As many of you know, DFH is one of my favorite breweries in the U.S.  Their unique approach to brewing and styles is enough to win over almost any beer drinker.  Also, they are a great story of being wildly successful from humble beginnings.  I have only the highest reverence for these guys.  Sierra Nevada is also a well known brewer, albeit less adventurous than Dogfish Head.  One thing they are a particularly well known for is their scrupulously clean and pristine brew-house.  Of course, they make good beer as well, lest we forget.  So, going into it, I thought, “This is going to be awesome.”  Let’s see if I’m correct.

The Pour: When I poured this clean looking beer, it looked a lot like I was pouring Raison d’Etre.  The dark mahogany body shimmered and retained a very small amount of the off-white head.  So far so good, especially when I drank it in my DFH glass.  My personal classification for the beer would be an American strong brown (or something like that).

The Nose: To me Sierra Nevada’s brews have a very particular “house” aroma to them.  It seems like I can always tell when it’s a Sierra Nevada product.  Having been brewed there, it had that house quality that is hard to put into words…but there nonetheless.  I could catch the 10.2% ABV coming through the body of Life and Limb.  Notes of the syrups were certainly noticeable.  It seems to me, and I’m only speculating, that the yeast aromas were Belgian in their quality.  I would also like to note that the beer was bready smelling.  Oddly enough, it took like a sweet sherry (somewhat like Utopias in aroma).  Caramel tones as well as a vinous (wine-like) quality were definitely detectable.

The Taste: Again, the 10.2% ABV did come through but not as readily as one might imagine.  The alcohol that did come through was very much vodka-like in quality.  The hops were not as edgy as a a typical Sierra Nevada beer.  DFH is not typically a high hopper with their beers.  Of course, the most notable exceptions are the 90 min, 120 min IPA, and Indian Brown Ale.  The maple and birch syrups made their way into the sweetness left in the brew, which was pronounced.  I personally enjoy sweetness in a heavy ABV beer, so I thought that it balanced well in that respect.  The breadiness, vinous tones, and Belgian character of the yeast really seemed to come out in Life & Limb.  A nice burnt/roasted caramel tone seemed to dominate the finish, which was exceptionally long.

Overall: I’m not bashing the brew when I say it was not up to what I expected.  Many people may say the same thing about Popskull, which is actually a better collaboration.  I wish it seemed like DFH had a bigger hand in the recipe.  I can only say that it was a bit of a let down for the high hopes I had…but still pretty good.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★¾☆ 

Among other DHF Brews: ★★★¼☆ 

Rating: ★★★½☆ 

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In choosing these to beers as the Sip With Us Saturday brews, I really wanted to test my own taste buds in 2 ways:  1) How would they decipher the differences between the beers, and 2) How had my taste changed, since I have reviewd the 90 Minute IPA before (though I’ve also had the Burton Baton, I haven’t reviewed it).

For the sake of brevity, I am not going to go into the typical detail I prefer to in reviewing brews, but will highlight the important aspects of the beer.  Reader beware, unfortunately, due to feeling ill, these two brews were poured and consumed a night apart.

The 90 Minute Pour:

I was a bit surprised at what I saw upon pouring the 90 minute.  Unlike my recollection of my past experiences with 90 Minute, the beer poured with little to no head, and a seeming absence of carbonation.  The beer was a pretty orange color, less red than a typical American IPA, and pretty.

The Burton Baton Pour:

Quite similar to the 90 Minute, only it appeared a tad darker with more red and rusty brown hues.  The Baton seemed only slightly more carbonated, but there was a more distinct head and lacing action inside the glass.  Both beers appear more syrupy than a standard IPA, as one would expect from their more elevated ABVs.

The 90 Minute Nose:

The 90 Minute smelled delicious!  The sweet malt aroma is quite crisp.  It is less caramel smelling than mosts America IPAs, and the hop aroma is more blended; blended in the sense that it isn’t a grapefruit bomb.  There are musky, earthy hop aromas.  Grassy and citrusy.  There was a candy like aroma, similar to cotton candy at the fair.

