Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

Posted on 07.03.08 9:19PM under Alcohol, Hops, IPA, Tasting

DFH 120Back when I first started getting really deep into this beer thing last year, I picked up along the way some Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. I drank it immediately, and I recall being completely overwhelmed to the point of not enjoying the beer. It’s not fun to spend $7 for one 12-ounce bottle of beer and end up feeling disappointed.

I saw some of this in the beer store the other day, picking up some cookout beer in town for the 4th. For some reason, I felt like now was the time to give this beer a second shot. Time to see if I was ready. Time to find out if my tastes have developed and evolved to a place where I can appreciate and even enjoy this living legend of a beer.

So here it goes. Here are my notes on the Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA.

 This beer smells very boozy and a bit sweet with an herbal overtone. In a way it almost smells somehow more hoppy than hops themselves. The alcohol aroma is almost runny, as if the beer is alive with potency.

Inspecting the glass, I see a translucent glowing orange broth with a tiny head that leaves a bit of fleeting lacing around the glass as you go.

This is one intimidating beer. And I’ve had a lot of beer. And I’ve had a lot of very big beer. But this one makes me get a funny look on my face as I take another whiff, analyze it, and wonder if I really want to try this beer. Can I handle it? Am I ready yet? But the bottle is open, it’s now or never, and I’m not dumping this one. Getting up my courage I take a sip.

The flavor is hops. Hop bitterness to be specific. It’s really hoppy to the extent of almost grassiness. There’s also an abundance of sweetness, which might be expected from a beer this big. A hearty alcohol burn reminds you this ain’t no Lite beer. Wow.

Halfway through the first half of the beer, I guess that’s about three ounces into it, I got acclimated to the overall perspective of this beer. It was then, at a warmer temperature, that it struck me as a wonderful yet strange blend of IPA and Scotch. And it was then that I really felt like I understood the beer, and craved a fridge full of the stuff.

The tiny amount of carbonation never overwhelms, but it continues to impress with its endurance. Like a bunch of clocks drooping all over a psychedelic desert scene, a thin but easily noticeable ring of bubbles persists to the end.

Entering into the second half of the bottle, with a fresh six-ounce pour into the snifter, out of the bottle cold from the fridge, the Scotch-like attributes are lessened. But the overall experience is still something that I am loving every sip of. I want to go cut up some sharp cheddar to test a pairing, but I just can’t seem to tear myself away from the keyboard and the glass.

DFH 120 - AfterGetting eventually to the bottom of the bottle, there’s a thick layer of sediment, which is unusual for DFH. Normally their beers are filtered clean as a new copper penny. But yet I think it makes perfect sense for a beer of this magnitude.

A lot of beers have a lot of paragraphs written about them. Many are much simpler than that. This is not one of those beers. This beer warrants a lot of exploration and description and discussion. This beer is more than a bottle of suds. This beer is pushing the envelope, whatever that means.

Let’s just say this beer isn’t for everyone. But if you love extreme beer, you have to at least try this. It isn’t the highest alcohol content. And it may not be the most IBU. It isn’t the most expensive. But yet it remains extreme, in every beery sense of the word. Think of it as a triple-double as opposed to scoring 45 points in one game. This thing is all-around extreme.

Suffice it to say that I am going to get more of this soon. I know Ed Cramer has some more at Gordon’s in New London. So once I finally make it over there to restock on the Maharaja, I will also pick up a bunch of the 120.

At 20+% ABV, one bottle of this is like four beers in one. A four-beer beer is not an everyday drinker. It is a hard core sipper. It is a perfect special occasion beer. Even if the occasion is simply “Friday” or “got paid today” or “Birthday” or “wedding” or “feel like it”. For those times when you really want to pamper yourself and treat yourself to one of the finest beers on the market today, this is a must-have not only in your beer fridge, but also in your beer cellar.

Read Comments

  1. Posted by phlyingpenguin on 07.13.08 9:47 pm

    After having this beer just a few hours ago, I have to say that I was frightened of it. The amount of hops and the alcohol content made me wonder if it was going to be a Double Bastard. I’ve survived many big beers, but I’m truly NOT worthy of that beer.

    Having the other DFH IPAs, I felt sure that it was going to be good. My experience was a very hearty hop bitterness with a very nice orange tasting sweetness afterward. After every sip, I could feel and taste the alcohol pouring out of my breath. Wonderful stuff.

    A side note, this was a bottle I picked up two months after getting a bottle and stashing it away. Hopefully I’ll have forgotten about that one well enough to let it “age well” as they suggest. On this recent bottle, the cashier thought that the $7.99 price tag on a single wasn’t right so he knocked it down to $1.00. Sometimes you just get lucky!

  2. Posted by Keith Brainard on 07.14.08 6:11 am

    Go back to that store and buy out their stock of 120 at $1 a piece!!

    I bet you could sneak it into a mix-a-six that some of those stores do and get a terrific deal on it. Imagine that, a mixed six with 2 120-Minute IPA, 2 World Wide Stouts, and 2 Raison D-Extra! For ten bucks!

  3. Posted by Brainard Brewing » Blog Archive » DFH 120 Revisited on 09.05.08 7:58 pm

    [...] A little while back, I wrote about Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA. [...]

  4. Posted by Heidi on 11.14.08 11:58 pm

    I am from northern california and looking to get any of the dogfish head I can get!! I have a couple places here to get the 90 minute IPA and other general ones carried by BevMo and Total Wine… I am looking for someone who wants to do an “exchange” for beers from northern california for beers from Dogfish Head, especially the 120 minute IPA and the World Wide Stout

    Right now I have three of Stone Brewery Cali-Belgique IPA the 22 oz bottles to exchange with someone else

    Thanks so much!!

    Heidi

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