Dfh 120 Wtf!?!!!

O.k. so after finally getting my hands on some DFH 120 (my buddy brought some back from Oregon) I have to say that I am thouroughly dissapointed. It is probably one of the worst beers i have ever had.

Let me qualify this by saying that I love big strong, malty beers. I love big strong hoppy beers. I love IIPAs' and Barley Wines. I pretty much love any beer that is ballanced and for that matter is even the slightest bit drinkable. I just love beer, good beer that is.

After reading about, hearing about, dreaming about, and longing for some DFH 120 I was finally going to have my day in the sun. My friend and I gathered together to sample the supposed nectar. We pulled out the best beer glasses on a beautifully sunny day with just enough breeze to keep you cool without blowing the heaad off the top of your glass. We cracked the cap and slowly poured the contents into our waiting and expectant glasses. With a raise of the glass and a slight nod to the gods we hefted the amber elixer to our lips. We both took a modest sip of the famous brew and quietly absorbed the experience of finally tasting the 120. Without saying a word we both took a second taste, just to be sure that we weren't missing anything. After a minute or so we looked at eachother and without hesitation agreed that this was without a doubt the biggest piece of crap, over priced, overstated, syruppy, cloingly sweet, load of B.S. that either one of us had ever experienced. It promptly went down the drain.

This is the first time that I have ever publicly bashed a beer like this and had it not been for all the hype that this beer recieves and the price tag that it has ($9 for a 12 oz. bottle) I would just let it go and chaulk it up as another shi&!y beer. But dammit, its not. It's DFH 120 and it's supposed to be the BOMB! Right? Anyway, I was extremely disappointed and wanted to here what others of you have to say for yourselves for touting how great this beer is. I'm sure that I'll get bashed for this but screw it, I can't be alone in this. Surely others of you have had the same experience. I suppose I could of gotten the worst beer to ever come off of their line or maybe it just needs to age for a year but as it stands it was BAD!

On a high note, prior to this beer we had their bourbon barrel aged Imperial IPA and it was fantastic. One of the best beers I have ever had. So, I don't want to say that DFH is all bad but the my experience with the 120 was horrendous. Anyone have any other experince with it?

Cheers

Don't feel bad... I live 2 miles from the main brewery and I think their beers are "meh". Overall, I do like the company though and have a lot of respect for Sam. I can also understand his pricing. He's a smart business man and it costs more to use the kind of ingredients and make the kinds of beer they do.

PS: I'm almost ashamed to say I've never had the 120. I guess that shows how much I like DFH beer.

I haven't tried it yet...

But I have to say good sir or madame, that you have written the best post ever in the history of my time on here!!

I am sorry it didn't turn out...sadly we are not going to like every beer we try , everyone's taste is different...

Have you tried Oaked Arrogant Bastard? Go get some and wash your mouth out with it...It will make up for the bitter taste of dissapointment you are currently feeling!

I thought it was alright. Maybe its just too big of a beer for me and isn't something I could sip and enjoy. I did have a chance to try a 2 year cellared 120 min that was a lot more mellow.

Oaked Arrogant Bastard, tried one this weekend, and it was quite the tasty.....

MattMann said:

Oaked Arrogant Bastard, tried one this weekend, and it was quite the tasty.....

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It blew me away...I wrote up my tasting notes for beer advocate and posted them here.https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?p=791116#post791116

OK-A lesson about DFH 120. It is sweeter/heavier/more alcohol than what you would expect. This is a SIPPING beer. Not a drinking beer. I put it in the same league as a fine scotch or whiskey. The alcohol content is between 18-21 % I have in my fermenter a DFH 120 min clone. For the hops alone I spent $30. This puts the cost per bottle about $2.75.

Drink it like scotch-not beer and I'm sure you'll have a different story.

I'm with VatorMan on this one. I like it, slowly.

That said, that is some of the best prose I've ever read. Starts out elegant, reflecting the expectations of the drinker. And then it veers into pure emotion, this time reflecting the true feelings of the drinker.

Hemmingway would be proud. A fine piece of writing.

Disregard the gay fruity drink mix of my wifes....

i don't like the 90, so I think I definetely won't like the 120. I've skipped the 120 when I could have tried it.

dfh is okay at best.

Thanks for the kind words on the post. Glad to know that I am not alone on my observations of the beer and yes, I also respect Sam of DFH for his ingenuity and spirit. I just wish that I had heard some dissenting opinions prior to trying this, I was expecting harps and fireworks and instead bit into a **** Sandwich! Anyway, maybe I'll get another one and age it. It might be worth giving it some time.

On an upside I just scored a third place for my Brown ale in a local comp and it is tasting quite nice as is my IPA. Hope you all are having a great summer.

Cheers!

Save one for three years and tell me you don't like it then.

The first 120 I had was three years old, and awesome. I tried a newer one and hated it.

This stuff is hop flavored vodka. I was expecting much more out of this (many thanks to PseudoChef for gettiing me a bottle of this to try :rockin DFH60 and DFH90 are both very good (but not great) beers, so my expectations were for DFH 120 to exceed both of them.

I guess I should preface this by saying that I don't drink liquor at all. In fact, I hate it. I hate the alcohol burn. I've had 17% beers that still tasted like beer to me - this did not. As I mentioned before, it tasted like hop flavored vodka to me.

I'd never buy it. I'd buy just about any other DFH product though.

I have yet to try it. I like the 90min alot, and would definately recommend aging a bottle or two of the 120 if you have the opportunity.