The Burton Baton Nose:

Unlike the 90 minute IPA, the malt aroma was more rich and buttery.  Notes of toasted bitterness hits the nose.  The hop aroma, while floral slightly grapefruity, had a slight nuance of an English IPA aroma…but only slightly.  If this beer was oak aged, my nose didn’t pick up on it.  But I was badly congested!

The 90 Minute Taste:

Holy smokes…the beer is flat.  I was a bit disappointed, knowing that last time I drank this beer I found It aptly carbonated.  Fearful that I was wrong, I asked my wife what she thought of the carbonation level.  She agreed:  something was missing.  The taste hop presence in the beer is much less bombastic than in many American IPAs.  Thank God.  I like to taste my malts alongside my bitter hops.  The beer is quite balanced.  There is a pleasant complexity.  Crisp grains, sweet slightly caramel flavor, sugary sweet candy, a bit of orange flavor, goes well with the straight out of the ground hop aroma.

The Burton Baton Taste:

There’s the oak!  I found the Burton Baton to be much more complex.  It has much more American qualities than it does English Ale qualities, but the blend is fantastic.  Had I not just drank the 90 Minute, I would notice less of a difference between the two beers, but while retaining most of the qualities of the 90 Minute IPA, Burton Baton was much smoother and added toasted qualities, hints of butter and toffee, a bit of a maple syrup flavor, raw murky hop notes, and a very subtle oak flavor, that comes across in the aftertaste.  This aftertaste is not as bitter as other oaked beers, and conveys a smooth smokiness.  One pleasant flavor that I noticed in the Burton Baton was a more fruity/juicy flavor that reminded me of apricots.

Overall Thoughts:

Both are excellent beers, but I do feel like the heavier body of the 90 Minute was in need of more oompf in the carbonation department….but I may have just had a tainted bottle.  It is not difficult to pick my preference:  Burton Baton.

What did you think? Do you have a preference?

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Relying on one of our favorite brewers–Dogfish Head–we will first be drinking their popular (best IPA in America, Esquire magazine) 90 Minute IPA.  90 Minute IPA is an IPA that is continually hopped during a 90 minute boil, so that there is an unavoidable hop presence that doesn’t feel like it’s burning a hole in your esophagus.  This beer is also uniquely dry hopped:  please see the video at the end of this post.

After drinking the 90 Minute IPA, we will be swishing our mouths out with water and pouring a Dogfish Head Burton Baton, which is a blend of the 90 Minute IPA and an oak age English Strong Ale.  You and I will be looking for the 90 Minute IPA in this mix, the qualities of the English strong ale, oak characteristics, and any other unique notes that your tongue deciphers.

Both of these beers should be available at any decently stocked beer store.  If you can only find one, pick it up and stop back to let us know what you thought of it.  We do encourage trying to find both of these, as it can provide a nice introspective palate test!  We want to give an advanced warning though, 90 Minute is 9% ABV and Burton Baton is 10% ABV, so drink on a full stomach!  Cheers!

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The Pour: Head retention in this beer, which was a 2005 version that I drank, was very minimal. What head there was sat atop a deep, clean, crimson body that was slowly active on the carbonation. I could immediately tell that the beer was thick, so I gave it a swirl around the glass. Do you know any wine drinkers? Have you ever heard a wine being described as having “legs”? Well, this beer had legs, which basically means that it clung to the glass and droplets eased their way down, giving the appearance of having legs. Very nice!

The Nose: There was some apparent bready qualities to the beer. My guess is that there was so much yeast that it just really came through. Alcohol, fruit, grapes/raisins, wine notes and sweet sherry qualities were evident. I thought that the beer also smelled syrupy in its quality. Raison D’ Extra was somewhat candy-like in some aromas as well.

