Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA Beer Review

Well now, a beer review for a beer that's as polarizing as it is fearsome. Ladies and Gentlemen, may I present to you for your beer geek pleasure, the 120 minute IPA from Dogfish Head Brewery. Buckle up, things might get crazy. I yanked this behemoth of a beer out of my cellar and decided to give it a review since this beer is pretty raw when fresh. I'm hoping that time has managed to sooth a little bit of this savage beast. The beer could broadly be called an Imperial IPA (in fact, the label bills it as the imperial IPA). To call it as such, though, is to emasculate all others in this style. The 120 min IPA exists in a realm all its own, for this particular beer clocks in somewhere in the neighborhood of 18% abv. Holy intoxication, Batman! When this beer was first brewed it was ratcheted up to about 21% abv and was for a time the strongest beer on Earth. While it has since been eclipsed, it is still extremely impressive because, as Dogfish Head founder Sam Calagione is quick to point out, this beer still seems like a beer. Other beers that are stronger than this have no carbonation and are often meant to be enjoyed like a scotch or cognac, at room temperature in small quantities from a snifter. Sam Adam's Utopias at 27% abv is a prime example of this. The beers that have pushed the envelope further than this aren't even purely brewed; they are brewed into double digits and then undergo a process called freeze distillation in which freezing temperatures cause water in the beer to separate from the alcohol. When this happens, the water is filtered away leaving behind a concentrated essence of the beer not dissimilar to hard liquor. But Dogfish Head's 120 min IPA is purely brewed and definitely still looks like a beer - Carbonated, in a 12oz bottle, meant to be drunk cool, and not completely astronomical in price. A 750ml resealable bottle of Sam Adams Utopias retails in the ballpark of $150 whereas Dogfish Head (henceforth abbreviated DFH) prices their ultra strong 120 min IPA around $10 per 12oz bottle. Still pricey to be sure, but nowhere near the highway robbery going on over at Sam Adams.

Dogfish Head Brewery was originally founded in 1995 in Reheboth Beach, DE as a brewpub (a restaurant that brews the beer they serve on premise). They still operate the brewpub but a few years after opening the founder, Sam Calagione, opened a full-scale production brewery in nearby Milton, DE. While beer for the restaurant and many of their experimental batches are still made in Reheboth Beach, most of the beer they make comes out of Milton. With the off-centered Sam Calagione at its helm, DFH has evolved into one of the largest and best known craft breweries in the U.S. by continually pushing the envelope with many of their beers. They are constantly exploring new techniques, resurrecting extinct historical styles, and employing stranger-than-fiction ingredients. This unpredictability combined with a dedication to perfection has built them a loyal following among many beer enthusiasts, although some are put off by their off-the-wall approach. They produce a variety of extremely strong beers and 120 min IPA is among the best known. To brew a beer up to 18% abv is very difficult. Most yeast won't survive the fermentation as the rising alcohol will actually kill the yeast, thereby ceasing fermentation, around 10-12% with most yeasts. The trick to making beers this strong is to use a particularly hearty yeast that can survive higher alcohol environments and then carefully monitoring the brewing process. Once the yeast begins to max out, brewers must dump the beer with lots of sugar to re-invigorate the yeast and push the fermentation onward. Consequently, all super high alcohol beers are going to be pretty sweet. DFH balances this high level of sweetness by deploying the most insane hopping regimen I've ever heard of. They boil the hops for 120 min (standard is 60, and thus the name of the beer) then they dry hop the beer (adding hops to the finished beer after fermentation to add a boost of hoppy flavor) every day for a month. That's a lot of hops. The impression is still a very sweet beer. The 120 min IPA is one of those extremely rare IPAs that actually improves with age. When young, the flavors are disparate and obnoxiously sweet. As time goes on, the beer dries out a bit and the flavors meld into a more harmonious whole, hopefully. This particular bottle is about 6 months old. Here goes nothing...

