Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA

Is it sacrilegious to think Dogfish Head 120 minute IPA isn't that good? From a lot of the talk on here I was thinking it was the holy grail of American craft beer. I bought a $10 bottle and thought it was a sweet mess! Okay, it wasn't bad, but it was certainly an over sweet barely wine to my palate. It poured with the viscosity of 0W motor oil, which was kind of cool actually. It smelled nice and hoppy but also more like wort with some ethanol added rather than beer. Then it just hit the mouth sweet, went down sweet, and left a sweet after taste. Not entirely unpleasant, but not what I am shooting for when I want a beer.

The guy at the beer store warmed me to share it with 3 or 4 other people, I thought he just couldn't take his hops. Turns out I think he was right, this was like a "dessert" beer if there ever was one. I think 3 or 4 oz. in a snifter would work, but an entire glass was overkill to me. If I cloned this I would be gifting a lot of beer to a lot of people or aging it for years...although that may improve it!

After trying the 90 min, I never bothered with the 120. 60 is perfect for me.

The 120's not that good, IMO. Of the 3, the 60 is my favorite. At the pubs, you can get a 75 (blend of 60/90) which is also very nice. I'd take Stone's Ruination (or IPA) over all of them, though.

Still searching for some 120 myself, but I love the 60 and 90.

Yeah, i appreciate the 120 for the effort and the boldness, but i could never imagine drinking another one.

No, not at all. I liken it to hop flavored Vodka, and since I don't like liquor I won't be trying DFH120 again.

I must have had an old bottle as I didn't perceive any hop presence (bitter/flavor/aroma) in the one I had. Thus, way too sweet. I don't care for any of DFH's IPA offerings. I blame it on sub-par distribution here, though, as I had the same effect with the 60min IPA. Tasted more like a cream ale to me, with almost no hop presence in the product.

PseudoChef said:

I must have had an old bottle as I didn't perceive any hop presence (bitter/flavor/aroma) in the one I had. Thus, way too sweet. I don't care for any of DFH's IPA offerings. I blame it on sub-par distribution here, though, as I had the same effect with the 60min IPA. Tasted more like a cream ale to me, with almost no hop presence in the product.

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I'm not too crazy about 60 or 90 either, but they're decent. 60 is the best of the lot. 90 is too sweet.

PseudoChef said:

I must have had an old bottle as I didn't perceive any hop presence (bitter/flavor/aroma) in the one I had. Thus, way too sweet. I don't care for any of DFH's IPA offerings. I blame it on sub-par distribution here, though, as I had the same effect with the 60min IPA. Tasted more like a cream ale to me, with almost no hop presence in the product.

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At least I had some hop presence in mine, but it was totally overwhelmed by sweetness.

I don't know if I would blame it on the distribution, I find the 60 min IPA to be more like an APA. The hops take a back seat, I thought, and that should not be the case in an IPA. I do like the 60 min, but just not as an IPA.

BeezBrew said:

Yeah, i appreciate the 120 for the effort and the boldness, but i could never imagine drinking another one.

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Agreed, overall I am glad I tried one...but mainly just so I can say I have had it and have a real opinion about it. Certainly not because I thought it was worth $10 for 12 oz.

SumnerH said:

The 120's not that good, IMO. Of the 3, the 60 is my favorite. At the pubs, you can get a 75 (blend of 60/90) which is also very nice. I'd take Stone's Ruination (or IPA) over all of them, though.

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Oh yeah, I have gone to beer dinners with Stone and Dogfish Head. I just like the boldness of the Stone offerings better, but others I went with preferred the Dogfish Head. I think it is just a matter how much much of a hop head you are and if you like in your face beer.

I actually took a hydrometer reading of the 120 and got 1.032...you could make a mild with an OG like that!

PseudoChef said:

I must have had an old bottle as I didn't perceive any hop presence (bitter/flavor/aroma) in the one I had. Thus, way too sweet. I don't care for any of DFH's IPA offerings. I blame it on sub-par distribution here, though, as I had the same effect with the 60min IPA.

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The 120 and to a lesser extent the 90 are just like that if you get them on tap in a DFH pub. The 60's fairly hoppy.

I think that the 90 is the best of the three but I settle for drinking the 60 because it's cheaper.

I like 90 the best. I actually like the sweetness and it seems to have a little more hop presence. I agree about the 60 though, the hops just don't strut their stuff at all. I do plan on picking up the 120, but it will have to be for my birthday cause yeah, ten bucks is a lot of dough for 12 ounces.

steelerguy said:

Oh yeah, I have gone to beer dinners with Stone and Dogfish Head.

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I have too, because I would rather give away the Dogfish Head than drink it. Come to think of it, most of the DFH in my fridge came by other people giving it to me...

But I would never give away a Bells or Stone beer. Those I hide.

I was never a fan of the 120 or 90. The 60 on the other hand is one of my favorite beers and i brew a 60minute IPA frequently that is based on Yooper's recipe, but I play with the hops a lot...

120 is hyped up soooo much. fresh its okay to try out. it really shines after you stash it away for a while. My birthday that just passed i got snowed in and couldn't party like i normally do so i broke out a 09 08 07 that i had in my stash, did a vertical tasting with two buddies that where in walking distance of me (we got like 3ft of snow). it was way better the older it was. i'd take a world wide stout over a 120 any day.