Is all dogfish head beer expensive?

[david58]

Just too many good beers around here for reasonable prices to spend that much. I do swing out once a month or so and get a couple of bottles of Guinness Foreign Extra Stout, but we get stuff like Deschutes Red Chair, Ninkasi's whole lineup, and our local non-bottling breweries for far less. In the range of what I call "good" beers, I don't know that I can say I've had many that are enough better or different to be worth $10 or more a bottle (or, usually, $5 or more for 22oz).

 

[tchuklobrau]

lol DH chateu jiahu is 15.99 a bottle here. i think that is cheap. i have a freind that has spent $300.00 US for 1 bottle of beer. Sam Adams millenium bock. and he bought 2 one to drink for the y2k celebration and one full bottle sits on his display.

 

[ceweldon]

I personally think 90min is a thing of beauty, and the price for a 4 pack is well worth it. I love Cigar City, and the others mentioned but IMO 90Min is as good as it gets. I also love alternating a 90min with an Aprihop.

 

[nikkormat]

palo santo marron for 14.99 in socal, price is typical for DFH

 

[Airborneguy]

They are one of the worst-priced and most overrated beers in craft brewing, though (e.g. when Isabelle Proximus was brewed as a collaborative effort between Avery/Russian River/Allagash/Lost Abbey/Dogfish, they poured out more than half of Dogfish head's contribution as not up to par; generally, the Dogfish quality control is pretty crappy).

Dead on.

All everyone who "thinks" they know craft beer around here talks about is Dogfish Head. I really can't stand most of what they brew, and can only tolerate some other stuff.

 

[beerjunky828]

I think they make stellar beer. I mean their IBA is delicious. Raison D'etre is amazing. 60 and 90 min is good. Definitely not my favorite of the styles for their 60 and 90. Punkin is good. Aged Palo Santo and Immort Ale is incredible. I think that they make good beers and are reasonably price. They use some quality ingredients. I believe that some of their specialty beers can be a little on the upside. But their beer ages very well. Their is nothing like a 1 year aged Immort Ale. Also a 1 year aged Palo Santo is great too.

 

[BrewFrisco]

I cannot join the DFH Hate Crew because they have truly been responsible for introducing me to the craft market years ago... I have always been intrigued by their offerings and then the inability to obtain 90% of it here in Texas. The Punkin Ale is my favorite of the pumpkin style (and rightfully so for DFH as they introduced this beer style to the market). The DFH90 is a damn good beer - we pay about $14 for the 4pk and $10 for a 6pk of the 60min.

Now days - I pretty much only get the DFH if I am in a store and they only have this as the main event for craft beer offerings. Otherwise, when November comes around the punkin ale is on the shelves - I am there.

Overpriced? I don't think so...
The best on the market? I don't think so either...
Good Beer? Hell Yes....

 

[robtotten]

India Brown is usually $11 a six pack here in Louisville. That and Festina Peche are the only DFH beers I make it a point to drink.

 

[SumnerH]

I cannot join the DFH Hate Crew because they have truly been responsible for introducing me to the craft market years ago... I have always been intrigued by their offerings and then the inability to obtain 90% of it here in Texas. The Punkin Ale is my favorite of the pumpkin style (and rightfully so for DFH as they introduced this beer style to the market)

Buffalo Bill's Brewery introduced their Pumpkin ale in 1986, and by the late 80s there were numerous commercial versions.

Dogfish Punkin ale debuted at the 1994 Punkin Chunkin contest--they introduced it before the brewpub officially opened, but it was still a newcomer to the pumpkin game.

EDIT: It's a good one, though. Not quite as good as Southern Tier Pumking, IMO, but one of Dogfish's successes.

 

[ReefkprZ]

shipyard's "pumpkin head" is one of the best most years. last year the pumpkin head was crap. the year before last it was spectacular. this year it was great. shipyards pumpkin head is one of the best in a good season, and mediocre in an off, but that's a small brewery for you.

 

[Homercidal]

I have tried a few DFH beers, and I love their MO, but honestly, I can get their cheaper beer styles from a local brewery (IPA's, etc.) like Bells or Founders, and I think they are actually better. But I do like to try the oddball beers, if only to check it out.

What they do is often unusual and usually expensive to produce. That's why it "costs more".

 

[ongreystreet]

I am a huge fan of Dogfish, but we've had it in Maryland/DE long before a lot of other people have.

Some of their beers are well worth the recognition, such as the 60, 90, 120 minute IPAs, I think most people will agree this is their forte, and well worth a try even at the steeper prices.

Some of their other beers are probably on a similar level as your local brewpub or brewery. It's really supply and demand, if people are willing to buy DHF beer for twice the price of their local and their demand is such that they can't fill all their orders, how can you blame them? The consumer is driving the price, not the brewer.

