A Treat at Dogfish Head

Had dinner on Saturday night at Dogfish Head Brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, DE. I’ve had many of Dogfish’s brews, including both the 60 and 90 minute IPAs, along with others such as Raison D’Etre, Aprihop, Punkin Ale, World Wide Stout, and, most recently, thanks to a birthday present from Debi, the Zwaanend’ale. Having only been to the brew pub several years ago, I’ve never had any of the “brew pub exclusives”, and so, I took advantage of the situation on Saturday night.

The first of these exclusives that I tried was the “Red & White”. Dogfish’s site describes it as:

‘White’ beer in a ‘red’ barrel.

Red & White is a 12% abv Belgian-style Wit beer (hence the ‘white’). It was brewed with the rinds of over 60 tangelos and freshly ground coriander.

Traditionally, Wit is a pale golden wheat beer. It is tart and refreshing. This style of ale is thick with yeast sediment and has a high level of carbon dioxide. Wheat and barley malt make up the base of this tasty beer. Because Wit is unfiltered, it’s no surprise that it bares some resemblance to German HefeWiesse. The greatest different between Wit and its German cousin is the addition of spices, classically coriander and bitter Curacao orange peel.

At the Rehoboth brewpub, Mike & Kati (our crack brewing team) mixed things up a bit (shocker!), in our Dogfish version of this classic style we added our Off-Centered approach&

* Ours is a Wit Wine because has 12% Alcohol by Volume.
* We ground coriander ourselves, minutes before added it to the kettle, to maximum the potent aroma compounds in this exotic spice.
* We peeled over 70 Tangelos and Clementines by hand and used their rinds to flavor this brew.
* Hallertau and Sterling Hops accentuate both the spice and the fruit with 35 International Bittering Units.
* After fermentation, this delicious ale gained a slightly rosy hue from aging 2 months in 4 year old Washington State Pinot Noir French Oak Barrels (hence, the Red!).

I felt this beer was a bit harsh in taste. Now, I love spicier stuff like La Chouffe, and hoppy stuff like Victory’s Hop Whallop, but for some reason, I just wasn’t digging on this beer.

To my surprise, the opposite was true of its’ cousin “Black & Blue”. This beer was different than beers I usually like - it was fruity! However, it was an excellent beer. Dogfish describe it as:

Black and Blue

A Belgian-y thingy dosed with black and blueberries day after day during primary fermentation. The dark fruit is comlemented by spicy Hallertau & Sterling hops.

Black & Blue is golden Belgian Ale made with over 300 lbs of fresh blackberries and blueberries. With a deep purple full body and a long-lasting lacy pink head, this ale is both attractive and delicious! It is tart and fruity, like our brewers! The subtle bitterness of Hallertau and Saaz hops shines through the fruit forward flavor and sets the palate aglow. (30 IBUs). Weighing in at 12% ABV this tasty brew has smooth but noticeable alcohol warmth. Belgium yeast gives this brew a characteristically dry spicy finish. The beautiful interplay of fruit, spice, and alcohol is complimented by a soft malt profile, and a high level of carbonation.

I went with the 90 Minute IPA to go along with my buffalo chicken pizza for dinner, and topped everything off with Dogfish Head Beach Beer, which is the excellent in-house birch beer

Sherri started off with the Punkin, which she absolutely loved - having two before ending up with the 90 as well.

Favorite beer of the night - the Black & Blue. Too bad I couldn’t get it growlered!