Beer Tasting: Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA

Enjoyed: 08.20.14

It was but a mundane Wednesday.  I remember well, my wife was having a rough day at work and strongly hinted that cheesecake would be a great help when she got home (apparently it was national cheesecake day… since that’s a thing).  So, being the dutiful and loving husband that I am, I went straight to the store after work to pick some up. 

While I was there, I figured I would go ahead and grab a nice beer to enjoy later in the week.  I had the Green Flash Le Freak on my mind from a recent recommendation by a friend, so that’s what I was gunning for.  As I passed the “East Coast” section on my way to the “West Coast” section, I saw it.  Jackpot! 

Dogfish Head’s 120 Minute IPA is fairly hard to come by, at least in my neck of the woods.  You really have to know when it’s released, where it’s going to be, and even then, often you have to ask for it.  So, when it’s sitting there on the shelf, right next to the Worldwide Stout, of course I’m going to pay a shameful amount of money for that one 12 ounce bottle!  And yes, in case you were wondering, I did also get the Le Freak.  Let that be a lesson to all the fellas out there.  When you go get your girl cheesecake, rare and fancy beers jump into your arms!

After sitting on this one for a few weeks, I finally had the opportunity to crack it open and split it with the wife (after all, were it not for her, I might not have found it).  Dogfish 120 pours a nice gold color with a thin white head.  Hop aroma is detectable in the nose, but gets muscled out by the booze.  The first sip is really just a warm up, getting your palate used to so much hop flavor and alcohol burn.  After you settle in, it drinks a lot like a “hop wine”, highlighting the intensity of the hops, but also leaving you with the alcohol flavor, much like a wine or a cordial.  The mouthfeel is actually very light for such a big beer, and once it warms a bit you can begin to taste the caramel sweetness from the malts.

Overall, I find myself hard pressed to truly describe this beer in a single paragraph.  Each time I’ve had it, I’ve enjoyed it immensely, and though the price tag is a bit prohibitive, it is a wonderful treat.  The bottle touts its ability to age well for several years, a claim I am very interested in investigating.  I would imagine the booze flavor will mellow out over time and I’m very curious what the hop flavors would do over a few years.  There is just one problem:  even if I was able to shell out enough cash to obtain a significant number of bottles, I don’t know if I’d be able to leave them alone for that long!