Finally, a Trip to Dogfish Head Craft Brewery

This month I finally was able to visit the holy grail of east coast brewing, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery.  In my opinion, this brewery isn't lionized because of its iconic brands such as the 90 Minute series but because co-founder Sam Calagione freed us from the Reinheitsgebot. Before Dogfish Head opened in 1995, almost all American beers adhered to the key features of this German law -- brewing with just malted barley, yeast, hops, and water. Calagione blew this stagnation out of the water by not only creating non-conformist beers but also becoming a mini-archeologist and brewing craft beverages enjoyed by ancient cultures. Think of excellent and provoking beers such as Midus Touch, Chateau Jiahu, or Theobroma. Then there is his innovation combining wine must and beer as with Noble Rot and Siracusa Nera. Or think of the special oak treatments such as the Palo Santo Marron. Thus, for those who love any of the funky, sour, or just crazy beers brewed by the thousands of craft breweries today, Dogfish Head was the pioneer.

The brewery is located in Milton Delaware, far from Sam's New England heritage and Dogfish Head, Maine in which the brewery is named. Instead, Delaware is the home state of co-founder and current VP Mariah Calagione -- Sam's wife. The brewery first opened in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware as a brewpub which is still operating today as Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats. After those early days the brewery's growth mandated a relocation to a larger facility in Milton, which has continued to expand as demand dictates.

Visitors to Dogfish Head first notice how the facility is massive, with fermenting tanks erected through ceilings and the long, long warehouse. Most are probably unaware of the equally large packaging facility located a football field behind the brewery.  Dogfish Head is easily the largest brewery I've ever seen outside a stop in Golden, Colorado. In fact, their experimental R&D unit alone is larger than most craft breweries. According to the Brewers Association, in 2017 Dogfish Head produced 276,243 barrels of beer. In comparison neighboring Crooked Hammock Brewing released 1,300 barrels and Burley Oak Brewing Company in Berlin, Maryland 2,800 barrels.  Yet Dogfish Head is still only the 12th largest independent craft brewery as defined by the Brewers Association.

In contrast to the brewing size, the tasting room is rather small - more comparable to a routine craft brewery. Obviously then, off season is the most opportune time to visit as I heard horror stories of long summer queues.  And there is no shortage of beers available as they pour close to two dozen beers as samples, pints, crowlers, or growlers. Where else can you find the 120 Minute IPA, Bourbon Barrel-Aged Palo Santo Marron, Pennsylvania Tuxedo, Viniferous IPA, or Wood-Aged Bitches Brew all in one spot. They even pour beers that have graduated from their R&D system but are not intended for wider distribution.

The tasting room is also where visitors schedule tours - and Dogfish Head offers several varieties. The shortest is the Quick Sip a 25 minute free tour that includes four free samples of beer. The hour long Off-Centered tour is most recommended where for $10 participants receive four samples and stops at " our 200-barrel brewhouse, Off-Centered Center and even our new R&D system where you’ll have a chance to sample one of our experimental brews and we finish the tour out at our packaging facility where we show you have everything is kegged, canned and bottled".  Of notable interest is the original brewing equipment (a bucket and electronic football game) used by Calagione to develop the 90 Minutes series. And on our tour we sampled an excellent IPA that most likely won't even make it into the tasting room. And for visitors who really plan ahead look for the limited Grain To Glass, Randall Jr., and Distillery tours with access to normally off-limit parts of the brewery. And yes the distillery official relocated from the Rehoboth Beach brewpub to a larger pasture in Milton.

For those heading to the Maryland or Delaware beaches, visiting Dogfish Head takes just a slight adjustment from your route.  For those brewery tourists, visit nearby Lewes and Rehoboth Beach to broaden your craft beverage trip. And as always, theCompass Craft Beverage Finder will guide you there.

Wine101.TV

Silver Springs Winery, located in Seneca Lake New York, has introduced an interesting concept for wineries - online tutorials at Wine101.TV. The tutorials consist of discussions on wine tasting and grape varietals. The first few episodes pertained to the labrusca varietals Catawba, Cayuga, and Delaware. The latest episode discusses Cabernet Sauvigon. The proprietors of Silver Springs Winery are Sari and John Zuccarino, whose Italian heritage includes 700 years of winemaking. The winery produces several types of vinifera and labrusca wines under the Don Giovanni and Silver Springs labels and some were recently recognized by Catherine Fallis (the world's fifth female Master Sommelier) in her latest book, Great Boutique Wines You Can Buy Online.