A strong pour from the 12oz bottle whose label is adorned with little other than a picture of a hop cone reveals a deep golden, even coppery colored beer in my DFH signature glass. Clarity is very good. A half inch beige head quickly recedes into a sturdy ring. Better carbonated than I remembered and impressive given the beer's strength; carbonation doesn't fare well in high alcohol environments. Appearance: 13/15

The nose is leviathan. I can smell it as it sits on my computer desk two feet away. Immersing my nose beneath the rim of the glass is an assault on my nostrils. Huge, sugary boozy notes are elbowing for attention with massively fruity esters. I smell plum and cherry especially. Also present are unmistakable hop notes - bold, citrusy, and fruity. I even get a big floral bouquet here; this is one complex and gargantuan beer. Nose: 22/25


The beer has in fact dried out from the absurdly sweet monster that it is when fresh. The flavors come in three distinct waves: first, big fruit flavors, more cherry and plum. Maybe a little vanilla there too. Second, hops galore. This is among the most intense beers I've ever had, and I don't scare easily. The hops take the throne as this beer pummels (in a good way) the roof of my mouth. As I swallow, a quick transition into a superbly large smack of sugary alcohol sweetness that cracks the back of my mouth like the devil's whip. I can't adequately describe what its like to taste this beer. Palate: 46/50


The mouthfeel is yet another unfathomable aspect of this beer. Must be tasted to be believed. Very thick, a sugary grit to it, with plenty of carbonation that I think has developed in the bottle as a result of the aging. The carbonation is a good thing here as it rescues the taste buds from the unrelenting madness of this beer. Mouthfeel: 9/10


OVERALL: 90/100


What can I say about this beer that hasn't already been said? I mentioned it was polarizing and boy it is! Some people hate this beer for being boozy, cloying, under-attenuated, and estery beyond all belief. While these are valid criticisms, people like me love this beer for what it represents: a beer and a brewery unafraid to push limits and challenge what our perceptions are. I love this beer because I support Sam Calagione in his efforts as a vocal, passionate, and highly visible advocate for the industry that he has helped to define. DFH, for me, embodies the spirit of adventure that is the lifeblood of our culture and community. I highly recommend this beer to anyone who thinks of themselves as a bit "off-centered," because this is an ale for you. Cheers!

Style Overview - Hefeweizen

A big part of me really wanted to do a beer review tonight but I'm recovering from a sore throat and stuffy nose so I thought it unfair to do a review if I can't do it right. Instead, I'm giving a style overview of a well-known and much loved style: the Hefeweizen. While you may alternately hear this referred to as a weizen, weisse, weissbier, etc., the style I'm talking about refers to the golden, fruity, and phenolic wheat ales that originated in southern Germany originally as a summertime beer but which are now produced year-round by many brewers. It is also important to note the difference between the Hefeweizen and the very similar Kristalweizen. The only difference is that the Hefeweizen is unfiltered and the suspended yeast sediment lends a heavy haze whereas a Kristalweizen is filtered and should present brilliantly clear. Kristalweizens aren't tremendously common, however, so most of the time ordering a German wheat ale means you're getting a Hefeweizen.

As I mentioned, Hefeweizens originated in Bavaria in southern Germany.The word "hefeweizen" literally means "yeast wheat", a beer with yeast. Hefeweizens are one of a handful of ales produced in a country that defined the lager tradition (indeed, the word lager is German and means "storage"). Don't worry, I'll talk about the differences between ales and lagers in another post. For now, suffice it to say that almost all beers fall into one of those two major subcategories and that Germany is lager-crazy. One difference that bears mentioning in this post as it pertains to the character of a Hefeweizen is this: yeasts used to produce lagers generally have little flavor and the yeast leans on the hops and barley to do the heavy lifting in the flavor department of most lagers. This is in contrast to ale yeasts that are quite expressive and produce a number of natural chemical byproducts that contribute greatly to the ale's aroma and flavor. A Hefeweizen's signature is defined by the flavors produced by its yeast.

One of those byproducts that result from the yeast during the fermentation process are what are called phenols. Phenols can present in a variety of beers and are even present in other alcohols (Some of my favorite scotches are exceedingly phenolic). Problem is, phenols can sometimes contribute unpleasant flavors. I've heard phenols described as band-aids, hospital flavor, metallic, medicinal, salty, all manner of undesirable tastes. Lucky for us, phenols can also produce really tasty flavor compounds and that is precisely what they do in a Hefeweizen. The phenolic compounds in a Hefeweizen tint the beer with a very noticeable and supremely enjoyable aroma and taste of clove. Seriously, smell a hefeweizen and then smell a whole clove. Dead match.

