[Cellar Review] Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA (Vintage 2013 - one year later)

Brewed By: Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, Delaware

Purchased: 12oz bottle bought at ??? in IL; 2013 (bottled on date: 02/??/13)

Style/ABV: Imperial IPA/American Strong Ale, 15.0% ~ 20.0% 
Reported IBUs: 120

It's been a little over exactly one year since I reviewed the 2013 batch of 120 Minute IPA. It seems like we are due for an update. About Dogfish Head:

Dogfish Head is a craft brewery based out of Milton, Delaware. The brewery was founded by Sam Calagione back in 1995. The brewery began as a brewpub (the first in Delaware) called Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats, and was originally located in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The initial brewing setup included three kegs and propane burners. They brewed 12-gallon batches of beer three times a day, five days a week. In 1996 the brewery began bottling their beer, and by 1999 they had distribution to around a dozen different states. In 2002 the company outgrew their Rehoboth location, and moved to Milton, Delaware. More info can be found HERE. You can also check out the brewery's Facebook page, Instagram, Twitter, or Google Page. 

I'm not going to introduce the 120...if you care that much, check out my original review. I'm not sure if the bottle I'm opening tonight came from West Lakeview Liquors where I bought the bottle I reviewed back in 2013. This may be from a batch brewed slightly later, possibly purchased from Binny's. The bottled on date is smudged, but what is visible is: "Bottled On: 02/??/13." With that said, let's get this beer into a glass and see what's going on.

[Cellar Review] Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA (Vintage 2013)

The appearance is already starting to lighten up a bit, with the beer pouring into a semi-hazy dark orange body. The body has some nice gold tones, with some amber as well. The beer kicks up a finger's worth of amber-tinted head, and the head leaves webs of lacing, followed by glossy alcohol legs. Bright light really reveals the beautiful golden-orange body, but you can see the suspended yeast mucking up the beer in bright light as well. There's nice carbonation and some head retention as well. 

As far as the aroma goes, this has already begun the march towards becoming a full blown Barleywine. Gone are the intense plums and candi sugars. Gone is the boozy apricot and tangerine. I'm getting big pine, toffee, pine sap, maple syrup, marzipan, dark sugars, brown sugar, molasses, and underlying hops. There's still some boozy pine, orange, and lemon on the nose...but this beer is closer to a Barleywine at this point in time than it is a boozy Imperial IPA. It's incredible what one year of aging can do to a beer. 

The taste has held up better than the aroma. While the front end is loaded with pine, pine sap, maple syrup, marzipan, and huge brown sugars, the mids hit you with boozy apricot and guava, orange and tangerine sweetness, sugary Pine-Sol, and boozy raspberries that are inherent to DFH's high gravity lineup. I'm getting a lot of dense, boozy sweetness, with huge raspberries, candied citrus, fruity plums, and big fruity alcohol. The beer has cakey malt sweetness, and there's still some enamel-crushing hop kick. This tastes like it could easily mellow out for another year or two. The finish also cleans up relatively dry, all things considered. 

After a year, this is still full-bodied, dense, and over-the-top. This beer is insanely sweet, and it's boozy. At around 15%-20%, you'd expect that. The beer has a good mouthfeel with lots of carbonation, hop kick, booze, sugar, and a surprisingly dry and slightly bitter finish. The 120 IBUs are hardly noticeable on the huge malty backdrop, but you do pick up some alcohol. Palate depth and duration are outstanding, and complexity is very high as well. While the aroma of this vintage has turned into a Barleywine, the beer still tastes like a mix of an American Barleywine and a super high gravity, overly hoppy IPA. Up front: cakey malts, pine sap, maple syrup, brown sugar, marzipan, big sweetness; the mids roll into huge guava, tangerine, boozy sugars, fusel alcohol, fruity sweetness, Pine-Sol, plums, and boozy raspberries; the back end features trailing raspberries, alcohol, hops, and fade to sticky/dry.

Rating: Divine Brew

This is still an epic sipper, probably a Light Divine Brew. There is nothing else quite like this beer...and it really deserves your attention over an hour or so. It's a sipper, and it's also a great Winter Warmer. It's in that realm of Scotch or Port Wine. This is aging wonderfully, and has a long way to go. Right now I feel like this could easily age for two or three more years. I'll probably pull a bottle in two or three, and then again in five. I also have a bottle of Fort going, which I hope to dig out for a very special occasion. 

Random Thought: I've been seeing the 120 on shelves a lot more these days. Given that fact, definitely think about picking up a few bottles. Try this one fresh, and let it age. It's a fun one, and one of DFH's more interesting releases. 

New Glarus Thumbprint Series Dubbel

Brewed By: New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, Wisconsin

Purchased: 12oz bottle from a 4-pack bought at Woodman's in Kenosha, WI; 2014 

Style/ABV: Belgian Dubbel, 7.6% 

Reported IBUs: ?

