Sunday, April 10, 2011

April 9, 2011

Beer: 90 Minute IPA, Dogfish Head Brewery

Dogfish Head is one of those breweries that really likes to push the envelope. They make A LOT of different types of beer, often with strange, non-standard ingredients from all over the world. They've become so famous for the diversity of inputs and extreme beers that they were featured on a Discovery Channel program entitled Brew Masters. Basically, if you want to try a style of beer you've never heard of, or a beer with ingredients you wouldn't think of (green raisins, spirulina, crystalized ginger, bismati rice or water from Antarctica anyone?), then Dogfish Head is your type of brewery.

For those of you that like to stick to more traditional paths on your journey of brewskis, don't fret. Dogfish Head's signature beers are their IPA line, 60 Minute, 90 Minute and 120 Minute IPAs. The names refer to the length of the boil time of the wort in which the hops are continuously added. The longer hops are boiled, the more hop isomerization takes place, and the more bitterness is imparted to the beer. Needless to say, Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA is a rare beast that costs a pretty penny when it is released. I've never seen it. Thankfully, 60 Minute and 90 Minute are readily available around here.

My bottle poured a dark amber with a thick head. I found this beer aggressively hoppy up-front, and rather boozy. The bitterness kind of takes over and destroys some other flavors (pine and honey?) that I think could have stolen the show. I don't think this one deserves all the hype, but I'd certainly still be interested in the 120 Minute. Pliny The Elder is a much better IPA, of course, but I think that even Racer 5 from Bear Republic is a better drink. I could have a 90 Minute every now and then, but by no means would this be my go-to IPA.

Music:

I was checking out some great concerts that will be happening here soon (Glen Hansard and Eddie Vedder, Iron and Wine w/ Marketa Irglova), and I paused when I saw the name of one of the openers. You know when you hear a word or a topic for the first time, and then you see it everywhere? Well, that's what happened today.

I was listening to an interview of Dave Matthews Band with a Seattle radio station and he mentioned an up-and-coming band called The Head and The Heart. He was very impressed with their songwriting and joked about stealing ideas from them. I didn't pay much attention to it. Then, when I was looking at the concerts, I saw their name as an opener. I decided to take the bait and do a quick YouTube search of them. Um...worth it.

I'm quickly falling in love with their style, and I can't wait to explore their catalog a bit more. For now, here's "Lost In My Mind", but I encourage you to check out their other songs from this radio studio show.

2 comments:

  1. Cool! While I may not enjoy beer....I'm enjoying the music! (And your writing!)

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  2. Ok I listened to this song again. I like it a lot. I'm buying it. Also, I would serve this beer at a party for my dad. It has fish. Fisher man theme. Everyone has to dress like mountain people. Party Game: "Fishing" but you cast and try to land near one of the magnetic targets. You pull it back and it has a "trivia" question. You write your answer and everyone else guesses what you put. Who ever gets closest goes next.

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