Not relevant today. I agree with thebeers I buy much more from breweries directly. Generally beers are much fresher and they can do what Dogfish can do locally. They are no longer the innovators they once were. Times have certainly changed.
7 Things You Didn’t Know About Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA https://www.hopculture.com/dogfish-head-90-minute-ipa/
I'm super late to this thread, but I wish they were more relevant these days. Like many people, they were huge for me in the early days of my beer journey. That being said, their distribution of non-core offerings started to dwindle around that time (2018ish) and has only gotten worse since. I mostly see 60, 90, and SeaQuench around, with the occasional 120 or WWS variant. I miss the days of readily available (albeit old) bottles of stuff like Palo Santo Marron or Raison D'Extra. I did see they had a new batch of base WWS so I picked up a bottle of that the other day. I hope to visit the brewery some day and try some of the more out there beers that they're making these days
Hello, Fellow BeerAdvocates! I read through this whole thread with emotions ranging from pride to humility and beyond. First off, Dogfish has been proud to be part of the BeerAdvocate community since the late 90s and very proud of our work with the Alströms on the Extreme Beer Fests and Project Extreme Brewing book, inviting so many creative craft breweries into that universe to show off our collective and complementary superpowers. With regards to positive and negative comments on specific Dogfish beers, I realize that's a subjective matter and I will stay clear of that hazy/murky water: after all, beauty is in the eye of the beer holder. With regards to the frustrations voiced by many in this thread on how hard it is to find certain Dogfish beers in your local markets, I sympathize with you. Our coworkers sell our beers from coast to coast, but like every other distribution-oriented craft brewery, these are challenging times. Generally speaking, most retailers, distributors, and restaurants are allocating less shelf space and warehouse space to craft beer, as other categories of adult beverages have stronger growth trends in recent years. (This won't always be the case. Beer has been hotter than colder than hot again in terms of demand for millennia). And this is not a reflection on a waning a passion and prioritization of innovation here at Dogfish. In fact, we are more experimental and put out more innovative beers, cocktails, and full proof spirits today than we did when we opened as the smallest craft brewery in America in 1995. It's true not all of these lovingly made experiments get distributed beyond our local markets or sometime even our own pubs and tasting room. I deeply appreciate it when we hear feedback like that shared in this thread, or on our social media, or at events like the many we have on the horizon described on the events page of our website. I deeply appreciate it when craft beer lovers use our collective voice to ask for more: more distribution, more choices, and more innovation. So please do keep asking. There are wonderful, local, regional, and national craft beers that deserve to be easier to find. But of course, while you're using your voice to ask for the ones that you love that you can't find... LOVE THE ONE YOU"RE WITH. We're thankful there are hubs where the craft beer community can come together to share ideas, grievances, and celebrations. For example, we're very proud of the recent recognition Dogfish has received in BeerAdvocate's sister publications Untappd's Community Awards and Hop Culture: 7 Things You Didn't Know About Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA. Special props to Hop Culture writer, Grace Weitz, for going deep on research and outreach to tell the story of 90 Minute which we're very proud of. Long-form beer journalism is alive and well and that's a beautiful thing. As a small example of our continued passion for innovation, if anyone wants to do a road trip this weekend, here's a really cool event we'll be hosting at our Milton Brewery on Saturday, a pickle-DNA-infused beer release as the perfect partner for a pickleball battle royale. Keep on drinking the good stuff. Respect Beer! Sam
straight class, always engaged and engaging, say what you want about the trajectory of their business, but this guy has always been first rate, kind and humble, creative and open about ingredients, science, and processes more than anyone, and a cornerstone of the industry, never too busy or important to talk to the people that drink his beer. thankful for any dogfish head beer i encounter in the wild, always have been.
I haven’t bought anything from them recently but 60 minute was a gateway IPA for me that got me into the style. Loved 90 minute but now I find both to be too malty (and in the case of 90 min., too strong) when I have the itch for hops. I have some great memories of cases of festina peche on sale at GBX in Greenville, SC for $24 a case. It felt like stealing. I loved palo santo, Indian brown and several others that have either been discontinued or are no longer distroed to NC. Long story short, I like the brand and respect Sam but it’s hard to stick out in this age of 15 second attention spans.
I can still remember (I guess it was late 00s) meeting Sam on multiple occasions in the NYC area at Dogfish tap takeovers. They were way too big for the owner to show up at something like that at the time, but he did it. He was always there to talk to the people enjoying his product. As he mentions above, he was a backbone for the early Extreme Beerfests in Boston championing for the craft beer industry. I don't get the impression much has changed over the years about how he approaches things. Great post above.
Oh yeah, I remember meeting him at an early Extreme Beerfest. Him and Jim Koch would go and they were legit rockstars. Read that article in Hop Culture that he references (shout out to @ESHBG for posting it above). I really enjoyed it and it got me craving a 90 minute. It definitely had me waxing nostalgic for the old days. I also want to point out Sam is only a devotee, and I’m a Grand Poo Bah. So I like, know WAY more about beer than him.
I like Sam's response. But again I haven't seen anything new. Only old 60 minute and 90 miute IPAs on shelves in sometime. I'm in the Midwest. Probably a distribution issue. Maybe with time we can fix it and get some fresh distribution on the shelves.
I, for one, "No" more than Sam. That's what makes DFH great, he is a YES man and has found some innovative beers as a result. 90 minute will never get tiring for me, no matter how many hazies I drink now.
Shout out Sam for saying what anyone with a brain cell already knows. Wide distrofor every single beer style a brewery makes is impossible. The beers your all miss are still MOST LIKELY available at the brewery. DEAL WITH IT
Great to hear from Mr. Calagione with such an inspiring bit, but everything he has done and been and written in and about craft beer has been inspiring on multiple levels. As for DFH relevance to this old hippie who now only can drink one beer a month, and that one from the cellar... I soooooooo wish I had more Palo Santo down there. That beer is one of the best when it comes to developing with age, and I miss having one always down there to grab.
Acutally, now that I'm browsing their site - I bought a few cases of their Bluehen Pilsner, that was a hit out the park. Also, Punkin' is a Fall staple of mine as well. I may just pick up some 60 or 90 minute tonight. They are solid IPA's after all and worth revisiting.
Currently available to go at Milton, drive by and pick me up on the way cause they also have Aprihop to go at the moment. We can go back and forth with the jams on the ride
Sounds like a plan, what a rockin' road trip that would be! But only after I finish the last beer in the cellar, which I still hope to do.. See ya then!
Im wondering if Dogfish can do some limited runs of favorites like Stone did this winter (Ruination and SSR) one and done runs, on a wider distro