Wrapping up with my lastest trip to Wisconsin...about New Glarus:

New Glarus is the rare, gorgeous "Midwest" brewery, founded in 1993 by Deborah Carey, the first woman to found and operate a brewery in the United States. She raised the capital for the start-up as a gift to her husband, Dan Carey, who is New Glarus' brewmaster and co-owner. Dan Carey has a long history working in the brewing industry, including an apprenticeship at a brewery near Munich, Germany and a job as the Production Supervisor for Anheuser-Busch. The brewery began as an abandoned warehouse using old brewpub equipment. In 1997, Dan Carey purchased coper kettles from a brewery in Germany. In May 2006, New Glarus opened their new (current) facility on a hilltop in the village of New Glarus. The facility looks like a Bavarian village, and is gorgeous. The expansion has allowed the brewery to continue to increase their production, and expand their operations. For more information, check out their brewery page or Wikipedia. 

The Thumbprint Series Dubbel is part of New Glarus' Thumbprint Series, and is brewed using the traditional Belgium brewing methods that include a long kettle boil, and fermentation with Belgian Candi Sugar. This one is described as having a "cordial of caramel and spiced fruit notes." 

New Glarus Thumbprint Series Dubbel

This one pours the part...that is, with a hazy, reddish body, and two or three fingers of dense, bready, red/orange-tinted head. It looks very much like a Belgian Ale/Dubbel. Bright light confirms the hazy, reddish-orange body. There is a lot of peppery carbonation rising upwards, and the beer is effervescent with good head retention and lacing. 

The aroma isn't bad either. There's a nice chalky/dusty character on the aroma which reminds me of Chimay...I'm getting some earthy leather, oak (was this oak-aged???), light medicinal funk, and some nice hoppy notes. As you dig into the aroma more you get big dark fruits, including figs, grapes, plums, and a sherry/wine note. There is light perfume and candi sugar on the nose as well. 

The taste here isn't quite as prolific as the aroma...unfortunately. I'm getting lots of earthy funk, leather, oak, faint and nondescript hops, and very mild dark fruit character. There is a lot of carbonation, with some hints of perfume, candi sugar, and light Belgian funk. There is an earthy charred/leather note in here, and I'm really digging that. To me, it points this beer in the direction of grilled and barbecued food pairings.

This is a medium-bodied and well-carbonated beer. It's a bit airy, and it's way too drinkable at 7.6% or whatever it clocks in at. It has average palate depth and duration for the style, and also average complexity. This one leans towards dry...and not very sweet. Both of those things ultimately end up defining this beer within the typical Dubbel guidelines. I actually like this a lot, even if it's an average offering within the style. Up front: earthy leather, char, hints of oak, grains, airy and papery hops; the mids hit some Belgian funk, and throw in some caramel and dark fruits, suggestive Belgian yeast, light spice/perfume; the back end is trailing spice/perfume, bready, clean, dry finish. 

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Average on this. Again, those earthy leather/char notes would really compliment grilled or smoked meats. New Glarus suggests pairing this with smoked ham or grilled aged steak, and I would tend to agree with those suggested pairings. For my money, this is a good Dubbel, but kind of also par the course. I would feel right at home sipping on one of these in the Winter, but I probably would not go out of my way to seek this out unless I lived in Wisconsin. Then again, if they brew this again next year, I'll probably pick it up. 

Random Thought: I <3 New Glarus

Goose Island Proprietor's Bourbon County Stout (2013)

Brewed By: Goose Island Beer Company in Chicago, Illinois

Purchased: 22oz bottle from the Sheridan 'L' Longue in Chicago, IL; 2014 (bottled on 11/19/13, #1235)

Style/ABV: Barrel-Aged American Stout, 14.1% 

Reported IBUs: 60

Something, something, slaying whales, chasing beer, blah blah blah. I'm just curious to see how this one stacks up to other piles of shit like the Toasty Nut Abduction and my French Pressed/Randall'd experiments. About Goose Island:

Goose Island is a Chicago-based brewery that began as a brewpub on Clybourn, which opened on May 1988. The actual brewery opened on 1995, and is located on the Southwest side of Chicago. The second brewpub, located in Wrigleyville by the Chicago Cubs, was opened in 1999. On March 28, 2011, Goose Island sold 58% of the brewery to Anheuser-Busch. The remaining 42% of the brewery is supposed to be acquired by A-B InBev in the future, and there has been much discussion about the brewery's takeover. On November 16th, founder and CEO, John Hall, announced he would be leaving Goose Island. On January 1st, 2013, Anheuser-Busch "veteran" Andy Goeler will take over Goose Island. Additionally, around the same time as John Hall's departure, resident barrel-program leader John Laffler also announced his departure from Goose Island. There have been many changes regarding Goose Island...so we will see what the future has in store for Goose Island. 

The Proprietor's BCS was a Chicago-only release, and one-off brew. This one is brewed with the same Bourbon County base as all the Bourbon County variants (2-Row, Munich, Chocolate, Caramel, Roast Barley, and Debittered Black malts; Willamette hops), and punches in at 14.1% and 60 IBUs. Unlike regular Bourbon County, this one was aged in Rye Whiskey Barrels with toasted coconut that the brewery toasted themselves. 