A second fermentation byproduct that derives from ale yeasts are known as esters. Esters are pretty cool little flavor compounds. Esters, often together with phenols, define many a Belgian style (and boy do I love my Belgians). Esters contribute a fruity sweetness and the exact profile of fruitiness varies depending on the strain of yeast and the beer itself. As pertains to a hefeweizen, esters give off an unmistakable aroma and flavor of bananas. That's right, bananas. Some folks also describe the estery flavors of hefeweizens as tasting like bubblegum, sometimes both. Regardless, the resulting balance between clove spiciness and fruity sweetness makes for one very tasty, overtly approachable, easy drinking backyard summertime beer.

Hops are present in hefeweizens, as they are in 99.99% of all beers out there, but here they exist in small quantities only present enough to provide a touch of balance to the sweetness of the beer. There is no discernible hop character. The malt bill is at least 50% but sometimes up to 70% wheat malt, with the remainder being the clean and inoffensive Pilsner malt. Therefore, since the malt profile is not tremendously strong nor does the hop profile blow your socks off, the hefeweizen is all about the yeast. The one thing the malt does contribute to is the body, also known as the mouthfeel or overall texture of the style. Beers with a high wheat content will exhibit a fluffy, almost aerated mouthfeel while the wheat will also contribute to the beer's haziness and produce a massive, nearly out-of-control white head that is an important characteristic of the style. The color of the beer itself ranges from straw yellow to dark gold. Body is light to medium, alcohol by volume ranges from 4.4 to 5.6% (or thereabouts).

The hefeweizen is typically served in a tall slender glass like this:

This is what is called, suitably enough, a weizen glass. These glasses might also pull double duty in bars and restaurants for serving tall orders of draft pilsners and the like. American drinking habits have dictated that the hefeweizen is at times served with an orange slice, though some men might find it difficult to live down drinking a beer with fruit among their friends. While I don't have these macho notions, I still drink hefeweizens without an orange. Way I see it, if the brewer wanted me to have some fruit, he'd have put it in the beer. I want to taste what the brewer intended me to have. Make up your own mind. Remember, beer

is supposed to be fun!

I'll be honest - I have a patriotic streak when it comes to beer. I think American brewers are among the most talented, creative, and innovative brewers out there. Their ingenuity sparked a craft beer revolution over the last 40 years and has now created craft beer revolutions in other countries. I'm sick and tired of uninformed beer drinkers trashing a beer simply because its American or automatically extolling the virtues of any foreign beer. Judge a beer on its own merits, people! That being said, I do think the Germans still have the market cornered when it comes to classic Hefeweizens. While many American breweries produce an offshoot of the style known as an American Wheat Ale, a true and high quality Hefeweizen isn't as common as you might think stateside. In fact, many brewers who claim a Hefeweizen are in fact brewing American Wheat Ales. The one solid example of an American hefeweizen that I can think of off the top of my head is Sierra Nevada's Kellerweis. Very tasty beer, but I haven't seen it around in a while so it might be down for the count. For me, the quintessential authentic Hefeweizen is the Weihenstephaner Hefe weissbier. A true classic. Ayinger's Brau-Weisse as well as Paulaner's Hefe-Weissbier and Schneider's Weisse are also great examples. I'm lucky to live near the Hofbrauhaus in Newport, KY that brews the beer it sells on premise and part of their regular lineup is a great weizen. While I'm not overly impressed by it in bottle form, there's something about getting it fresh from the brewery and sitting on a long wooden bench that's magical.

In the end, I hope this post (and others like it) are more than overly verbose and dry explanations of things you might not care about. I hope they embolden you to try new things and drink great beer. I hope it helps you establish that connection with the beer in your hand because then it's not just drinking a beer - it's an experience you'll remember. If all these nerdy hopes and dreams aren't your thing, at least you can show off to your friends next time you crack open some hefeweizens on a hot summer night. Cheers!

Beer Geekery 101: Choosing the right glass

For the second installment in my Beer Geekery 101 series, I'm once again donning my professor hat to give you some tips on maximizing your beer drinking experience. Tonight, I'll be focusing on glassware. I'll cover proper glass cleaning technique in another post (trust me, its worthy of its own entry, lots to talk about).

