Every once in a while you see something that makes you take pause and go “wow – this is something new.” That’s what I did when I saw these uncanny animated gif loops. They feature craft beer folk hero Sam Calagione brewing up a batch of a new strawberry beer which Dogfish Head is prototyping at their Rehoboth Beach brewpub starting today.
If you’re anywhere near Rehoboth Beach, Delaware this weekend, please pop in for a pint of strawberry goodness and let us know how it tasted.
The images were created by Kevin Burg and Jamie Beck, a couple of Sam’s buddies who also happen to be enormously talented gif givers. Check out their website for other eerie and awesome animations. They were even featured in the New York Times yesterday.
Click an image and let it loop a couple of times so you get the full effect – very cool stuff!
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- Strawberry picking with Sam
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- Into the fruit press with you! The beer will have a pound of strawberries per gallon when all is said and done.
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- This is why we need robots…
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- Mmm..strawberry juice!
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- They skipped the malt and went for the sorghum. Gluten-intolerant folks rejoice!
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- Into the kettle with the strawberry juice. This is the coolest image IMO.
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- Sam says dark buckwheat honey plays nice with strawberries. I guess he’d know.
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- I bet that smells like heaven.
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- If you’re lucky, you’ll get a taste at the brewpub. If you’re even luckier, it won’t take this long for your beer to pour!
Beer & Whiskey Brothers 
Cool. It looks like a bottomless kettle of blood being poured in.
Mmm…a bottomless kettle of blood. I bet that’s just what they were going for! 🙂
Nice images–once again DFH is bringing craft beer into the limelight.
But though I applaud Sam and the folks at DFH for all they’re doing for the craft brew industry, of those DFH beers I’ve tried I didn’t really like many. I recently decided to try 90′ IPA again and once again found it too sweet for my beer palate. I did a taste comparison between 90′ IPA and Dale’s IPA, the 90′ IPA lost hands-down. I think the problem may lie in the fact that DFH prefers to brew high-alcohol beers that usually require extra sugar of some sort. This results in a sweeter end product and the sweetness detracts from the hoppy bitterness one expects in an ale (although I have had high-alcohol Aussie beers that weren’t sweet.) Also, to be perfectly honest, I drink beer for its taste and mouth feel (I love a creamy oatmeal stout), not for its alcohol content–6.5% alcohol is fine with me. I guess my message here is that I for one would like to see DFH concentrate on producing a few new high-quality 6-7% beers. I’d really like to like them.
That’s funny, because I just had the opposite experience with the DFH 90 Minute IPA. When I first had it, I found it to be too cloying and overpowering. You’re right in that there’s a lot of malt in there and a wallop of hops as well. I tried it again a few weeks ago and totally fell in love with it. It now ranks among my top IPAs.
One of the great things about craft beer is that there’s something for every palate, but probably not from a single brewer. I think DFH will also brew wild, big-flavored beers with higer ABV’s, so I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for them to start producing lots of session beers. But they’re not the only fish in the sea (just the only Dogfish). I was looking over the selection from Left Hand Brewing at the beer store yesterday, and they seemed to have lots of lower ABV goodies to try. On was even a 4%’er! I’d probably never but it (I like ’em boozy) but I think it’s cool that they exist.
Try their Lawnmower Pale Ale (4.0% ABV) or the Shelter Pale Ale (5.0% ABV) for some good lower alcohol/session beers. And maybe it’s just that your palate and their beers are on different wave-lengths. Nothing wrong with that. You appreciate what they do overall for the craft beer industry even if they aren’t producing any beers you can get into.
Me personally, I’ve got a big love for the Dogfish Head line. Doesn’t hurt that a trip to my in-laws usually involves a trip to their Rehoboth Beach brewpub and I live 15 minutes from one of their locations in VA. Some of their brews I thought I wouldn’t care for but wound up really liking. To each his own.
I also think that craft is best when it distributed no more than regionally. It can lose something in transport, for all the effort the brewery puts into properly moving it. For me, it just means I have to travel to try new stuff. Or have friends send me something.
Totally agree with the beer for every palate. I personally love 90 minute…one of my favorite IPA’s (but then again, I also like Dale’s). However, I do know IPA drinkers that don’t like the 90 minute for various reasons.
I think the Dogfish motto “off-centered ales for off-centered people” is quite accurate in predicting the people that will like their beers. If you’re tied to the “brewed to style” concept of beer where you judge a beer based on how much it resembles the true definition of a style, then Dogfish might not be for you (still not bad beer, just not to your liking). But if you’re a bit “off-centered,” don’t give a crap about the technical definition of a beer style, and can appreciate a beer for the innovation it brings to the table (as well as the quality with which it was crafted), then Dogfish may be right up your alley.
Personally, I’ll buy anything Dogfish puts out…can’t get enough of them.
I actually prefer the 60-Minute to the 90-Minute. For me, the 90-Minute is too sweet and malty (more like a barley wine than anything else).
Left Hand does have some decent session beers and some that are not so great. I like The Stranger and the Polestar Pilsner is pretty good on a hot day. I had the 400 Pound Monkey on cask, which was terrific, but also had it on draft when it smelled like sweaty gym shorts. 😦 Left Hand is very hit or miss for me.
Sweaty gym shorts you say? Hmmm..sounds like one of my home brews (just leave it in a hamper for a month).
I want this to strawberry beer to make a beer float! yuuuuuuuum!
Well they do make a raspberry one called Fort that’d be good as well.
But – a sad warning Jules – every ice cream float I’ve ever had with beer has been awful! 😦
Don’t listen to Jim! Every beer float I’ve had had been great. 😉
ScottG;
I agree w/ you about regional beers, which is why I’d like to find some DFH to my taste ( I live in MD.) But there are a lot of good local craft brewers around here and I get to try many of them each fall come the microbrew fest at Union Mills, MD. Thats also why, although I’m in love w/ Dale’s right now (brewed in CO), I’d really like to find another ‘favorite’ IPA. To be honest I prefer dark beers, but doc told me to steer clear because the higher oxalic acid content could contribute to my kidney stone problem.
Chris; I think most folks who know me would say that ‘off-centered” would be a very kind way to describe me. But being fair-minded, I’ve laid a few bottles of 90’ aside to try again later–maybe my opinion will change.
Jim; food for thought, lower alcohol means you can drink more at one time.
All; thanks for the tip on Left Hand beers, I’ll be looking for them.
Actually, I’m getting more and more into session beers, Wayne. I’d like to say it’s because I’ve matured or my palate is more refined, but mostly it’s because I’m feeling old and tired lately and they don’t bog me down as much!
My brother and I were lucky to get a couple samplers of this strawberry brew. It was really, really good. The strawberry wasn’t overpowering and I got most of it on the post-sip nose exhale.
I agree, DFH really pushes the envelope with their beers, which I respect, but don’t always enjoy. If you want to taste something truly over-the-top sweet try and get your hands on a 120 minute (18% above). WOW! My taste buds are more in tune with the stylings of Founder’s and Victory…
The 120 made Don’sskin crawl, but I like it in a barleywine way. Even better is their World Wide Stout. Huge ABV but more drinkable IMO.
I recently purchased a bomber of DFH’s Squall ipa, but have not tried it yet. I believe this to be a variation of the 90 minute. Any idea of where my expectations should be?