Name: 120 Minute IPA

Brewer: Dogfish Head

Style: Double IPA

Cellared On: October 12th, 2007

Original Tasting: October 22nd, 2007

If there’s a defining beer of the big beer movement in America, this is probably it. Everything about this brew is huge! BIG hops. BIG malt flavor. Big alcohol (20%). Big price tag too (Don’t anyone tell my wife Lisa how much it cost).

I guess I should also mention the BIG aroma this beer has. The smell is extremely complex here. All I had to do was pop the cap and I started getting whiffs of hoppy and malty goodness. There were aromatic, citrus-like hop smells combined with smells of strong ripe fruit. If it weren’t for the hops, I would have thought I was smelling a strong old ale instead of an IPA.

A very fizzy, crisp head appeared as I poured. There was great head retention, even though the last lacing faded away when I was about halfway through (I was drinking slowly, though). The color was a dark amber, much darker then your normal IPA.

The taste? Just as complex as the smell. Surprisingly, the hops weren’t the first thing that hit me as I drank.  Flavors of sweet maltly fruits burst into my mouth, with raisins, plums, apricots, and other ripe fruits leading the way. The hops weren’t very far behind, and their bitterness came on strong, lasting all the way to the finish and beyond. The sweetness of this beer never did completely fade away though, and remained a nice counterpoint to the hops throughout. Fairly thick body to this brew, definitely heavier then your usual IPA, but not as thick as a strong ale/barleywine.

This beer was a great tasting experience. I wonder if the beer I had was sitting on the shelf for awhile, because I would say it seemed closer to the style of a highly hopped Strong Ale then an Double IPA.

Cellar Outlook: As suggested by the label above, there should be no problems aging this beer. As the hops fade over time, I expect the flavor profile to migrate more towards strong ale/barelywine territory.

Next Tasting: April 2008