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So I heard a rumor that a few Dogfish Head brews had found their way out west.  I drove by the ol’ beer store on my way home from work to see what I could see and came away with a bit of a haul, including a 4-pack of the DFH 90 Minute IIPA.  I was really looking forward to my first exposure to this Delaware brewery I’d heard so much about.  How did I like it?

The pour is a beautiful crystal clear rust orange color with a nice fluffy off-white head up top.  Once again, the photo does not do the head justice.  I poured right out of the refrigerator like a dork….AGAIN!  After letting it sit and warm slightly, I swirled the beer around my glass a bit and it built up very nicely.

The scents are quite complex.  At 9% I was not surprised to smell alcohol.  Also in there are flowery/pine sap hops and sweet malt scents.

The flavor is what surprised me.  This beer is not near as bitter as I was expecting.  I’d say this beer actually leans pretty hard on the caramel malts.  They are quite sticky and very, very sweet.  It’s like a fruit syrup smoothy in my glass, with piny hops entering in towards the finish.  I think they wanted complexity.  I’d say they achieved their mission.

The mouth feel is a solid medium - possibly favoring a fuller mouth feel than most IPA’s I’ve tasted.  There’s a lot more malt in here than I was expecting.  There must be about an acre of barley in this sucker to get 9% AND keep it this sweet and full.  Carbonation is perfect.

Overall, I’m betting the brewer is quite happy with this.  I’ve heard very good things about this brewery, and I have no reason to doubt the quality of the products they offer after tasting this beer.  To be honest, it is not quite “my thing”.  It’s too sweet for me, and I like my beers a bit smaller to be honest.  I top out right around 7.5%.  As they get bigger, the alcohol flavor starts to creep in a bit, and I’m just not an alcohol flavor fan.  It isn’t horribly pronounced, but I do detect some alcohol burn on the finish.  That said, I can tell quality even if I can’t totally appreciate it, and this beer is packed with it.  It just won’t be for everybody.  It does make me anxious to find that 60 Minute IPA of theirs!

Enjoy your beer,

Brew Brain