Brewery: Dogfish Head Brewery, Milton, Delaware.
Brewery Description: “Esquire Magazine calls our 90 Minute .I..PA., “perhaps the best I.P.A. in America.”. An Imperial I.P.A. brewed to be savored from a snifter. A big beer with a great malt backbone that stands up to the extreme hopping rate. This beer is an excellent candidate for use with Randall The Enamel Animal! 90 ibu. Tasting Notes: Brandied fruitcake, raisiney, citrusy.”
Brew Style: Imperial I.P.A., 9.0% ABV
Recommended Glassware: Snifter
The Ugly Truth: First things first, this review is brought to you in part by Ivan, who made the recommendation to me to have this beer and I thank him from the depths of my damaged liver. I’ve never really had a lot of the Dogfish Head offerings, and I’m now thinking that that has been a dreadful oversight on my part. This was some damn good stuff, with a great taste for a 9.0% ABV.
The 90 Minute Imperial I.P.A. was a solid offering. It poured a copper color, with a strong white head about 2 fingers in width. The head stayed around through the whole drink, and left the rings on the glass that I’ve come to associate with a good beer. The beer had lots of carbonation after the pour, which I sometimes have problems with but I didn’t notice it this time around. The aroma has a good head of hops to it, and smelled like a really strong, classic I.P.A. The taste was fantastic. It was light to medium in the body, with a fairly dry taste all the way through. There was this citrus/sweet taste mixed in with the hops that balanced well and actually helped to smooth the bite of hops. If you don’t like hops, don’t drink this as it rates a 90 on the International Bitterness Units scale. For comparison, Guinness is around 45-60 ibu and the typical I.P.A. is around the same range. This is even at the upper end of the scale for an Imperial I.P.A. which is 60-100 ibu. The high ibu aside, you really don’t notice that much nor do you notice that it ranks in at a nice 9.0% ABV. The 9.0% is barely noticable, which is nice since some beers that are unbalanced when it comes to taste/ABV tend to be harsh. The 90 Min is smooth, flavorful and a great all around beer. I highly recommend giving it a shot. Again, thanks to Ivan for encouraging me to give it a go.
Verdict: Let’s see, at 9.0% ABV, and its a 90 minute Imperial…that makes 1.0% ABV per minute…wait…no every 10 minutes…ummm…whatever, math is the plaything of the unimaginative anyways. 9 out of 10 bottlecaps.
I wouldn’t say you have to be a hop-head to like this beer, but I would say that if you’re a fan of commercial American swill lager, this probably won’t be up your alley.
I was at a cookout and had both the 60 minute and the 90 minute. That’s pretty much all I had all day, and that was fine with me.
Glad you liked the brew!
As I said before… this beer is geared for maximum hammerage (as well as taste). I can not drink more than 2 of these guys.
Just tried this one… it was even stronger than the 90min. IPA!
Victory Hop Wallop
http://www.victorybeer.com/hop_wallop.html
Check it out!
I dare you to drink more than one!
Don’t recall seeing that around down here, but I’ll look and see if I can find it.
It’s only a 8.5% ABV Ivan, that’s not that bad
Victory Hop Wallop was good, but I wouldn’t say is was stronger than Dogfish Head 90 min. IPA. Victory Hop Devil is also worth a try.
Bell’s Two Hearted Ale is a great IPA for every day consumption.
But for the ultimate in hop heaven - try Bell’s Hopslam Ale. Sadly it is only a single batch release once a year and runs close to $15 a six-pack. Ouch! Still, I’ll plop down my $$$ in January when it makes the scene once again.