First, let's establish a simple fact: It is always preferable to drink beer from a glass rather than the bottle or can. And no, a Solo plastic cup doesn't qualify as glassware. A glass is preferred over straight from the bottle because a bottle or can limits the extent to which you can enjoy and appreciate the beer. Drinking beer sans glass prevents you from seeing the beer's color or allowing a proper head to form. Head is important to beer as it contributes to the mouthfeel and thus your overall impression of the beer. The color and clarity, or lack thereof, of the the beer is important because beer is best enjoyed if you can assess all aspects of the beer, its appearance, feel, taste, and smell. Which brings me to the next reason why a glass is important. Drinking from the bottle or can means that you are completely excluding your nose from the situation. Our sense of smell is of paramount importance when tasting any food or drink. That's why nothing tastes good when your nose is stuffed up, because smell is a major component of taste itself.

Now that we've established that a glass is essential to any good beer drinking experience, you might be asking yourself, "Hey, I've always just poured my beer in a pint glass. Isn't that good enough?" The answer is, well, sort of. I will once again revert to my mantra that beer ought to be fun and that no one should ever look down on you for how you like having a beer. That being said, not all glassware is created equal. There are many styles of glass out there and many of them have highly specialized shapes and sizes that best express the styles for which they were designed. My standard drinkware is my Libbey Poco Grande Glass (pictured in most of my beer reviews). This glass is what's referred to as a tulip glass. It has a bulbous lower body on a stem that tapers toward the neck and then flares open at the mouth. This particular shape, while attractive and classy, is also very utilitarian as the large body provides ample room for voluminous heads to grow while the narrow neck channels volatile aromatics up toward my nose and the wider opening guarantees that the beer will cascade over my entire mouth, allowing me to get an accurate impression of the beer every time it comes to my lips. Add to that the glass is far sturdier than your average wine glass and we have a real winner here. I purchased a four pack of this glass through bedbathandbeyond.com and it cost a measly $10 plus shipping. Trust me, this is a worthwhile investment. If you're not sold on a tulip glass, even though they are suitable for nearly every style, there are other options out there. A good red wine glass or brandy snifter make a fine vessel for sampling many a tasty beer. Sam Adams produces a very available glass they call the Perfect Pint glass that is a marriage between the tulip and traditional pint glass style. I have a Perfect Pint myself and I love it for sturdy, hoppy beers like IPAs and Pale Ales. It also does great with amber ales and brown ales. For wheat beers like German Hefeweizens, I recommend a taller, slender, stemless glass that tapers slightly at the center and opens again for a wide mouth, much like what pilsners and mainstream light lagers are often served in when you order a larger size of draft beer at a restaurant. This style will also work well with the pilsner, although the classic footed pilsner is an option if you're looking to expand your glass collection.

Belgian beers should have a glassware entry of their own. Some are served in goblets, some in tulips, some in snifters. Others are served in tumblers, flutes, or chalices. General rule: Rich, heavier beers should use a goblet or snifter while lighter beers can use tulips. This is a gross oversimplification, however; the truth is that many breweries in Belgium are very particular about their glassware and often produce their own glasses to accompany their beer. If a brewery, Belgian or otherwise, produces a specialty glass, its a safe bet that you should use that glass for many if not all of their beers. For example, every time I drink a Dogfish Head beer, it gets poured straight into my Dogfish signature glass, which is one damn fine glass. Another popular brewery-branded glass is Duvel's infamous oversized tulip, perfectly suited for the massive head that their beer produces. Because I'm rather invested in my beer drinking habits (read slightly obsessive), I often won't drink a beer out of branded glassware unless the beer and the glass match, even though I have a large and varied collection of brewery glasses. For this reason, I keep various unbranded glasses including my Libbey Poco Grande and several awesome glasses from Crate & Barrel on hand at all times.

The glasses I've mentioned by name here are all fantastic and certainly worth adding to or starting your collection. As I said, you can also use a large red wine glass or snifter if you're unsure about the difference that a glass can make. Some folks out there contend that glassware doesn't impact a beer enough, if at all, that one should obsess over it as I do. But I'm putting the information out there so that you can try out various glasses and make up your own mind. Beer is fun and you should do what you want. I'm just here to offer some friendly advice from someone who's been around the dance floor a couple times. Cheers!