Proprietor's Bourbon County Stout (2013)

This one pours like your typical Bourbon County: inky black, sticky, opaque, and with a finger of fleeting, dark brown head. The head can't exit any quicker, and you are left with glossy alcohol legs and thick, inky black beer. Unique to the Proprietor's are the white chunks of residual toasted coconut just floating around on the surface of the beer. 

Wow...the aroma reminds me EXACTLY of my own experience french pressing toasted coconut into regular Bourbon County Stout. That makes me really happy, to be honest. The nose is super sweet, with lots of sugars, coconut, and bourbon. Unique to this beer (and different from regular Bourbon County) is the rye barrel. The aroma here is definitely a departure in that regard, with hints of subtle wood, rye, and rye spice. I'm getting big bourbon on the nose, vanilla sweetness, coconut, chocolate, coconut cake, and Almond Joys. It's a remarkably sweet and simple aroma, maybe even less subtle and complex than the standalone base beer.

Oh man...wow. So the taste. How to describe this... This tastes like someone took an Almond Joy, melted it down, and made it boozy. Wow, wow, wow. I am very surprised, because like I said, I have messed with toasted coconut and Bourbon County on several occasions. This is much better. I mean, it should be. I'm getting huge liquid Almond Joys, velvety chocolate that coats the entire tongue/mouth, toasted coconut, brownies, vanilla, macaroons, and bourbon heat. The rye character shows up as complimentary to the Almond Joy, with big wood, rye, and almonds. There's also a lot of Bourbon in here. I'm getting Bourbon heat, barrel, raisin sweetness, brown sugar, chocolate/brownie, and some fusel coconut rum notes. 

This is a huge, sweet beer. This has a full-bodied mouthfeel, and the duration and palate depth are both huge. You feel the weight of 14.1%, both in terms of the alcohol warming and the bourbon heat. This is a certified sipper, or beer to be shared, as it should be. The coconut really ratchets up the sweetness in the base beer. Bourbon County is already sweet, so adding things like coconut or vanilla are only going to increase the sweetness. Having said that, the sweetness here isn't overbearing in any way. The beer cleans up nicely, and the huge rye bourbon balances everything out. It's not as complex as the base beer (IMO), but for a barrel-aged coconut stout, this is hitting all the notes I want. Up front is a huge tongue-coating cumshot of chocolate, coconut, brownies, brown sugar, liquid Almond Joys, bourbon, and raisin sweetness; the mids dial up the coconut, chocolate, brownies, brown sugar sweetness, coconut cake, and huge tongue-slapping sugars; the back end hits you with rye, almonds, barrel, Bourbon heat and some fusel alcohol, lingering coconut....the finish is huge and boozy, with tons of heat. Damn. 

Rating: Divine Brew (4.5/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Strong Divine Brew on this. This is a treat. It really is. And there are no food pairings here...this is not a beer to pair with food. Drink it by itself, in a snifter, and enjoy it. Or Randall it with some Wendy's, whatever. 

Seriously though, I don't know how to rate this beer. It's a one-off brew, and what makes this beer special, IN MY OPINION, isn't even the addition of the toasted coconut. To me, what makes this beer pop is the Rye Whiskey. Any asshole can toast some coconut and add it to a beer. Seriously, I've done it many times. It's not hard to do, and it's not worth $60 a bottle or some crazy trade.

But the Rye Whiskey really adds nuance to this beer...contributing some rye character and rye spice that seems to play up the almond and macaroon note, and adds to the liquid Almond Joy character. And that's the magic, I think. 

I like this a lot...but it's very sweet, and it's not as complex as the base beer. It just isn't. The sweetness really take something away from regular Bourbon County Stout, which is a brilliant beer that balances the bourbon, barrel, chocolate/brownie, dark fruits, sugars, coconut, and coffee characters. My favorite Bourbon County variant is still the Bourbon County Coffee Stout, and that beer might also be slightly better than the regular Bourbon County Stout. 

Having said all that...the Proprietor's isn't getting any younger, and the coconut is probably going to be the first thing to drop off. I'm happy to report that after 6 months this beer still tastes like liquid Almond Joys and still has a ton of coconut character. It's good. But you probably want to drink this beer sooner than later. I see this beer's trade value declining QUICKLY with time, and even now, you can get a very similar experience to the Proprietor's by French Pressing/Randalling in some coconut to your regular Bourbon County Stout. If you have some Bourbon County laying around, definitely consider adding some toasted coconut. If you can snag a bottle of the Proprietor's for a reasonable trade/price...do it...but do it sooner than later.

Random Thought: All things considered, the Pipeworks Toasty Nut Abduction's coconut character compares very favorably to the Proprietor's, BUT the Toasty Nut Abduction was not barrel-aged, so it's not really a fair comparison.