90 Minute IPA

Since 1995, Sam Calagione’s Dogfish Head in Delaware has been providing the beer drinking public with characterful, sometimes offbeat but always tasty beers. The 90 Minute IPA epitomizes the in-your-face-style Sam’s beers tend to express, and clocking in at a whopping 9 percent alcohol by volume and an estimated 90 IBUs, it is one to be treated with utmost respect. Don’t be fooled by the welcoming golden color 90 Minute reveals as it’s poured – its color belies the brawniness that lies in wait. The aroma emanates from the glass with alternating notes of somewhat gummy Caramel malt and fruity esters, but the star of this show is alcohol. Tim’s first impression was that of alcohol, noting the aroma was “boozy up front, but followed by the expected arrival of malt and hops.” This isn’t to say the alcohol is overpowering to the detriment of everything else, it’s just that this is a really big beer. It displays a complexity of malt and hops than can only be achieved through paying meticulous attention to detail in the brewing process – something Dogfish Head is righteously famous for. Relying on their groundbreaking “continual-hopping” process, Dogfish Head imbues 90 Minute IPA with an unrivaled depth and breadth of hop bitterness and flavor. Tom rightly identified this as a “seriously big beer” and praised the pleasant orangey hop flavor and overall “front to back” hop character. Yet another “don’t miss” beer from Dogfish Head, though this is by no means a session beer.