Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA Review

Name: Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA
Style: Imperial IPA
ABV: 18% According to BeerAdvocate, 15-20% per Dogfish Head

Tonight I have a special treat for you guys. Just a couple of weeks ago, Dogfish Head became available in our area much to the delight of craft beer drinkers here. One of the most highly anticipated beers to arrive on the store shelf was their 120 Minute IPA, which is considered to be one of the most highly sought after Imperial IPAs in the country, ranking up it there with the likes of Heady Topper and Pliny the Elder.

Back when I lived in Chicago, Dogfish Head was fairly easy to find; Even the little convenience store which was right around the corner from me, a place that you would never guess even had craft beer, had it in stock. However the "Yeti" of the Dogfish Head beers was always the 120 Minute IPA, with rumored sightings of it at the various liquor stores around Chicago but it was nowhere to be seen when I went to look for myself. Somehow my co-worker always seemed to find it and loved to boast about it whenever he found it.

That is why I consider myself very fortunate and lucky to have finally found a bottle of this after 2 years of waiting. In fact, this beer was even listed on my beer bucket list that I made last year. Now the ABV of this beer is subject to speculation because BeerAdvocate lists it at 18% while Dogfish Head throws out a guesstimate of 15-20%. Either way that makes this the highest ABV beer that I have tried to date.

120 Minute IPA pours a very hazy dark orange color. The head is very thin in appearance and I'm not picking up on too much in terms of lacing. It's also too cloudy to see if there is any carbonation at all in here.

The aroma extremely strong, like you have a knee-jerk reaction to reel your head back from the sheer power of the nose. I'm picking up on some freshly peeled oranges, and candied caramel malts which borderlines on smelling like actual candy. Interestingly enough, I'm also not picking up on any booziness and if there is any in here, it's very well hidden. No matter how you look at it, the nose is very overwhelming and strong.

Upon taking my first sips, the flavor actually is very malt forward at first but then the hops and booziness rush in and proceed to just punch you right in the face. It starts out with some strong candied caramel malts and brown sugar but the hop profile opens up in a big way to some piney hops, grapefruits and robust citrus hops along with the said booziness. As for the aftertaste, it's got an extremely bitter hop flavor that lingers around. It's also worth noting, however, that as it warms up, the boozy kick that's present in the front of the flavor actually goes away. I'm not sure if it's the warmth or my palate getting used to the power of it but it becomes a lot more bearable the further in you go.

The palate is very heavy and quite thick but thankfully the carbonation is very light, which is a good thing because the flavor profile is already strong enough as is.

Despite the sheer power of this beer, it has a lot more balance to it than Evil Twin's Molotov Cocktail (the strongest Imperial IPA I've had up until now). The big difference here is that while it does taste boozy, it's masked by the other flavors which are equally as strong, if not, stronger. I think it goes without saying that this beer is definitely not for everyone and may be too intense for some; After all, the first time sipping this I was coughing! So would I say it's worth checking out? If you are a hop head that is looking for an absolute monster of a beer that will leave a lasting impression, then this beer is for you!

Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA - 9.25/10


  1. Where did you find it? I'd love to try it!

  2. I'm not sure where you're located at but I got this at Keyport Liquor in Superior, Wisconsin. They had a 2 bottle per customer limit and are currently sold out. Hopefully they'll be stocking more soon!