Founders Frangelic Mountain Brown Beer Review

After the relative disappointment that was my previous review of New Holland's White Hatter, I'm hoping that this review will restore my ever so slightly shaken faith in Michigan breweries. I picked this bottle up from The Party Source in Bellevue, KY and while there, Greg in the beer department took me in the backroom to get me my bottle (thanks for the hookup, Greg!) and while there, he named me The Party Source's customer of the week! Check it out on Facebook. Anyway, I'm excited about this beer because it is the fourth and latest installment in Founders wildly successful Backstage Series, a line of one-time production beers that have previously been taproom/brewery exclusives. To get these beers out into Founders distribution footprint is a big deal in the beer world; we've been longing for these beers for quite some time. This series also marks the first time that Founders has bottled beer in large format bottles, in this case 750ml bottles. The previous releases were Blushing Monk, Canadian Breakfast Stout (insanely hard to get but one of the best beers I've ever had), and Curmudgeon's Better Half. As I said, these are all special, highly prized beers and Frangelic Mountain Brown is no exception.

The beer could broadly be called a brown ale, but the label indicates an abv of 9%, which is far outside the range of your typical brown ale (Newcastle is the best known example). The brown ale originates in England and dates back centuries but has fallen out of popularity in recent years. Besides Newcastle, there aren't a ton of brown ales being made. There are notable exceptions being produced such as Dogfish Head's Indian Brown Ale and Rogue's Hazelnut Brown Nectar, but even these are variations on the classic. I guess the style doesn't typically inspire people. Founders has produced their own twist with this beer. Frangelic Mountain Brown is the 16th iteration of their Mountain Brown Ale, which is itself a taproom exclusive. For this particular incarnation, the Founders team brewed it with actual hazelnut coffee. I'm excited to see how this beer turns out because I enjoyed Rogue's Hazelnut Brown Nectar, brewed with hazelnut, and will be interested to note how the added coffee component affects the finished product. The brown ale style lends itself well to the hazelnut flavor, as the style tends to be a robust, ruby-brown colored ale with sweet notes of caramel and nuttiness. Let's dive in!

The beer is very nicely presented in a 750ml bottle with a beautiful mountain landscape and a nifty retro-ish label. An unabashed pour into my Libbey Poco Grande glass shows off a medium brown beer with plenty of ruby, garnet, and mahogany highlights. This pretty little beer is topped off by a cream colored half inch head that fades back into a ring and some interspersed foam after a few minutes. Looks promising so far. Appearance: 14/15

Holy hazelnut coffee, Batman! Right off the bat, my nose is inundated, and I'm not using the word lightly either, absolutely inundated with hazelnut coffee. I've never smelled a beer that so nearly approximates the smell of a coffeehouse. Wow. Luckily, I love hazelnut and coffee and combining the two in beer is kind of magical for me. It is very difficult to get past the hazelnut coffee smell. Maybe some caramel? Tough to say. The beer smells so delicious my mouth is watering and my olfactory sense memory is rushing me back to cozy memories of even cozier coffeehouses with good drinks, good friends, good music, and good conversation. But seriously, if you dislike hazelnut or coffee, stop reading now. You will hate this beer. Nose: 22/25

And the coffee just keeps coming! Straight through the palate, across every inch of my tongue and to the back of my mouth, nothing but hazelnut coffee. I mean yikes! There's a great creamy flavor in there too and I'm really getting into this beer as its beginning to warm so all the flavors are out and in full stride. The alcohol is remarkably well hidden. I have a high threshold for tasting booze, but this tastes a lot like plain old hazelnut coffee. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad thing; its great, because despite all of the flavors that we don't typically associate with beer, it still drinks and feels like a beer. So its pretty cool drinking a hazelnut coffee that constantly reminds me of its beery goodness at every turn. Palate: 47/50


The mouthfeel here might be my favorite aspect of the beer. Creamy, medium-full (way fuller than expected) and just enough pop of carbonation to let you know its a beer and not actual Frangelico. Awesome and different. Mouthfeel: 10/10


OVERALL: 94/100


I liked this beer from the outset but I ended up rating it higher than I expected. Sometimes my own ratings surprise me because I'm so focused on each segment during evaluation that I don't always see the big picture until I add up the total. I think I ended up liking this beer more than some others because A. I love the flavors that so dominate the nose and palate and B. I have an affinity for beers that can completely surprise me and do something I never would've expected. I almost want to get another bottle and drink it with breakfast. It would go great with sausage and biscuits. What can I say, I loved this beer! Cheers!