 

[scoundrel]

Ya I feel a bit spoiled living in Maryland and having a lot of Dogfish variety, but I find myself passing over the 4 packs out of principle (with the exception of a rare splurge on Midas Touch). With so many great craft beers out there its hard to justify repeat purchases of DFH 90 min. As much as I love DFH, there are lots of great beers like Bell's Two Hearted that I can't get and would gladly pay $15 for. I think its worth it to pay a high price once to try DFH but I'm sure its easy to find good craft brew anywhere in the States or Canada.

 

[Navy_Chief]

While I will agree that they are not necessarily the best out there I do enjoy several of their beers on a fairly regular basis, simply because there is nothing else I have found competing with them: Midas touch, Raison d' etre, Palo Santo Marron.. I need to try the 90 and 120 sometime, there is a shop down from where I work where I can pick up singles of things to try them which is nice.....

 

[brew2enjoy]

We get all the specialty brews they sell in the big wine bottles around here. They usually run about $10. Sometimes its worth it, sometimes they are a little too crazy. But I enjoy trying different beers. I picked up a bottle of their "Nameste" a few weeks ago and it was fantastic!

 

[ReverseApacheMaster]

I'm fairly indifferent on DFH. I don't like IPAs and none of their more exotic beers really speak to me. They do seem fairly expensive for what I see around here so even if I liked IPAs I probably still wouldn't drink it.

 

[SumnerH]

stone is more expensive. ABA is $18.99 per 6 around here.. DFH is up there too but probably $10-12 for a 6er

Regular ABA isn't sold in six-packs, and it is a much pricier style of beer (American Strong Ale) than anything Dogfish sells in 6-packs. The Oaked ABA is sold in 6-packs in the $18-19 range, but that's a long-time oak-aged beer that's definitely expected to be pretty expensive--the closest Dogfish Head comp is Immort Ale, which is $17 for a 4-pack (though that's closer to Oaked Double Bastard so you can't really compare prices there).

If you're comparing to 6-packs of Dogfish 60 Minute, Stone IPA would be the appropriate comp. Generally they're priced about the same; around here (DC, east coast), Stone's about a buck a sixer more, but at my brother's place in LA (west coast) Dogfish is a buck a sixer more.

I think Dogfish has some great stuff. Bitch's Brew, Immort Ale (once cellared for a year), 90 Minute, Burton Baton, and a few others are great, and 60 minute, Raison d'Etre, the Indian Brown, and others are quite solid.

Their problem is an obsession with uber-big one-offs that tend to be overpriced and have many more failures than successes--somehow they're held up as the premier east coast brewery when plenty of breweries on the east coast like Allagash, Portsmouth, Cigar City, Foothills, etc have much more consistently good offerings even among rarities and one-offs than Dogfish does (so do Bell's, Three Floyd's, Founder's, and Goose Island in the midwest or Russian River, Lost Abbey, Stone, and Alesmith on the West Coast just to pick a few at random).

 

[dvdanny]

stone is more expensive. ABA is $18.99 per 6 around here.. DFH is up there too but probably $10-12 for a 6er

maybe it's location, around here Stone's is the same price as DFH.

Stone's oaked ABA is around $18 for a 6pk, DFH's Palo Santo (also a wood aged beer) is $12 for a 4pk, so for their super premium beers, they are the same.

 

[dvdanny]

even their regular APA is $14 a 6 pack.

DFH 90min is $10 for a 4pk so if anything DFH is slightly more expensive per bottle.

*******' brew was probably the worst beer i've ever drank in my life.. anyone who says they like it are lying through their teeth. or are just DFH zombies following the lead..

I personally don't like it myself but this is a pretty dumb statement, just like there are people who don't like certain types of hops in their IPA's or prefer malty over hoppy or vice versa, or the best example would be fruit beers (huge division on who likes them or not). This is a troll statement if I ever heard it.

EDIT: Bevmo has Oaked ABA for $14 a 6pk and Ruination for the same price. DFH retains it's overpriced beer crown (not saying I don't like them though).

 

[SumnerH]

http://www.martysfinewine.com/r/products/stone-brewing-co-arrogant-bastard-ale

even their regular APA is $14 a 6 pack.

Whatever they're selling there isn't regular Arrogant Bastard. They don't package that in 6-packs. It's probably the oaked AB, which uses exactly that same descriptive paragraph.

http://www.stonebrew.com/arrogantbastard/
AVAILABILITY: 22oz Bottles, 3 litre bottles & Draft

http://www.stonebrew.com/oaked/
AVAILABILITY: 12oz Bottles, Six Packs & Draft

EDIT: And $14/6-pack is a rip-off for the APA even on the east coast. Total Beverage on the east coast carries the IPA and APA for $10/6-pack.

 

[IamNash]

The way around this? Many manufacturers make a fake beer with coloring and flavoring added to seltzer water and alcohol.

I would take your expensive beer and a fully stocked family mart with chu-his down the street any day over my favorite liquor store here

 

[benthe8track]

I'd pay 20 bucks for a case of DFH if I could get it locally.