The Taste: Make no mistake, the alcohol was present, but I thought the beer was incredibly smooth for being 20% ABV. The yeast-like breadiness and sweet Sherry qualities made themselves very well known. A good dose of residual sweetness was present as well. I caught some metallic qualities and thick, syrupy aspects in this Dogfish Head offering. Raisins, figs, and other burnt/dried fruit qualities were very nice on the palate. Raison D’ Extra faded into a dry, long-lasting, and sweet grainy finish. Crazy as it may sound, I thought that some qualities of the beer reminded me of eating tangy taffy–take that for what it’s worth. Whatever else may be said about the tastes of the beer, they lingered on forever.

Overall, this beer is what it is. I love it, but if you don’t love big/extreme beers, you might not like it that much. I found it to be delicious and complex. Wonderful! It also helps that mine was over four years-old when I drank it, and the aging was very nice.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★★½ 

Among other Extreme beers: ★★★★½ 

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What people got, however, was a “normal”–i.e., not extreme–beer. I think that the knee-jerk reaction was to automatically drop the beer down to mediocre or only slightly above mediocre because of the unfulfilled expectations. I refuse to be part of that. I think that this German Brown Ale is a very good beer. Maybe the most ingenious thing about this marriage of DFH and Three Floyds is its restraint against extremism.

The Pour: Popskull had some very nice brown colors, which reminded me of a Porter (this would turn out to be prescient for the rest of the beer). There was a light brown head that didn’t hang around for very long.

The Nose: Sweet malts and a slight smokiness were the first impression of the beer that really stuck out to me. Perhaps the smoky quality came from the wood aging that was used in the process. The hops were very very restrained. A very slight touch of alcohol came through, along with grains and hints of coffee. Nuts and caramel could also be noticed.

The Taste: Once again I can’t help but note that this beer had some very brown porter qualities to it. Smoke, coffee, and slightly burnt grain qualities all added to the porter impressions. The nuts and caramel also added to my porter case. Residual sweetness came through, along with some nice, acidic juiciness. A somewhat thick mouth-feel made the beer seem pretty substantial. Popskull was malty and ended with a semi-dry finish.

Overall, I think Popskull has gotten reviews that are too critical based on expectations. For what the beer is and what it does, it is a very good beer.

Mike’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★★¼ 

Among other Browns: ★★★★¼ 

Among other Ales: ★★★★☆ 

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First is Brooklyn’s offering of Brown Ale:

The Pour-Not too much to say here. The beer had a nice clean, brown body and little head retention.

The Nose-Slight metallic aroma could be detected on the nose. Some citrusy hops cropped up, along with caramel, roasted grains, and coffee tones. I also detected a very faint touch of honey in the brew. Overall, the beer left a very nice impression.

The Taste-The hops were very much in the background of the beer but could still be detected. The caramel and honey touches were evident, with caramel leading the way of the two. About the middle of any given taste, the grains and the coffee really started coming through. From the graininess, the beer ended in a semi-dry fashion.

Mike’s Rating

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★¼☆ 

Among other Brown Ales: ★★★½☆ 

Dogfish Head’s India Brown Ale:

The Pour-The beer was a clean, dark brown with an almost light Porter color. There was also a good light brown, stable head.

The Nose-The strongest impressions that I got on the beer were coffee and wort. For those of you who homebrew, have helped someone home brew, or plan on home brewing, this statement about the wort smell is very meaningful; basically, it had the smell of the stuff that you cook that will become beer. The hops were also present in this beer. Like the Brooklyn, the caramel was evident on the nose.

The Taste-Coffee and other dark grains were immediately evident. The hops were apparent, to the extent that they were present from the beginning to the end of the taste. There was a slight touch of sweetness to the brew as well. Caramel and (once again) wort were also a big part of the taste. A dry and bitter finish was the culminating point of this brew.

Mike’s Rating

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★¾☆ 

Among other Brown Ales: ★★★¾☆ 

The Two compared:

I feel that the DFH offering was only a little bit better than the Brooklyn version of the brown ale. As I predicted, the DFH brew was more bold than the Brooklyn. DFH was darker, hoppier, more grainy, more coffee toned and more bitter than the Brooklyn version. Being that it is an India Brown, perhaps it is unfair to compare the two in this way. “India” is already signaling that it will have more hops, grains, and alcohol (about 1.5% more), so I kind of knew going in that I should expect this. Certainly, Brooklyn is more traditional, so better in that sense. However, both are worth a try.