Yeah like I said I think giving one a good deal of time would be worthwhile. Also, the Bourbon aged IIPA was really great. Among the beat IIPAs' that I've had. For me the 120 was just so sweet that I couldn't even choke it down. The hops really didn't come through much and all that was left was 20% abv of sweetness. I'll give some aging a try one of these days but not for awhile.

Cheers

+1 to the OP.
It's refreshing to see another person step out there and speak some truth about this unbalanced brew.
It's my opinion that the 90 minute is a better brew but I blend that with their Brown to make something similar to Burton Baton.
Sure you can drop to the 60 and get a good quality IPA but at that point, I'll buy a 12er of Bridgeport IPA for $12 and be totally pumped.
I'm not here to bash DFH. In fact, I'll raise a toast to Sam and his gang all day long because they're bloody creative.

I aged bottle for 3 years in my cellar and I thought it was okay. I had a friend who has his the day I bought them and he hated it. I really think this one needs to be forgotten about for years and let it mellow out some.

Mike

DrinksWellWithOthers said:

I thought it was alright. Maybe its just too big of a beer for me and isn't something I could sip and enjoy. I did have a chance to try a 2 year cellared 120 min that was a lot more mellow.

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I had a similar reaction to 120 (too sweet, cloying) but I didn't want to give up on it. I have a bottle I've managed not to touch for over a year now, and I want to see what another year'll do for it.

And I think the oak-aged DFH is Burton Baton, which is a terrific beer.

I've had the 60, 90 and 120. Much prefer the 60.

david_42 said:

I've had the 60, 90 and 120. Much prefer the 60.

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At the local DFH alehouse-They'll make you a 75. 1/2 60 and 1/2 90. That's my favorite.

VatorMan said:

At the local DFH alehouse-They'll make you a 75. 1/2 60 and 1/2 90. That's my favorite.

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+1 I like the 75 much more than the 60 or 90 individually.

I was infatuated with two of the big DFH beers (the 120, World Wide Stout) when I first tasted them. Then I began to realize that they just tasted too heavy and waaaaay too sweet. Even slowly sipping these beers is a bit much - but I've never aged mine to any appreciable degree.

Even my bottle shop owner said he was very disappointed with DFH120, he only sells it cause people want it. $10 for a 12 oz beer that everyone that I have talked to thinks is very disappointing makes me have no desire to even try it.

I am with you all, way too sweet. I haven't had an aged one, but then again, I couldn't sit on a beer for 3 years.

findthefish said:

Save one for three years and tell me you don't like it then.

The first 120 I had was three years old, and awesome. I tried a newer one and hated it.

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+1 on that. Cellar that beast and you'll be in heaven!!!!

david_42 said:

I've had the 60, 90 and 120. Much prefer the 60.

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Aye...my preference as well.

I haven't had the 120 but have tried 60 (nothing special) and the DFH india brown ale... that one is well hard to describe. The first bottle I took a drink and spit it out, it actually bit me! By the time I got to the last bottle of the six in about 4 weeks I had grown accustomed to it. Very harsh caramelization( fought the hops for bitterness) didn't seem well balanced and made me think the company should have been called Dead Fish Head. I would still like to try some of their other beers simply due to the apparent appeal it has for many beer snobs.

VatorMan said:

At the local DFH alehouse-They'll make you a 75. 1/2 60 and 1/2 90. That's my favorite.

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That's my go to beer at the alehouse. Order yourself a buffalo chicken sandwich (not on the menu) and a 75 and you've got yourself a meal!

I really enjoy the 60, but the 120?? No thanks...they can keep it for someone else

I've never had the 120 (only the 60 and 90), but the majority of things I've heard haven't been positive.

I'm of the opinion that a commercial beer shouldn't need aging in order to be drinkable. If aging makes it better, that's great. But you should be able to drink it shortly after you buy it without gagging. Just my opinion ....

I haven't had the 120 either, too pricy, but DFA have some good stuff, I've been meaning to do a twist on their Mitis Touch, which is a very interesting experience if you haven't had one.

I can't stand the 60 minute, too grapefruity, but I adore the 90 minute. I've had the 120 a couple times. It is extremely sweet, but not terrible, since there is still a big hop kick as well. It took me an hour to drink the whole thing. It was fun to try, but I don't plan on getting it again.

I love the 120, it's a sipping beer indeed. I also love mixing the 60 and 90, that's my favorite DFH beverage, aside from their vodka yum

98EXL said:

I love the 120, it's a sipping beer indeed. I also love mixing the 60 and 90, that's my favorite DFH beverage, aside from their vodka yum

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Yeah, don't they call that the 75 minute IPA?

Torchiest said:

Yeah, don't they call that the 75 minute IPA?

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yeah, but those who know only know because they've been to the alehosue

That's funny because I really didn't get any big hop kick out of it at all. It was all sweetness. Like I said, for me anyway, it was so sweet that it was undrinkable even as a sipping beer. I think that it needed more of a hop kick to offset everything else.

Honestly, I'm not sure that even aging this would really help, although I'll take your word for it for those of you that have done it. At $9-$10 for a 12oz. bottle I can think of many other spectacular beers that I can enjoy right now, for half the price.

I have never had a DFH I enjoyed. Tried them all, but I didn't care for them. The 120 did give me a quick head rush, but it took a while to choke down (way too sweet). I had always heard good things about DFH and was upset that Missouri doesn't carry the brand, but after traveling back home to Illinois and sampling all they offered I came away very disappointed and now feel OK about not getting them in St. Louis.

findthefish said:

Save one for three years and tell me you don't like it then.

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I'll try it, or try to find some older stock, then I'll let you know.
B