60 Minute IPA - Dogfish Head, Milton

Dogfish Head's 60 Minute IPA is the Goldilocks of India Pale Ales... and I mean that in a good way. The 60 Minute IPA isn't too hoppy, or too malty. It's not too bitter, too floral or too sweet. For all intents and purposes, Dogfish's 60 Minute India Pale Ale is just right. This is actually the first Dogfish Head beer I've been able to get my hands on so I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. I'd head a lot about the brewery itself and how they are pushing the envelope with some interesting styles of beer. My fear was that they're IPA was going to be too hoppy and too bitter to be enjoyable. You see, when people usually talk about pushing boundaries when it comes to Pale Ales what they really mean is that the brewer just doesn't know when to STOP adding hops. I'm quite glad that my fears, in regard to the 60 Minute IPA, are unfounded. This beer is really quite delightful.

I was rather surprised when I took a whiff of this beer after pouring it into the pint glass. The first thing that hit me was a roasted aroma that wasn't quite like roasted malt... it smelled more like roasted hops. I'm not sure how this was achieved, or even if it was intentional, but I'm really digging it. This roasty character takes a bit of the bite off of the dry bitterness that usually accompanies IPAs. Dogfish Head's 60 Minute IPA isn't very bitter at all. In fact, this beer isn't terribly floral at all. So what makes this beer an IPA if it isn't super hoppy or super floral? Well, it still has those elements but they are really well balanced. It's obvious that this beer wasn't brewed with the intention of being a hop bomb, rather it was brewed to be delicious. At least that's my take on things. Perhaps other folks would find this beer too tame or still too bitter. As far as I'm concerned, this beer is just right.