Dogfish Head 60, 90, and 120 Minute IPA

For the next two weeks, I am going to review and examine beers that showcase the power of hops. Before I can explain why hops are important, I need to quickly run through the process it takes to make beer. Beer has four ingredients: grain, water, hops, and yeast. There ingredients combined in a complicated process, but in general, beer is made by first taking the starches in malted grains and converting to fermentable sugars. This first step results in what is called mash. The mash is then boiled and hops are added and the mixture is now called wort. The wort is then separated from solids, yeast is added and the mixture is allowed to ferment, in which the yeast converts the sugars to carbon dioxide (for carbonation), alcohol, and flavor. The process is more complicated that, and variations in the process result in the large variety of beers that exist today.

The hops play their largest role in the boiling process, where hops are usually added twice, at different stages of the boil. First, they are added at the beginning and the boiling extracts the acids from the hops and provides flavor, which is generally bitter. Hops are added again towards the end of the boil to either add more flavor or aroma, depending on many different factors. There are significant variations to this process, but for our purposes, that's all you need to know.

The longer the hops are allowed to boil, the more bitter the beer. As a hophead, I particularly enjoy hoppy beers, and the penultimate hop experience comes from the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery. They have a variety of India Pale Ales (IPAs) that showcase the differences in hop intensity. I bought the 60 Minute, 90 Minute, and 120 Minute IPAs, which specify the length of time that the hops were allowed to boil. For a 12 oz. bottle of these three IPAs, the 60 Minute set me back $2.85, the 90 Minute cost $3.85, and the 120 Minute cost $10.85 (the reasons for this price difference will soon become abundantly clear).

Everything about these beers is sequential. First boil time, then cost, and also flavor, color, aroma, and alcohol content. Lined up in a row in glasses, the color rangers from light amber-orange for 60 minute, dark orange-red for 90 minute, and a brownish-red for the 120 minute. The ABV was 6%, 9%, and 21% respectively, the hop flavor was mild for the 60 minute, intense, but very satisfying for the 90 minute, and extreme for the 120 minute.

For me, the 60 minute wasn't hoppy enough. Don't get me wrong, it is a good beer, in fact better than most beers out there. But I like my beer with a strong flavor that coats the mouth and throat, and lingers well after the beer is swallowed. The 60 minute did not provide this; the hop flavor was there, briefly, and weakly, and then was gone. If you haven't tried many hoppy beers, or aren't particularly fond of hops, then I would recommend trying the 60 Minute IPA.

But if (when) I buy these again, I will buy the 90 Minute and 120 Minute IPAs, and not the 60 Minute. The 90 Minute IPA is pretty much a perfect beer. Great taste, excellent hop flavor and aroma, excellent color, just the right amount of lingering aftertaste, just a hint of the alcohol, and not too expensive.

However, the 120 Minute IPA deserves special attention. Expensive, available in limited quantities, and with a ABV that could classify it as a light liquor, it almost transcends what could be considered a beer. As the name implies, the wort was boiled for two hours, whilst being continuously inundated with hops chosen for their bitterness, and then, and this is the clincher, the beer dry-hopped daily for one month and then aged for another month. Dry hopping is one of the variations on the typical brewing process, where hops are added after the beer has fermented and been cooled. Dogfish Head Craft Brewers advertised the 120 Minute IPA as the “Holy Grail for hopheads”, and is wonderful, in small amounts and on special occasions. The high alcohol content is obvious when tasted, and the overall effect was almost too much. Almost, but not quite. I want to applaud the Dogfish Head Craft Brewers for their magnificent creations.

Once you've tried the 90 Minute and 120 Minute IPA, you'll find it difficult to return to the ever-present and ever-disappointing light beers you've most likely consumed in the past.

But here's a twist: if I was forced to make a choice (what a horrible choice it would be!) between hoppy beers, I would pick two other hoppy brews over this week's selection. These two will be featured next week.