The craft beer explosion has certainly been something I've enjoyed. When we travel, we look to go to new breweries or ones we have visited before and love. We often go to one of the breweries close to us because we like the beer, space, food truck, or some combination of those things. It's been a big part of our lives, as it has for many millennials, and that hasn't stopped because we have a kid. It's pretty funny, actually, how many kids are running around breweries these days.
I'm on Untappd and have been busy. For a while I looked at badges and tried for certain ones. Now I just use it to keep track of what I've tried and if I liked it. They sent an email at the end of last year with 'My year in beer.' Don't remember the exact number, but I had 200 odd check-ins and the same number of unique beers. That's exactly how I'm using it.
I definitely don't plan to make this a beer blog, as I try quite a few of them and Untappd is a better place for keeping track. What I will do, however, is highlight a particular favorite from time to time. Today that'll be Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA.
Dogfish Head brewery has been a big player on the craft beer scene since before the total surge in popularity. They have continued to grow and expand and their beer can even be found in Minnesota these days, which is great if we move back. The brewery itself is in Milton Delaware, 2.5 hours from our house. We've made the trip about once a year since moving to Maryland and I always love it, though they close surprisingly early.
The DFH staple IPAs have long been their '60 Minute' and '90 Minute' which is how long they continuously hop the brew. For quite a while, the 60 minute was my favorite beer here on the east coast. It's super drinkable and even my wife, who never enjoys hops, found herself liking it recently. My fave east coast beer now is Julius from Tree House, but that'll be a post for another day (when I can get some!).
The 90 has a much stronger flavor than the 60 and for quite a while I really didn't like it. Now not only has that changed, it's become a real go-to that I can find anywhere around here. The other beers I can think to rank above it I can't get year round or in this part of the country. I've always enjoyed DFH IPAs because they have a really lasting bitter flavor, but what separates the 90 right now is the strong maltiness, almost like something to chew on. (This is actually why I didn't like it previously but the flavors I like in beer keep changing.) There's some pine and citrus at the start, sure, but it's what lingers that often attracts and brings me back to certain beers. And I've bought three six packs of the 90 in a row. It is 9% ABV so you need to watch out for that. Now that I think of it, I probably need to give it a higher rating on Untappd...
Cheers!
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