New Holland White Hatter Beer Review

Tonight I'm reviewing a new beer from the New Holland Brewing Co. out of Holland, MI. The White Hatter is part of a series of beers that New Holland has turned out of late that are all re-imaginings of their trusted standby Mad Hatter IPA. Unfortunately, I couldn't find much information about the brewery itself as the website wasn't very easy to navigate and seemed in need of an update. What I can tell you is that they're not newcomers and, while I've had many of their beers over the years, I've not been tremendously impressed with most of them. I did like their Beerhive Tripel pretty well and their Nighttripper imperial stout was solid. I think the problem that holds this brewery back from being a bigger regional player is that they have consistency issues; I can't inherently trust their beers. Moreover, I find that even their best beers have far superior counterparts being produced by other breweries. Consequently, I seldom buy their beer anymore. I picked up their White Hatter, though, because it is part of a miniature trend that I've seen lately.

While this beer could be loosely referred to as an IPA, it isn't going to resemble most IPAs out there. Its something of a hybrid style; a Belgian witbier (white, unfiltered beer made with wheat) that carries with it the more extreme hopping schedule that you would expect in an IPA. The beer also retains some of its witbier identity by using traditional spices including orange peel and coriander. Depending on who is making them, these hybrids range between 5.5% and 7% abv, which is about the range of witbier to IPA. The White Hatter is 5.5%. I think the goal was to create a beer as refreshing as a witbier but with more interest and pizzazz on the tongue. This little wave of white IPAs has also included Sam Adam's Whitewater IPA and a recent collaboration between Green Flash and Founders that they named Linchpin. Having had and enjoyed both of those, I wanted to check out more of the competition.

The beer is presented well in a 22oz bottle complete with foil over the cap and neck and eye-catching artwork on the label. A semi-cautious pour down the side of my pint glass (anticipating bountiful carbonation) reveals a disappointment. The beer has surprisingly little head, a quarter inch at best that I am powerless to agitate and that quickly recedes into a ring with no lacing or retention. A protein rich wheat beer with plenty of hops should yield a much healthier head with better retention and lacing. The beer itself is a shade or two darker than most witbiers (think Blue Moon or Hoegaarden) and is hazy to the point of being nearly opaque. Appearance: 10/15

The aroma smells of a pretty classic (read boring) hop profile. I detect some spiciness, both from the coriander and potentially from the hops. It straddles the line of the two styles poorly; it neither reeks of hoppy goodness enough to entice me nor does it present strongly with all the sweet esters and spices that I would want in my witbier. Overall, I'm left wanting more. Nose: 18/25

The palate is as uninspired as the nose. I might be overly critical here because I've had two beers that do this style better, but New Holland didn't quite hit the mark here for me. The flavors lean too heavily on the spices and this encumbers the hops. It comes across as a very hoppy witbier (not sure I'm interested in that) whereas the Linchpin from Green Flash/Founders, for example, was a super tasty witbier that still managed to have some definite IPA character by exhibiting prominent, bright, citrusy notes. Moreover, the flavors here are less distinct than in their counterparts and this muddling only serves to confuse the palate. Palate: 35/50

The mouthfeel is, like the rest of this beer, decent. Lacking in creativity to keep me interested or enough technical expertise to hit the nail on the head, it is simply there. I would hope that a beer like this that is supposed to be immensely drinkable would have a pitch perfect mouthfeel (would've been a saving grace here) but I am once again left hoping for more. Mouthfeel: 6/10

OVERALL: 69/100

I really didn't set out to trash this beer. These are my honest opinions about each segment of the beer. While it may be unfair to compare it to others like it, the fact that this style is so new means that you will invariably draw comparisons to those who have come before you. Were I to perform Hamlet, I would fully expect someone to tell me how I sucked in comparison to Laurence Olivier, John Barrymore, and Edwin Booth. This is the risk you take in forging a new path - occasionally you get lost in the woods. This isn't to say the beer was bad per se, simply that it frustrates me when I can see what a brewer was going for only to watch them fall so short. Please don't let this review deter you from trying New Holland's beers as they have a whole range of very serviceable beers that can challenge your palate without being too intense when you're first starting to break into craft beer. They're a great starter brewery in my book. Unfortunately, I've moved past them and now depend on the likes of Stone, Bell's, Founders, and Dogfish Head for my staples. Cheers!

Beer Geekery 101: Proper Serving Temperature

In this post, I'm starting a new series of blog entries by going over some insider tricks and guidelines to help you maximize your beer enjoyment. Once I've covered all the aspects of enjoying a beer that I feel deserve attention, I have a feeling I'll write a post that summarizes the previous posts and also gives you some step-by-step guidance on evaluating and rating a beer yourself. While this may render me obsolete in some small way, I realize that I can't drink and review every beer out there (try as I might) so I figured the only magnanimous thing to do would be to pass what little wisdom I have on to you.

