Big Hop Bombs: 120 Minutes IPA, Dogfish Head, Del., USA

So I give the tickets away, come hope to find them, end up having have to dig through the recycling to find the envelope and there it is – and it is not for the Jays against the Tigers…it’s for the Thursday night game next week against the Sox. I am so there.

Good reason to break out the good stuff. And not just because the last “Week of…” post never got finished with the review of this particular example of the good stuff. One reader wrote about how those long posts were messing up his RSS reader because I wrote them over time. Well, I get the point. “The Week of Eleven…” anythings is too much so we will evolve that little theme next time. See. I can both create and evolve.

On with the beer. This one pours a clear orange butterscotch with an orange cream head that resolves to a thin rim. Booze and orange marmalade on the nose, there is plenty more of each in the mouth. But there is other stuff. Lemon curd creaminess and decent graininess for a big beer with a relatively dry setting. Not overly hot from either the alcohol or the hopping – amazing considering the 120 IBU and whopping 20% booze. This one 12 oz bottle equals five standard Canadian light beers. The hops are both herbal minty green and somewhat tea astringent. Oloroso sherry. 92% of BAers get it.

Oops – it is heating up now.

One thought on “Big Hop Bombs: 120 Minutes IPA, Dogfish Head, Del., USA”

  1. [Original comments…]

    Smoove D – April 30, 2007 10:08 PM
    http://www.propellerskies.com/
    Interesting. I’ll have to track that down. I didn’t like the Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA (I prefer Saranac, Southern Tier, or Buckeye Brewing to it) and the 90 Minute is all right. Although I think Great Divide’s Hercules smokes it. 120 might be just the ticket…

    tedo – April 30, 2007 10:34 PM
    http://barleyvine.blogspot.com
    Alan,
    I wrote about the 120 a while ago when it came out in December, and have been storing it to see how it tastes over 6 months. The first time I tasted it I thought it was just OK, the alcohol seemed to overwhelm everything else and about knocked me on my butt at 20%. Not sure if it will mellow out over time, but we shall see.

    Alan – May 1, 2007 8:41 AM
    Definitely a sipper. I am usually a bit disappointed with uber-bombs but this one is not bad. I found this one for 7.99 which also made a difference. Yet, when you compare price and quality to a decent sherry, it is certainly a good buy.

    Sharon – May 1, 2007 2:39 PM
    http://www.sharonspeaks.blogspot.com
    I haven’t been disappointed by a Dogfish Head IPA yet, but I have to say that I think the 90 Minute is the best. Love your blog!

    Adam – May 2, 2007 3:47 PM
    http://www.brewlounge.com
    We’ve reviewed it over at TBL.

    Overall I would have to put it in a class by itself. Put it in a small glass and sip it. There is complexity there. Also, it seems to me that this one varies from year to year or tap to tap. I experienced a pretty green batch at a place called The Free House in Wayne, PA. Didn’t like it too much. Sam was there passing it around like water 🙂 So I wasn’t complaining.

    At 7.99 you did well. I think it works out to $7US per bottle if you buy it by the case.

    Erica – June 27, 2010 4:14 PM
    Does anybody know where i can buy it online??

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