 

[tchuklobrau]

i will agree bitche brew was not i had imagined it 2 be. especially after watching that episode of brewmasters. blend that with the jiahu and u get a reall kick a beer

 

[Shinglejohn]

I just payed 14 bucks a bottle for 120 minute ale from a bar in NYC cause i cant get it in Ohio. But i figure why not? Where else will i 20% beer? PLus after several weeks i still havnt tried it. This is some special occasion stuff. Its down in the ol' lad's wine cellar.

 

[SumnerH]

I just payed 14 bucks a bottle for 120 minute ale from a bar in NYC cause i cant get it in Ohio. But i figure why not? Where else will i 20% beer? PLus after several weeks i still havnt tried it. This is some special occasion stuff. Its down in the ol' lad's wine cellar.

Don't get your hopes up. As I said, there are some Dogfish beers that are awesome--almost nothing beats a 1 or 2-year aged Immort Ale. That's in my top 10-15 beers of all time.

But 120 is just a syrupy sweet saccharine mess. You'll drink it and wonder where all the hops that are purportedly in it went. It does pack a wallop alchol-wise, but it's an atrocious, atrocious beer. Even a 2-3 year old one is at best "drinkable", but not very good. You definitely don't want to drink one younger than a year aged--it's like drinking 50/50 everclear and maple syrup.

You might disagree, which would be great--but at least have some other great beer to open that night as the crowning piece. Call it a night to open X and Dogfish 120, with the 120 as the 2nd-to-last. At least then the worst case is you love X at the end of the night but didn't like Dogfish 120, and the best case is you had 2 great beers you love to end the night. Don't put yourself in a position where you're expecting the 120 to be some great beer to end the evening, though, even if you like balanced beers (and especially if you like hops). Unless you like drinking super-sweet malt bombs, 120's likely to be a surprising disappointment.

EDIT: And, again, I think the Dogfish 90's a great IIPA. I'm not really a hop-head--sours and the smaller Belgians are my favorite beers, and my favorite hop-centric beers are things like Port Brewing 5th Anniversary, Bell's 2-Hearted, Ballast Point Sculpin, and other stuff that's pretty hoppy but not ridiculously so (I'd definitely rather open a fresh Sculpin than a Hop 15 or a Pliny the Elder). Even for me, the 120 has pretty much zero hops and nothing other than sugary-sweetness to it--it tastes like mashed in an IIPA but forgot to add any hops at all. It's not just a try at something crazy that failed, it's a pretty objectively terrible beer.

 

[IffyG]

I just payed 14 bucks a bottle for 120 minute ale from a bar in NYC cause i cant get it in Ohio. But i figure why not?

That's a steal if you bought it at a bar. I just spent 12 bucks on a bottle of World Wide Stout at a liquor store in Nashville...

 

[BrewFrisco]

DFH 90 is good, no doubt. But way overrated and priced accordingly. I'll take a Sierra Nevada Torpedo any day over it. And you get 6 of those! For some reason the 4-pack thing bugs me. Where I live, DFH90 is 8.99 for 4 and SN Torpedo is 7.79 for 6. So that ends up being my everyday beer.

OK.. I must be living under a rock or just don't give decent beer the same attention that I give great beer but.... I tried this Torpedo stuff and really find this beer undrinkable. I could possibly agree to having something else in it's place but that Torpedo is not even in the same ball-park...in terms of taste or quality. I could almost taste the mass production....

 

[Rikadyn]

Meh, All beer has it's fans and it's foes. I mean I despise super hoppy beers, and prolly could write a book on how Bell's is overrated and horribly inconsistent year to year.

 

[rwinzing]

OK, I have held my tounge long enough. Most of us on this site are brewers correct? DFH beers tend to have many more ingrdiants then most "average beers" the 90-Min is 4X the grain and 10 x the hops. This is a major factor to the prices. Also a lot of the difference in prices through out the US is distbtors not DFH themselves. I think it is in line with the top notch craft beers. How much are we paying for Hopslam right now? 18.99 a six pack which is a DIPA like 60 minute. Founders sells Devil Dancer 15.99 a four pack.

Sorry Rougue beers are not on the same level as DFH, Founders, Bell's etc.

I am a DFH apoligist I feel like they have gotten some backlash but in my opinion they have always stayed true to who they are. "Off center Ales for Off center people"

 

[rwinzing]

*******' brew was probably the worst beer i've ever drank in my life.. anyone who says they like it are lying through their teeth. or are just DFH zombies following the lead..

Wow....how do you know what I think of beers. I think ******* Brew was one of the best new beers I tried this year, Maybe you need to develop your palet a little more.

We all want "craft beer" to get some national respect but when they do we slam a company like DFH. I don't get it.

I love most DFH brews not all. But I also enjoy tons of different breweries some well know others not.