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This one is an example of an American Strong Ale. Typically, these tend to be nothing more than a very strong American Ale. Not really a specific style and often describe an American craft brew that has a much higher than usual ABA. So, it’s very hard to describe the characteristics when they vary. Suffice it to say, that an American Strong Ale can be almost any style, although many tend to be darker ales with a lot of malt, spice and sometimes a little bit of sweetness.

Dogfish Head Craft Brewery hails from Milton, DE (gotta love that, Milton is my fathers name!). What I like about these guys is that they have no fear. They’ll try anything not even knowing if it will succeed or not. There is no way to get the best out of your beer if your timid and these guys are not. I’ll let them descibe what they’re all about (they are much more witty than I am..)

“The story of Dogfish Head began in June of 1995 when we opened Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats, the first state’s first brewpub opened in the resort beach community of Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The plan was to bring original beer, original food, and original music to the area.

Not only was Dogfish Head Delaware’s first brewpub, it was the smallest commercial brewery in America. Our very first batch, Shelter Pale Ale, was brewed on a system which essentially was three little kegs with propane burners underneath. Brewing 12–gallon batches of beer for a whole restaurant proved to be more than a full time job. When the doors to the pub first opened, we brewed three times a day, five days a week! The one benefit to brewing on such a small system was the ability to try out a myriad of different recipes. We quickly got bored brewing the same things over and over – that’s when we started adding all sorts of weird ingredients and getting kind of crazy with the beers!

The beer wasn’t the brewpub’s only draw. The pub’s menu centered on a wood-burning grill. We soon became known as the place to enjoy fresh grilled seafood, burgers, pizzas and sandwiches. The wood–burning grill imparts a unique flavor to everything on the menu, whether it’s a hearty sandwich, a delicate piece of fish or our signature pizza dough.

With the popularity of the pub growing, it was quickly apparent that the 12–gallon brewery would not keep up with demand. We built a new brewery and underwent a thirty-fold expansion of the brew house!

The reputation of Dogfish Head ales quickly grew beyond Delaware’s borders. Calls from Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and beyond poured in, as thirsty restaurant patrons demanded their favorite beach beer at home. We began bottling our Shelter Pale Ale in 1996 and just 1 year later we expanded again – this time we separated the packaging operation from the restaurant, and kept on brewing! By 1999, we were up to five year–round bottled brands in about a dozen states.

We outgrew our distributing brewery in a couple years and in the summer of 2002; we moved our entire production brewery up the road to Milton, Delaware into a 100,000 square foot converted cannery. Around the same time (just to keep thing interesting), we built a distillery on the second floor of our Rehoboth Beach brewpub, so we could make vodka, rum and gin.

Thanks to all our employees and every one of our customers, Dogfish Head continues to grow today! We’re now up to nearly 20 styles of beer that are sold in more than 25 states, and a half–dozen kinds of hand–crafted spirits… and we still have some ideas in the back of our collective heads.

If you haven’t had the chance to taste Dogfish Head… find a beer, track down one of our spirits – or visit one of our restaurants! You will see why international beer writer Michael Jackson calls Dogfish Head “America’s most interesting and adventurous small brewery.”

Aroma: aromas of caramel, maple and alcohol. Some hops, but to be honest the alcohol is very dominating. Some floral aormas, as mild citrus notes. Smells like a desert almost, but in a very good way.

Appearance: An absolutely beautiful lite copper, leaning toward red, color. It pours into a tulip glass, with a minimal head, but this is sustained and the lacing produced sticks well to the glass.

Taste: Wow. The maple and floral aromas come out in the taste. Hops are definately there, it’s sweet and almost reminds me of a Belgian strong ale, only darker. The sweet comes from the alcohol I assume, as this tends to be Dogfish Heads M.O. The more I taste of the, the more I like. I can easily see sipping this one over an hour oh so with some good company, muchj more so than a fine wine (although, that’s good too.)

Mouthfeel: Very crisp and the alcohol becomes more prevalent on the back end the more it lingers and as it goes down.

Overall, weighing in at 11%, I’d sip this one over time, although that didn’t prevent me from writing 3 pages of a paper for school! It went well with the Brautwurst and german potatoe salad I had for lunch. This one is very typical of Dogfish Head’s lack of fear with trying something new. Compareable in some ways to Stone’s Double Bastard, Immort Ale will not disapoint.

This one is brewed as a Scotch Ale. Also known as a Wee Heavy, this style goes through a long boil in the brew kettle.  Brewing this method tends to give Scottish Ales a deep copper color. Almost identical in taste to most Scottish Ales, these tend to be a little more on the sweet side and a higher alcohol content. Flavors of malt and caramel are usually present.

