Dogfish Pilgrimage

December 19

I’ve been whisked away to Delaware, just like Wayne and Garth. It’s not as improbable a destination as it sounds at first. The Dogfish Head brewery is here. It turns out some the best ales made in perhaps the world.

It’s not hard to find: the Garden State Parkway to the New Jersey Turnpike to the Delaware Memorial Bridge, a short stretch of I-95 to Delaware State Highway One. That’s a drive of three and a half hours to the Sleep Inn in Lewes. 

About five miles south is Rehoboth Beach, where Dogfish Head has two restaurants. 

Maybe 10 miles the other way is the brewery.

After I checked in, I went to the brewpub, officially Dogfish Head Brewing and Eats, in Rehoboth Beach. 

Larry went to grad school down here, so when I told him where I was going, he grew immediately nostalgic, and that’s how I learned to pronounce “Rehoboth.” Stress is on the second syllable. “Ho” is the Cantonese equivalent of “good.” And how.

The street is dark and most of the signs are dim, so I had to make a couple of tries to find the place. I drove all the way to the beach and then came back up the other side before I saw a shark on the sign.

It was worth the trouble.

I had a juicy steak with potatoes and carrots on the side. Of course, food merely helps me stay alive. Beer is what makes it fun.

They had beers on tap I had never heard of. Alternate Takes 3 is an India pale ale with a citrus edge. The bartender said it is made with citra hops and has no citrus fruit in the mix.

Two of my favorite Dogfish Head ales are the 60 Minute and 90 Mintue IPAs. They are named for the brewing times. The longer they’re simmered, the stronger the ale.

The bar had a 75 Minute IPA, a blend of the 60 and the 90. It was a cask ale, meaning that it was naturally carbonated in the keg. It came across as not too strong, but had a familiar Dogfish Head flavor.

Auto Reverse is described as a Belgian syle ale using yeast with clove and pepper notes. It brews for an hour with Simcoe and Palisades hops. The result is a strong, mouth-filling flavor. 

I came back to the Sleep Inn with a four-pack of Midas Touch. This is an ale with a mix of fruit flavors in the background.

They call it an ancient ale, and similar to some of the Sierra Nevada ancients, the recipe is the result of analyzing drinking vessels from antiquity. The ones used for this ale were supposedly from the court of King Midas.

It was on the sweet side, but I loved it. Maybe that’s the power of suggestion. After all, this is the beer that King Midas drank with his steak.

Dec. 20

I stayed in the room till 2 or so to take care of personal business. Then being curious, I headed back to Rehoboth Beach to see what it looks like in daylight.

It’s about half closed up now, but it is a cute place. Lots of little businesses that appeal to tourists, clothing, jewelry, art prints, souvenirs, junk. Every third storefront advertises pizza.

The boardwalk is a mile long, and just about everything is closed there. The main street, Rehoboth Avenue, is about two-thirds open.

I wound up walking a couple of miles on the boardwalk and the avenue. So after all that sea air and exercise, I was more than ready to be my usual self.

I drove to Milton and went to the brewery. They were starting a tour when I got there. The man at the desk took me into the brewery to  join the tour that was just starting.

This was my first trip through a brewery. I had to put on safety goggles. 

I read a book decades ago about brewing and am not sure how accurate it was. If I remember right, the author said the difference between lager and ale is that one uses hops and the other doesn’t. I may be misremembering what I read so long ago, but that is definitely wrong.

The yeast for ale works at a higher temperature. I think the tour guide said they keep the vats at 67 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Lager runs cooler, somewhere in the mid-50s, and takes longer.

We saw wooden vats where some of the ales are aged. Two of them are made of a wood called Palo Santo, which comes from Paraguay.

We toured the warehouse with the bottling and kegging lines. 

Except for the cask ales, the beer in a keg is flat. It is force-carbonated at the tap. A CO2 line injects gas into the beer as it comes through the tap.

I’ve mentioned nitro beers, like Guinness. That’s where the nitrogen is introduced into the beer, at the tap.

The brewery has added a station to reclaim its brown and grey water. They put it into a huge tank and add yeast. Brewers, remember, know all about yeast.

The yeast consumes the impurities of the water and pretty much turns it into methane, the main component of natural gas. They not only clean the water, but reclaim the methane.

They flare some of the gas, but I wasn’t able to learn why. 

The tour ended back at the tasting room. On the way we passed a metal structure called the Tree House, which is the photo of the day. 

I later learned that it is a relic of a Burning Man festival. Somebody built it in the desert for the event, and then offered it for sale. The company bought it for a dollar and spent another 30,000 to have it shipped and rebuilt. 

At the bar, they give you a card and you can write the names of four beers on it. They give you 4-ounce pours of your choices.

So you get a free pint at the end of the tour.

Pennsylvania Tuxedo is a “spruce-infused pale ale.” I guess that’s what spruce tastes like, a bit sweet and astringent. It was an interesting flavor, but I’m not sure about taking a full pint of it.

I had a different Alternate Takes IPA (there are three). This one is a pale amaber liquid. It has a flowery aroma and a good balance of malt and hops.

Burton Baton imperial IPA runs about 10 percent alcohol. It was very strange. It was too sweet on the first sip and then seemed less so on the second. It has a mild spicy aroma.

Palo Santo Marron, a dark brown beer aged in those vats made of wood from Paraquay, is thick and sweet. Not so cloying as the Guinness syrup they serve in Asia, but not my favorite Dogfish Head brew. It is in the barley wine league at 12 percent alcohol by volume.

There is a block of palo santo wood behind the bar. Mike, the guy drinking next to me, asked to have it brought out. He works at the brewery.

The block is very heavy and has a pleasant fragrance. There’s a pock mark in it. Mike and the bartender told me that somebody demonstrated the strength of the wood by firing a 38-caliber hollowpoint into it. The bullet cut a dent that’s maybe a quarter-inch deep.

I stayed around for two more samples. Punkin Ale is flavored with pumpkin and spice, which are far in the background. If you weren’t looking for them, you might miss them. That’s good.

Fall on Me is a seasonal pale ale flavored with apple, spice, and other stuff. It’s surprisingly OK. The flavors blend, and it is reminiscent of an ancient ale.

Mike, by the way, claims to be the only man married in the Tree House. He and his wife were married there a year or two ago.

I stopped at a place recommended at the bar for fish and chips. It’s called Go Brit.

No Dogfish Head selections there, so I had a Fuller’s London Pride.

I’m working on a four-pack of Dogfish Head 90 Minute right now, so life is good. When I wake up, I’ll decide what I’m going to do tomorrow.

Hell, life is good even when it sucks.

Love to everybody. I hope the season is treating you well.

Harry