To start this series, I'll be discussing one of the most overlooked features of a beer - its temperature. The sad truth of the matter is that most people drink their beer too cold. Way. too. damn. cold. Drinking your beer too cold will severely limit how much you enjoy it. I don't blame the beer drinkers here; I blame the makers of the inferior light lagers that dominate the international beer market such as Budweiser, Miller, Coors, Labatt, Heineken, etc. These beers are streamlined to be as inoffensive as possible in order to appeal to the broadest possible audience but this streamlining is done to a fault as the beers are terribly bland and virtually indistinguishable in a blind taste test. Since they have precious little to contribute to the flavor department, indeed since their beers taste abominable the nearer you get to room temperature, their marketing departments have invested untold millions in convincing the good, honest beer drinking populace that colder is better. For proof of this, one need look no further than Coor's cold-activated can, where "the mountains turn blue when your beer's as cold as the Rockies." First, that's an awful gimmick. Since when did my hands become ineffective at determining if a drink is cold? Now I need visual confirmation? Give me a break. Second, this massive media campaign perpetuates the ice-cold beer myth. Some beers should be consumed at or slightly below 40 degrees, but never down around 32 degrees. To be fair, draft beer systems are supposed to be maintained at 38 degrees regardless of the beer being served. This temperature has more to do with maintaining homeostasis within the system rather than ideal serving conditions. Once, however, I was out with a friend at a restaurant who ordered a draft Bud Light and it was served to him with ice crystals floating on top. Completely unacceptable. I would've sent it back. Anyway, ideal serving temperature varies by beer style and I'll outline some pointers below but remember, if you order a draft beer and the style calls for it being warmer than 38 degrees (many do), your hands can once again become invaluable tools as they're quite useful in warming up a beer in no time.

The general rule is that lighter, lower alcohol beers are served cooler. Beer should never be ice cold as it freezes out your taste buds and prevents you from picking up on nuances. Beers like pilsners, kolsch, and dortmunders as well as ales like witbiers and hefeweizens are extremely enjoyable around 38-40 degrees. Beers with a little more heft like amber ales, saisons, and Belgian golden ales taste great around 40-45 degrees. Beers with some bite to them like IPAs, American Strong Ales, and Tripels are super palatable in the upper 40s. Fairly heavy beers like quadrupels, Belgian Strong Dark Ales, and other relatively rich, malty beers are best kept in the upper 40s to 50. The real heavyweights like Imperial Stouts and barleywines are best enjoyed starting out around 55 or so but I've had plenty of these styles at room temperature and they're fantastic. What's important to remember is that these guidelines aren't set in stone and you will run across beers that might not fit so neatly into the guidelines I've described ever so briefly. In these cases, do what feels right to you; beer is supposed to be fun, not work. If you're unsure about how best to enjoy a beer, a fun experiment is to start off with the beer quite cold and then notice the changes in aroma and flavor as the beer warms and opens up.

If you've not yet heard the good word that I'm preaching, if you still don't put much stock in the temperature of your beer, try this on for size: drink a good craft beer and a light, mainstream beer of your choice side by side at room temperature. I predict you'll find that the light beer tastes and smells insipid; its amazing what awful flavors these beers reveal when they're not hiding behind 30 degree temperatures. By contrast, I think you'll taste the higher quality of ingredients as well as the care and craftsmanship that goes into good beer.

Once you've realized that I'm not just a crazy nerd, that I'm actually onto something with this whole temperature thing, your efforts to better enjoy your beer may begin in earnest. If you're like me, however, you'll eventually want a little more scientific precision in your beer temperature. For this, I recommend going to your local hardware store and springing for an IR thermometer. Its a great little handheld device that bounces a laser off the surface of your beer and gives you a temperature reading accurate to within a couple degrees. This is far preferable to sticking the same thermometer that you put under your tongue in your beer. Gross. Please, enjoy beer without your household thermometer. Cheers!

Founder's Devil Dancer Beer Review

For this entry I'll be reviewing one of my most eagerly anticipated once-a-year releases, Devil Dancer from Founders Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids, MI.

