Whether you'd think it's better depends on what you like in a beer. Dogfish Head's 90-Minute IPA has more alcohol and more hop bitterness than the 60-Minute version; the progression goes something like, 60-Minute is an IPA, 90-Minute is an Imperial IPA, 120-Minute is ridiculous overkill.

DFH 120 minute is also $10 per 12oz bottle and somewhere around 18% ABV. It's a simply ridiculous beer.

greggwiggins, can you explain what the 60-90-120 difference is in relation to the brewing process for these IPA's? I knew it once, but it is lost somewhere in the back of my mind.

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

IPAs are a style that tend to have more alcohol and more hoppiness than a lot of other beers. And, basically, with Dogfish Head's xx-Minute IPAs the higher the number of minutes on the label the higher the alcohol content and the more bitter the beer is.

Most IPAs are made from a recipe calling for more malted barley than a traditional pale ale; this means there's more sugar for the wee beasties known as yeast to convert into alcohol and bubbles. 60-Minute IPA is 6% alcohol, 90-Minute IPA is 9% alcohol and 120-Minute IPA was originally a (in brewery founder Sam Calagione's own description to me) "<BLEEP>ing ridiculous" 20% alcohol, but that's been reduced to a mere 18%. (Sam describes each of these beers in video clips at the links I've included.) A longer fermentation process is needed to reach those higher alcohol levels.

A lot of hops are used to make these beers, which is also a hallmark of the IPA style. So, a lot of hops go into 60, more hops are used for 90 and still more for 120. Hoppiness is measured by brewers in something called International Bittering Units or IBU. Anheuser-Busch's Budweiser (this is from memory, so it may be wrong but I'm close) is 11 IBU; 60-Minute IPA is 60 IBU, 90-Minute IPA is 90 IBU and 120-Minute IPA is 120 IBU.

:cool: Thanks. ^

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Online Guest Feedback Coordinator
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

They also use a Randall to accentuate the hop flavor in their beer. Other beers like Pliny the Elder from RR don't need this to achieve the same hoppiness.

To answer your question, no I haven't. I'm on a world IPA tour right now in my fridge, so I'm pretty well stocked, but on my next beer run I think I'll pick some up and report back, maybe with a side by side comparison.

That's one of the uses of a Randall (the name given a type of filter through which beer is passed between keg and tap; when filled with fresh hop cones and used with a high-alcohol beer the alcohol pulls the hop oils from the hops and infuses a very assertive fresh-hop flavor to a beer) but I've also attended a northern California beer festival where a Berliner weisse was served through a Randall filled with raspberries. A very refreshing drink and an interesting take on the typical squirt of fruit syrup added to beers of that style.

But the large majority of places serving Dogfish Head's and other breweries' hoppy beers don't even own a Randall, much less serve a particular beer through it all the time. The effort and expense of getting a twice-or-thrice-daily load of fresh hops for Randallization makes that improbable. I don't know of any bar or brewpub that uses a Randall more often than weekly, and even then it's only for a couple of hours.

Great American Beer Festival Winners' List
 

To spark a few more discussions here, I'm posting a link to the searchable database of winning beers at the Great American Beer Festival (GABF) held Sept. 24-26 in Denver.

These beers were picked through blind tastings by panels of judges, most of whom are brewers themselves. Many people in the industry will tell you a gold medal from the GABF is the most prestigious award in American brewing.

A very successful showing for our local Pizza Port/Port Brewing team. 12 medals, including 8 Golds and Large Brewpub/Brewer of the year!