Trip Report - Reinheitsgeblog visits the Dogfish Head brewery
Posted on July 24th, 2009
Yesterday, my girlfriend Allie and I made the trek from Washington, DC down to Rehoboth Beach, DE to tour the Dogfish Head brewery. We arrived early afternoon, spent about 30 seconds on the beach (not the best beach weather), then drove over to Milton where the brewery is actually located. The brewery was under construction (bigger facility = more beer…?!?), and we had to wander through a back entrance and the warehouse in order to get into the lobby / tasting room / happy place. The place was more crowded than I had imagined. There were probably 30-35 people on our tour, and two equally full tours before and after ours. The whole room was abuzz with happy drinkers and happy about-to-be-drinkers.
Our tour guide - whose name I unfortunately forgot - was bright, knowledgable, and most importantly, loud enough to be heard over the noisy brewery equipment all around us. We got to hear about the history of the brewery, which was mostly a series of quirky anecdotes about Sam Calagione (I wanted to link to a biography, but Wikipedia doesn’t have a page for Sam. You should read this New Yorker article about him. It’s long, but excellent). We also saw the brewhouse, fermenting tanks, some Oak and Palo Santo wood barrels filled with various aging brews, and their quality control rooms. We couldn’t go near the bottling area because they were in the middle of bottling Punkin Ale. (yummy yummy yummy).
Our tour guide. If you recognize her, please tell me what her name is
Palo Santo wood. Not pictured: the delicious beer inside
Overall the tour part was fun and slightly educational. My only complaint is that they focused so much on Calagione and his brand that they didn’t really talk too much about brewing and the science / art of beer in general. When I lived in Boston, I took the Sam Adams brewery tour, and one of the highlights was a room full of loose barley and hops that everyone could smell and taste (Don’t ever eat raw hops. Everything you eat for the next three days will taste like hops. That might sound good to the hop-head in us, but trust me it’s not). I know it’s easier for Sam Adams, because their Boston facility exists almost solely for giving tours and DFH is a real live working brewery, but if anyone who works at DFH reads this… well I’m sure it’s something you could put a unique and fun spin on.
Predecessor to ‘me so hoppy’ and ‘the sofa king hoppy machine’
Of course, the real reason 95% of us put up with a 30 minute tour is the free beer at the end. At the end of the tour, we all filed back into the tasting room for the Main Event. They had four brews on tap: Midas Touch, Shelter Pale Ale, Raison D’Etre, and 90-minute IPA.
Quick Tasting Notes
Midas Touch: very different on tap than in bottles. It was a little more tart and bitter. A slight smokyness also snuck in there at the very end. This was a bit more complex than I remember, but personally I prefer the bottles.
Shelter Pale Ale: first time I’ve had this beer. It’s definitely their most accessible brew, but still interesting enough to appeal to pretentious beer aficionados such as myself. Surprisingly balanced for a Dogfish Pale. The hops are there, but they’re definitely more muted than I’ve come to expect from DFH. Light mouthfeel, great carbonation. This is a session beer in every sense of the word.
Raison D’Etre: Again, lighter than I remember. I’ve only had this in bottles, never before on tap, and the difference is noticeable. The rasininy sweetness that dominated the (slightly-aged) bottled version I’ve had takes a backseat to chocolate malts. Or something. I didn’t write anything down yesterday so I’m going from memory here.
90-minute IPA: My old friend. Just as I remember it. Not too much to say… I’ll save my adjectives for a future article.
Beyond the advertised four free beers, the tour guides behind the bar cracked open a few bottles for interested folks to sample. Festina Peche and Palo Santo Marron were had and enjoyed. Unfortunately nothing I haven’t tried before, but I seriously appreciated the gesture. All the bartenders were super friendly. And how could they not be? They drink beer for a living!
After some shopping (t-shirts, post cards, and a veritable cornucopia of beer), we returned to the beach and the brewpub for dinner & some more drinks.
Final Thoughts
Take the tour. If you’re within driving distance, go. If you’re not, consider a vacation to Rehoboth Beach… it’s a pretty nice place. Brewery tours are offered most days, and brewpub / distillery tours are at 4:30 on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. For more details, check out their website.
Overall Grade: 9/10 A-
On the next Reinheitsgeblog…
Left to Right: Festina Peche, 60-minute IPA, Burton Baton, Midas Touch, Chateau Jiahu, Theobroma, Sah’tea, (the much talked-about and highly coveted) Squall IPA, Shelter Pale Ale, and Worldwide Stout.
All of these beers will be reviewed at some point in the future. I’ll try to mix in some non-Dogfish Head beers as well, just so I don’t sound like a walking endorsement.