New Beers - Dogfish, Green Flash and Sixpoint

New Beers

Dogfish Head Chicory Stout (Delaware) $7.99/4-pack – Dogfish 1^st brewed this in 1995.  It’s their seasonal stout.  It just landed in Maine about a month ago.  Definite aromas and flavors of dark stuff – chocolate, coffee, chicory and subtle licorice.  This is a really good stout!  It’s made from roasted malt, oatmeal, chicory, coffee, St. John’s Wort and licorice root.  5.2% alcohol.  Food pairing – grilled chicken, barbecue, shellfish, sushi, smoked fish and chocolate.  RateBeer.com, 96 points

Dogfish Head Saison du Buff (Delaware) $9.59/4-pack, $3.49/bottle – This is a collaboration beer brewed at Dogfish by Dogfish, Stone and Victory.  The idea has been to brew it 3 times – once at each brewery – following the exact same recipe.  This was first done in 2010 and has been repeated in 2012.  The 3 breweries formed the BUFF alliance (Brewers United for Freedom of Flavor).  It’s an ale brewed with parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme.  This has very herbal aromas.  In terms of flavors, the herbs are much more subtle, led mostly by the rosemary and parsley.  Some lemon in the aromas and flavors.  This pours with a nice white head atop a golden, clear ale.  6.8% alcohol.  RateBeer.com, 95 points

Dogfish Head 75 Minute IPA (Delaware) $8.29/bottle – This comes in a 750ml bottle – same size and heft as a sparkling wine bottle.  This is a blend of Dogfish’s two favorite beers – the 60 and 90 minute IPA’s……plus some maple syrup.  It naturally carbonates in the bottle.  This has a soft, velvety mouth feel.  It’s dry-hopped with whole-leaf Cascade hops – this gives the beer a pronounced hoppy aroma.  This has a nice richness to it.  It’s quite complex and unusual.  The bottle conditioning leaves it with great bubbles and it pours nice leaving a great head in the bottle.  Aromas of herbs, fresh bread, lemony citrus, hops, peppery spice……it’s dry…..with some notes of citrus, fresh bread, honey and good hoppiness without going over the top on the hops.  7.5% alcohol.  Food pairing – burgers, grilled meat, guacamole.  RateBeer.com, 99 points

Hop-heads – you’ll love these next beers!

Green Flash Brewing West Coast IPA (San Diego) $10.99/4-pack – This is a HOPPY beer, but it’s still balanced and delicious.  Simcoe hops for fruitiness and grapefruit zest, Columbus for hoppy aromas, Centennial for pine and citrus character and cascade for floral aromas.  This is a big, full-of-flavor beer!  The maltiness is there, but it is more than balanced out by the big hop aromas and flavors.  As big as it is, it’s smooth.  Aromas of pine needles, lemon and grapefruit citrus, hops, freshly mown grass, 7.3% alcohol.  IBU’s: 95.   RateBeer.com, 99 points

Green Flash Brewing Imperial IPA (San Diego) $6.49/bottle (22 oz bottle) –  A quintessential San Diego-style IPA – high in alcohol and high in hops, but still quaffable…..goes down dangerously smooth for a 9.4% alcohol beer!  This has nice hoppy, pine needle, lemongrass and fresh bread aromas.  It has great malty, hoppy, grapefruit/lemon zest flavors throughout.  Blend of Summit and Nugget hops.   9.4% alcohol.  IBU’s: 101.  RateBeer.com, 99 points

Sixpoint Brewery Bengali Tiger IPA (Brooklyn) $8.99/4-pack – This is definitely more of an old school English IPA.  It’s hoppy, but the big malt foundation is right their as well giving it a real full-bodied and rich flavor and feel.

This comes in a can.  Sixpoint only puts their beers in cans and kegs.  Why?

1. Beer has 2 big enemies.  Air and light.  Cans eliminate both.  The modern can is a better way to package beer than a bottle,
2. Cans are lighter. 
3. More beer fits on a truck in cans than does in bottles.
4. Less cardboard used in packaging.

They use three different hop strains.  They also use a massive amount of East Kent Goldings hops to dry hop the IPA in the conditioning tanks.  The result is you get some BOUNTIFUL hop aromas in the ol’ nose with each sip!  6.4% alcohol.  Aromas of pine needles, lemon citrus, grapefruit zest, fresh bread and earth.   Nice hoppy, malty flavors.  Not sweet malty, but toasted caramel malt.  IBU’s: 62.   RateBeer.com, 94 points