Dogfish Head 90min IPA
We’ve been spoiled a bit on the BeerCast recently when we cast our minds to the subject of Imperial IPA’s. Those intensely hopped, low malt pale ales that originated in the USA are a favourite here (and a favourite of many other beer lovers on both sides of the pond). Over the past few months we’ve sampled Stone’s Ruination IPA, Great Divide’s Titan IPA, not to mention a pair from BrewDog – Atlantic IPA and Hardcore IPA. Well, now we managed to get our grubby little hands on one of the undoubted champions of the category – Dogfish Head’s 90 Minute Imperial IPA (9%).
Consistently ranked at or near the top of online beer polls, the Delaware craft brewery push a single, persistent ninety-minute hop addition into this beautifully hazy amber beer – they have other versions hopped for different lengths of time. We’re well aware that Dogfish Head are one of the most commonly-quoted and reviewed US craft brewers, it’s just that it can be so hard to track down their products in the UK – when you manage to get hold of a bottle, it needs to be savoured.
And savour is the word; every drop of this stuff is precious. It pours a hazy caramel colour with a menacing hue – the aroma is astonishing, massive hops, warming alcohol tingles the nose. The mouthfeel is also very warming, which disproves my theory about dark spicy beers working best in the chillier months. You need to chew your way through it, but it’s absolutely worth it. At the beginning it won’t affect your tastebuds the way a 9% beer should – later on though, they surrender and it really drinks to its par, coupled with a fantastic rising bitterness on the aftertaste. Simply one of the greatest beers in the world.