This Scotch Ale comes to us from the Belhaven Brewing Co in Scotland (How appropriate!). Belhaven’s site tells us that the brewery began in the 1719, although there are indications that brewing may have occurred on the site prior to this year. Although the brewery has changed hands many times over the years, it remains the oldest surviving independent brewery in Scotland. It began with John Johnston’s purchase of the site in 1719 which saw the first commercial brewing at the site. Currently, the brewery is owned by Greene King who purchased it in 2005.

Although traditionally poured in a “thistle” glass, I poured this one into the pilsner glass I had handy. It poured a very dark copper color almost brown in fact. A nice medium head that dissipated a little to quickly, but did stay at a nice thin sustainable thickness. This left a decent lacing on the glass.

Aromas were of malt, chocolate and, believe it or not, bread. A second whiff brought out the faint smell of alcohol and spices.

This Wee Heavy tasted much as it smelled, with the chocolate and spices be the most prevalent, but definitely not overpowering. Their was the heavy taste of malt, but this was balanced out nicely by the subtle taste of hops.

As this one lingers, the malt really comes out, giving this a medium consistency. Nothing to heavy or light.

Overall, a very nice Wee Heavy that weighed in at 6.7% ABV. Went very nicely with the dessert I had of Banana Pudding Ice Cream.

This was a treat. The style is that of a Hefe-Weizen. Typically, these are of south Germany in origin and have a higher amount of wheat. ‘Hefe’ itself means ‘Of Wheat’ and this style does bring it. As a result, they often have a pale yellow cloudy look to them. The extra wheat often lends this style to be more flavorful than most wheat with the exception of a Belgian Wit.

Poured into a pilsner glass, this indeed was pale yellow in color, although not as cloudy as I would have expected for a Hefe. The head was very thick at first, but quickly went away and left little to no lacing though.

This was a treat for the olfactory senses, with scents of yeast, spice, and banana. A faint smell of bread and hops as well.

Upon taste this one had a strong yeast flavor, with fruit accents,and some acidity as well. What balanced this out was a mild hop undertone.

The longer this one lingered the more the yeast came out. Toward the end a very surprising but welcomes alcohol taste presented itself.

Overall this was a solid Hefe that I would welcome again. Enjoyed this one with some Gouda cheese, crackers, grapes and Fuji apple slices. Quite nice indeed and with only a 4.9% ABV you can enjoy this one twice.

Anchor Brewing Brewing Co’s Summer Beer

Anchor brews this one int the American Pale Wheat Ale style. Often thought of as an American version of the classic Hefe’-Weizen, these beers are usually heavy on the malt, wheat malt in particular. Light in color, healthy head and lots of carbonation. Typical Hefe’ feel to to the American version with usually some kind of citrus added.

Anchor’s Summer beer pours smooth into a pint glass, with a small amount of foam. The foam quickly dissipates though, but does leave a nice lacing on the glass.  A light straw color, with minimal carbonation and slightly cloudy.

It smells of malt. Too much almost. Not sure where to place the malt, almost a caramelized malt aroma. Although Anchor says they use 50% malted wheat, it tastes more than that.

It has a very light malted wheat flavor. Accents of grain and a slight orange undertone. Leaves a kind of aftertaste if you let it linger to long.

Overall, this was not at all what I expected from Anchor. Not drinkable any more than a bud light. It does not go down smooth, and I had to make myself finish this one. Weak flavor, almost watered down.

The guys down at Freetail have just released their Barleywine, Old Bat Rastard, much to the delight of those here in the San Antonio area.

Now to give you a background, Barleywines originated in England. They are fruity, hoppy and very alcoholic by nature, although less hoppy than the American Barley Wine. Typically one of the strongest beer styles, I have only encountered one other more strong (a double dry hopped IPA). English Barley Wines usually balance out the malt and hops more evenly than their American cousins.

Freetail brews Old Bat Rastard in the American Barleywine tradition, with a Texas twist that I just can’t place, brought on by brewmaster Jason Davis. American Barley Wines like their English cousins can be stored for years, much like a fine wine. But don’t wait for this one, the cool winter weather won’t last much longer in Texas!

Poured into a pint glass at the brewery, Old bat Rastard pours a very deep mahogany, with a nice 1-2 finger head and lacing that sticks to the glass very nice.

It has a strong hops aroma, again common in American Barley Wines, citrus undertones and nice alcohol presence. The foam hits your nose while sniffing this one!

Ready to dive into this one, I awaited what I expected to be an overpowering alcohol taste. What I got was a very nice balance of the hops with a nice caramelized malt presence. What I couldn’t place was whether I tasted citrus or not. I have a feeling Jason snuck something in.

Overall, this was a nice Barleywine. A slightly more alcohol presence would have been nice, but weighing in at 9.1% ABV, it does sneak up on you. It is enough to deter one from bringing a growler home! What’s great about this one, is that it makes you warm on what has been cool evenings for South Texas. It begins to warm immediately as it goes.