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As you might have guessed, this is a pretty dark brew that the light can barely penetrate when the glass is held up; some touches of deep red were visible when I held the beer up to the light. The bottle I poured held a head for a pretty short amount of time.

The aromas were pretty alcohol-driven, as you might have guessed. Many have compared it to a port in smell, which is not an unfair characterization. I caught some raison-type qualities along with cocoa touches. There was also plenty of deep roasted, dark graininess to this brew, which was just fabulous.

As you might imagine, the alcohol warmth was very much at the fore. At times, it had a hard alcohol quality. Serious amounts of grain were also very prevalent–again, not a surprise. The nice dose of grains faded into a pleasant chocolate finish. Very little hops were noticeable on the nose and in the mouth. This is a grainy Stout beer. Some residual sweetness remained. I’m assuming that this comes from the fact that so much malt had to be used that residual sweetness was inevitable. The sweetness is not cloying, however. It’s rare that you see a beer with such a nice oil-slick top that actually gives the beer legs (to borrow some wine drinker’s terminology).

I’ve always thought that this was a serious beer for the serious stout drinker, and my opinion on that matter has not changed. If you should accept your mission to drink this beer, be aware that it is truly a beast.  I’m waiting on a few to develop and see where they go (stay tuned).

Mike’s Rating

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★★½ 

Among other Stouts: ★★★★★ 

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So since I couldn’t find this beer in my neck of the woods, while I found myself in Michigan the other day I scoured the small towns I drove through till I discovered a beer and wine shop that might have a different selection.  Lo and Behold, there on the shelf was one remaining bottle of the holy grail of hops.

No wonder this beast is so renowned.  It boasts a fierce ABV of 20%.  I had to chuckle.  This is 1% lower than the alcohol laws placed on hard liquor in Ohio.  Forget the audacity of the alcohol content…it has an IBU of 120.  The bitterest of most Imperial IPAs rarely top 100.  With this in mind, I knew that this was one malty beer.

Dogfish Head’s describes this beer as:

Too extreme to be called beer? Brewed to a colossal 45-degree plato, boiled for a full 2 hours while being continuously hopped with high-alpha American hops, then dry-hopped daily in the fermenter for a month & aged for another month on whole-leaf hops!!! Our 120 Minute I.P.A. is by far the biggest I.P.A. ever brewed! At 20% abv and 120 ibus you can see why we call this beer THE HOLY GRAIL for hopheads!

Upon pouring, the color of the beer was not drastically different than a typical IPA.   A beautiful copperish color, it invites you to drink.  Upon closer inspection, there is something peculiar about this beer.  First of all, the head is extremely minimal.  In fact, there was almost no head at all.  Swishing a bit in my snifter revealed a sticky-sweet heavy viscosity.

The aroma is not as hoppy as one might expect.  Digging my nose into the glass, I did not have to search hard to find it, but the most prominent smell was that of alcohol.  The malt, missing with this smell creates a tempting aroma reminiscent of grain vodka or a dark cane sugar rum.  Holding the glass a few inches from my nose revealed a candy like smell.  It actually reminded me of “Sugar Daddy” candy.

Tasting this beer is like sipping on an aged Brandy.  You dare not guzzle it (if you still want to walk to bed!)  The taste was not very complex.  The intense alcoholic flavor hides a lot of subtleties that may be derived from the malts in the brewing process.  The hop flavor, while present, is not strong.  It does make the malty alcohol drinkable.   As I was sipping it, it tasted like a very sweet caramel candy.  Were it not for the pleasant hop bite as the brew went down my throat, I would have trouble with this one.

