are blended together in an oak tank. What you end up getting is great citrus from the IPA and this vanilla flavour from the wood. The whole flavour profile is ultra smooth - you would never know it’s 10% ABV. This was one of my top two finds I think.
Aprihop: I’ve had apricot flavoured beers before - like McAuslan’s Apricot Wheat Ale. I like McAuslan’s but you definitely have to be in the mood for apricots. In the Aprihop, Dogfish Head’s description pretty much fits the bill: it’s an IPA with just a hint of apricot. You still get lots of great citrus from the hops, and then you’re surprised with a subtle amount of apricot.
Squall IPA: The server told me this was essentially a 90 Minute IPA that was bottle conditioned and unfiltered. That was enough to pique my interest. This one blew me away. So much hop flavour. This beer makes the 90 Minute IPA taste like dirt - it seriously raises the bar that high. But then again it should: after ordering the beer (which only comes in 750mL bottles), I found out it was $24/bottle. Whoops. That’s okay though, it was worth it to try it once. I had this on a different date from the Burton Baton - this would be the other top beer of the trip.
While the Dogfish Head Alehouse doesn’t brew their beer on site, it’s shipped in (and in fact on one of the trips there they were out of both 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPA), it’s definitely worth a visit. Plus the food there is pretty good too. I remember liking the Border Burger and the crab dip was crazy good (and I don’t care for crab).
Shelter Pale Ale: This was my least favourite beer. Maybe it was because before this trip, I was used to offerings like the 60min and 90min IPA. This beer had pretty much no flavour. They describe it as their “most approachable beer”. I should have known better that the description was a gussied up version of “bland.”
60 Minute IPA: This is the Dogfish Head beer I’m most familiar with - I’ve even seen on occasion on the LCBO shelves. It’s a good IPA - not too hoppy for those looking to try a brew with more flavour.
90 Minute IPA: The 90 minute was Dogfish Head’s first “continuously hopped” IPA. Supposedly that means it gets a strong hop flavour without it being crushing. Ummm, okay? All I know is that it’s good. But at 9% ABV, you probably don’t want to have too many of these.
Raison D’Etre: I would say most people know Dogfish for their aggresively hopped beers - but they do offer maltier focused beers like this Belgian brown ale. After tasting the beer, you can tell that “raison” could easily be replaced with “raisin”. There is a lot of sweetness and raisin flavour to this beer.
Burton Baton: This is a blended beer made up from an imperial IPA and English style ale. The two beers are blended together in an oak tank. What you end up getting is great citrus from the IPA and this vanilla flavour from the wood. The whole flavour profile is ultra smooth - you would never know it’s 10% ABV. This was one of my top two finds I think.
Aprihop: I’ve had apricot flavoured beers before - like McAuslan’s Apricot Wheat Ale. I like McAuslan’s but you definitely have to be in the mood for apricots. In the Aprihop, Dogfish Head’s description pretty much fits the bill: it’s an IPA with just a hint of apricot. You still get lots of great citrus from the hops, and then you’re surprised with a subtle amount of apricot.
Squall IPA: The server told me this was essentially a 90 Minute IPA that was bottle conditioned and unfiltered. That was enough to pique my interest. This one blew me away. So much hop flavour. This beer makes the 90 Minute IPA taste like dirt - it seriously raises the bar that high. But then again it should: after ordering the beer (which only comes in 750mL bottles), I found out it was $24/bottle. Whoops. That’s okay though, it was worth it to try it once. I had this on a different date from the Burton Baton - this would be the other top beer of the trip.
While the Dogfish Head Alehouse doesn’t brew their beer on site, it’s shipped in (and in fact on one of the trips there they were out of both 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPA), it’s definitely worth a visit. Plus the food there is pretty good too. I remember liking the Border Burger and the crab dip was crazy good (and I don’t care for crab).
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