Wine 101 - Delaware

In 1812, Joseph Bonaparte, the former King of Spain and brother of Napoleon, fled political chaos in his home country and settled in Bordentown, New Jersey. There he built an estate called Bonaparte Garden. At the time, New Jersey wines were internationally renowned for their quality and London's Royal Society of the Arts had recognized two New Jersey vintners for their success in producing the first bottles of quality wine derived from colonial agriculture. Mr. Bonaparte planted vines on the fertile soil of his estate and legends suggest that vines from this estate led a grape revolution.

In 1837, Benjamin Heath, a blacksmith and wheelwright, moved to Concord Township from Frenchtown, New Jersey. He carried with him a grape that allegedly came from the Bonaparte Garden. Mr. Heath cultivated the grape for a number of years on his farm in Concord Township, Delaware County. Compared to other native varieties, this grape had a delicate fruity aroma and only a slight foxiness in the taste. He recognized the excellent qualities of the grape and shared cuttings with neighbors and friends. One of these neighbors, Abram Thomson, editor of the Delaware Gazette, was so impressed with the characteristics of the grape that, in 1855, he sent a specimen to the Massachusetts Horticultural Society for their study. The Society was thrilled with this new grape and called it the “Grape from Delaware, Ohio”.

The American Horticultural Society also recognized this grape and demand increased dramatically due to the world-wide marketing of its qualities. Delaware grapevines were sold in enormous quantities at prices ranging from $1 to $5 per plant - an exorbitant amount at a time when the average unskilled laborer made only about $1 per 12 hour workday, making the cost of the grapevines by today’s money from $72.00 to $360.00 each. This instigated a “grape fever”, similar to the California Gold Rush, where speculators attempted to grow and cultivate the grape in order to reap the enormous profits. As expected, most failed, since these entrepreneurs did not possess the necessary horticultural skills. Over time, demand for the vine declined and eventually leveled out after Prohibition.

Today, the Delaware Grape is grown throughout the Northeastern US, especially New York, and in Ohio, along Lake Erie. It is widely used in some premium champagne blends and in a few, used to produce a dessert wine and to make a light fruity semi-dry drinking wine.

One New York winery, Vetter Vineyards, is located along Lake Erie and vinifies the Delaware grape into a blush wine with apple, cherry and mild grape flavors. The winery’s owner, Mark Lancaster, has been making wine with this grape for almost 20 years and believes that it is a great regional grape. In fact it makes some of the most popular wines in Lake Erie region. He adds that entering the grape into competition would not increase sales since many people in the Lake Erie region are already familiar with the product or discover its great qualities after tasting it. Unfortunately, Mr. Lancaster predicts that cultivation of the grape will slowly decline since many vineyards are replacing it with Riesling in order to increase the yields of their vineyards.

This trend has not stopped a few wineries from producing excellent wine from the Delaware grape. New Jersey's Alba Vineyards produces an award winning dessert wine, Delaware Dolce, from grapes grown not far from Frenchtown. In Minnesota, Saint Croix Vineyards produces a drier wine that has won medals at the International Eastern Wine Competition and the Indiana State Fair. In sum, there are about 30 wineries making Delaware wine, primarily in Pennsyvania, New York, and Ohio. Hopefully one is near you.

Alba Vineyards - Delaware Dolce

We've been drinking alot of dessert wines lately and one of our favorites is Alba Vineyard's Delaware Dolce. The wine consists of 100% Delaware grape, named from the surrounding Delaware County or Delaware River. Alba Vineyard's Delaware grapes are grown in their vineyards just 2 miles from the Delaware River. This grape is a native Labrusca that we will discuss in next Monday's Wine 101 posting.

The Delaware Dolce reminds us of the great Tokaji Aszu wines. In fact, it has won medals at several international wine competitions such as the Pacific Rim International Wine Competition, the Florida State Fair International Wine Competition, the Finger Lakes International Wine Competition, and the Taster's Guild International. The wine's nose is a combination of pineapple and honey; whereas the flavor is fruity, primarily apricot. At the finish, the muskiness of the Labrusca grape is barely distinuishable. Instead the finish is balanced between sweetness and acidity of the wine. At $19.99, the Delaware Dolce is very affordable as compared to the Tokaji or other premium dessert wines.