Despite the way this review sounds, I thought this beer was fantastic.  It is in a class of its own. It is a sipping beer.  After cutting the grass on hot summer day, would you guzzle a pint of single malt scotch to quench your thirst? No.  In the same way, you would not guzzle a 120 minute IPA.  But you would enjoy sipping your scotch or 120 minute IPA on a quiet evening and enjoy the experience.

Given my choice, I prefer Dogfish Head’s 90 Minute IPA more, but I do intend on venturing back to Michigan to pick up another 120 Minute to throw in my cellar for a few years.

Nate’s Rating:

Overall Satisfaction: ★★★★¼ 

Among other Imperial IPAs: ★★★★¼ 

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The beer poured a pretty orange color.  It actually reminded me a bit of the color of a dark apricot.  The head was minimal, and judging by the continual streams of petite bubbles that supported and fed it, I was guessing this beer was dry and more than sufficiently carbonated.

The smell of Aprihop was certainly unique, and difficult to dissect.  To be honest, it smelled sort of…err…funky.  I am not opposed to seemingly unpleasant aromas emanating from certain beers; in fact, at times I thinks it bodes well on what is to come.  If one is expecting a fruity apricot balm from this beer, look somewhere else (maybe Pyramid’s apricot ale).  Citrus notes, mixed with grapefruity hop smells, and a distinct but not overwhelming apricot aroma pretty much cover up malt undertones, but they are there.

The taste, like the smell, is odd.  It is not what I expected.  It is here that some caramel and nutty malts can be picked up on, but only briefly, before your taste buds reel in confusion.  Like most IPAs, you are expecting a pleasent bitter hop flavor to compliment said malts, but in this case there are two competing flavors.  The apricot flavor is far from sweet.  In fact it is quite sour.  I do believe I may have wrinkled my face a bit as if I had just bit into a lemon.  This is not necessarily a bad thing for me personally since I enjoy sour flavors.  But having to process this alongside some bitter citrusy hops made for a unique drinking experience.

The feel of the beer in my mouth was pleasant.  Mildly dry and pleasently carbonated.  It cleanses the palate.

The finish of the beer is sour.  There is a lingering sour flavor that hangs around until you choose a different beer to drink.  It almost tastes like you just took a bite of under-ripened fruit.

Overall, this ws a fun beer.  It is not something I would rush out to buy, but it was not sink worthy by any means.  I understand why this is a seasonal beer.  I do not believe it would sell strong al year long!  I am curious to hear what anyone else thought.

Nate’s Rating

Overall Satisfaction: ★★☆☆☆ 

Among other IPA's: ★★¼☆☆ 

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The beer poured smoothly.  High in carbonation, I thought.  The light piercing the liquid revealed a beautiful coppery/ruby color.   After the nearly one inch of head dissipated the edges of my glass with thick lacing, foreshadowing the maltiness to come.

The hop filled aroma was citrusy and dominant, but forcing my senses further the malty and alcoholic character of the beer was present.  The toasted malt coupled with a raisin/grape aroma practically warmed up the inside of my nose.

The mouth-feel was pleasant.  Despite the high carbonation the IPA was extremely smooth and silky on my tongue.  Initially I was a tad surprised at how ‘unhoppy’ the beer was off the bat.  I mean, I was expecting a burst of bitterness as soon as the beer hit my tongue, and don’t get me wrong, it was hopped up, but the hopped seemed subdued, at least in the batch I purchased.  Perhaps I got a slightly aged batch and the hops were loosing their presence to malt flavors.

Regardless, the beer was balanced.  The sweet malt echoed of figs and raisins.  Complemented by the fruity hops, it was pleasant.  The most striking feature of the beer was the alcohol content.  Usually, beer of this strength, whether they be a similar imperial IPA or another variety like a barley wine, lend themselves to sipping.  Typically these types of beers, due to the pronounced alcohol flavor, are drunken singularly.  But I found that this beer went down as smoothly and covertly as an IPA with an ABV of 6%.  Thus said, it is a good thing that these are sold in packs of four, or else the unassuming consumer may end up being consumed by crapulence.

Basically, I thought the beer is great.  In a sea of IPAs, this one tops the list.

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