Founders was started by Mike Stevens and Dave Engbers in 1997. They took a huge risk by quitting their comfortable day jobs and taking out massive loans (like many other upstart breweries) to start turning out their beers. According to company history, the brewery was near bankruptcy after producing an entire range of well crafted but unremarkable beers. This, after all, is an industry and a culture that prides itself on pushing boundaries. As a hail mary play, the Founders team decided to start making beers that really excited them; strong, aromatic, in your face ales. This new-found inspiration led them to their philosophy of not brewing for the masses, instead choosing to brew for the select few and hoping that it pays off. This philosophy is apparent in the motto that guides their brewery to this day: "Brewed for us. Enjoyed by everyone." The change of direction has payed off marvelously for Founders. Today they are a powerhouse regional brewery with a strong presence throughout their distribution range in the midwest and Mid-Atlantic states. They have become an immensely well respected brewery that does a great deal of their business on a stable of expertly crafted and affordable beers that include their Centennial IPA, Dirty Bastard Scotch Ale, Curmudgeon Old Ale, and Red's Rye Pale Ale. Most breweries would be overjoyed to have a collection of beers this good. Founders was not. In addition to their regular offerings, they produce some very special (and at times, exceedingly rare) beers that make beer geeks and hunters like me get all giddy. They've produced Blushing Monk (an over-the-top raspberry beer fermented with Belgian yeast), Canadian Breakfast Stout (brewed with coffee and aged in maple-bourbon barrels), and Kentucky Breakfast Stout (brewed with coffee and aged in bourbon barrels). Their extensive lineup of specialties also includes their Devil Dancer, a beer that they bill as a triple IPA.

While this beer would most closely fall into the category of Imperial/Double IPA, I have to say from the outset that to think of this beer within those boundaries would be to do it a disservice. While it is insanely hoppy, it also has a massive malt bill and a hefty abv of 12%. These facts taken together might place it more accurately into the realm of a supremely hoppy barleywine, especially if you drink the Devil Dancer with 6 months or more of age after its had some time for the hops to quiet down. I'll be drinking a fresh sample so whatever IPA character they were aiming for should be intact. I have an additional bottle that I may drink and review down the road for the sake of comparison.

The beer is presented in Founder's distinctive squat 12oz bottle. After a strong pour of half the bottle into my trusty Libbey Poco Grande glass, I am left with a beautifully clear reddish amber beer with a quarter inch khaki head that recedes quickly into a loosely bubbly ring with a couple patches of carbonation floating in the center. Looks like a run of the mill amber ale or barleywine, but I know from experience that its anything but. Appearance: 13/15

I give the glass a swirl to wake the beer up and I'm greeted by a very unique collection of aromas. This beer really does smell as though an extremely potent double IPA and a hearty barleywine had some sort of deranged love child. Huge piney hops bite my nose, the pungent aromas of alpha acids making a bee line for my unsuspecting nostrils. Dancing right in behind the hop parade are the aromas I would expect of a good barleywine. I smell dark, ripe fruit, reminds me of cherry and red grape. Fruity esters from the copious yeast used are also present. If ever there were a beer that contained a smell for everyone, this would be it. The contrast is great. Nose: 23/25


On the palate, the beer presents more IPA-like, but still a far cry from your average IPA. Huge piney blasts of flavor run roughshod over my tastebuds and delicately singe the roof of my mouth and soft palate. This beer doesn't mess around. The hop profile is also deeply resinous. I doubt I'll be able to properly taste anything for the remainder of the evening. There is a bit of a harsh, boozy burn on the back end that punctuates the beer while some of those sweet barelywine aromas in the nose struggle to be heard over the screaming hops. There's also something a bit spicy and herbaceous, probably more of the hops expressing themselves. Truly a complex beer and, at times, difficult to dissect. Palate: 47/50


The mouthfeel is precisely what I would expect from a beer of this magnitude but it is nothing that really puts a signature on the beer or makes it otherwise stand out. Mouthfeel: 8/10


OVERALL: 91/100

This beer is really great, though I do prefer by a wide margin the bottles I've had with some age on them. When fresh, the flavors and aromas are a little too discordant to really make this beer one of the very best. While it is a great beer worthy of the Founders name, if I'm going to pay super-premium prices ($6.50 per 12oz bottle), I want super-premium quality. If this beer cost 3-4 dollars a bottle, it might have rated a bit higher. It is one of those frustrating beers on the precipice of greatness for me; luckily, my memory tells me that the precipice is easily crossed by 6 months to a year of aging. For now, only time will tell. Cheers!