Tag Archive for Dogfish Head

New Beer for the New Year: Dogfish Head Ta Henket

December 29, 2012 Reviews No comments

Dogfish Head Ta HenketI thought that as the new year is on its way I would do some write-up’s on new beers. I don’t know if these beers are actually new to the market, but they are new to me. I’m going to start with Dogfish Head’s Ta Henket .

Ta Henket is a limited availability brew from Dogfish Head’s Ancient Ales collection. It is a 4.5% ABV beer “brewed with an ancient form of wheat and loaves of hearth-baked bread, and it’s
flavored with chamomile, doum-palm fruit and Middle Eastern herbs.” The ingredients and traditions used to brew Ta Henket were taken from Egyptian hieroglyphics and Dogfish Head uses a native Egyptian saccharomyces yeast strain.

As you can see in the photo, Ta Hanket pours a rich gold color with a bright and formidable head. It has a fragrant aroma with fruity tones and hints of spice and hops. It has a full bodied mouthfeel with frothy carbonation and a crisp, clean finish. The fruit and chamomile flavors are much more subtle than I expected from the aroma. In fact, if I didn’t know it featured chamomile from reading the bottle I don’t know if I would be able to specifically pick the flavor out. That being said, the subtlety is what makes this beer great. I was afraid it would be heavy on specialty flavors or, due to the ancient recipe, wouldn’t quite taste like beer. I was wrong. Ta Henkent is a refreshing, tasty session beer that would be great to drink on a warm day. To put it simply, this is a very solid beer from start to finish and I will be looking for more when the summer months roll around.

Cheers!

Tim Meyers (Tim@GoodHopBadHop.com)

 

Tell Your Friends!
Facebook Twitter Email

Beer Business Links

May 17, 2012 Links One comment

As a business student working toward my MBA, I always find it interesting to read about the business end of beer and brewing. You can pull great examples of inventive marketing campaigns and strong, values-based business cultures from all over the craft brewing world, but I think the small business, independent mindset associated with most of the breweries we talk about allows the bigger moves by bigger breweries to fly under the radar a little bit. I wanted to take a quick look at some interesting happenings in beer business and rant a little bit about big time brewers.

I stumbled upon this post while catching up on some Beer Street Journal articles. Jim Koch of Samuel Adams/ Boston Beer Company talking about giving away certificates to purchase shares in Boston Beer on six-packs sold to the public. With all of the talk about Facebook’s upcoming Initial Public Offering, I thought it was pretty interesting to see the Wall Street side of Craft Beer and see how Koch was able to put his spin on a real public offering with a customer first focus.

Check out the video here.

Speaking of Samuel Adams, I found this link to a CNBC article talking about some recent business developments in beer. Sam Adams is expanding their “Brewing the American Dream” program that lends start-up money to restaurant, beverage, and hospitality businesses. Other positive industry news includes, Dogfish Head sales reaching new highs, Royal Caribbean expanding their beer selection, and Frontier Airlines running a contest through Facebook where customers can vote on one of four Colorado craft beers to be stocked on their planes.

The CNBC article also talks about how Miller Lite hopes to increase declining sales with the release of their new “punch tab” that is meant to achieve a smoother pour. Rant time. Your marketing can only help your sales so much when your product remains tasteless in a time when customers are beginning to embrace more flavorful beer. I understand what they are trying to do and I realize light beer has it’s place in the market, but if you can introduce me to a person who buys Miller Lite because “that cyclone neck really makes it pour so nicely” I’ll buy you a case myself. In my opinion, they are better off sticking with “triple-hops brewed.” The same can be said for the coldest beer ever, Coors Light, and the most “drinkable” Bud Light. Stick with supporting rescue dogs, at least that’s something I can get behind. I’ll get off my soapbox now. Sorry for the rant.

Cheers!

Tim Meyers (Tim@GoodHopBadHop.com)

 

Tell Your Friends!
Facebook Twitter Email

Chili

February 5, 2012 Food and Beer Pairings No comments

Chili Beer PairingHere I go again with another recipe for some messy, ugly food. Who doesn’t like chili though? It’s great in a bowl or you can use it to top nachos, french fries, hot dogs, you name it. I know this is a little last minute for tonights big game, but the beauty of this recipe is that it won’t take you more than an hour to make. Plus, you may have already made chili and could be looking for beers to pair with it. I found the recipe for what’s called “Fast’n Easy Chili” from a cook book called 100 Best Favorite Brand Name Recipes. I consulted Garrett Oliver again and he recommends American Pale Ale, Brown Ale, India Pale Ale, Irish Stout, and Smoked Beers for Chili Con Carne. I decided to go with Dogfish Head’s India Brown Ale out of Delaware and Yards Brewing Company’s India Pale Ale from Philadelphia, PA.

 

 Chili Con Carne

Ingredients:

- 1 1/2 pound of ground beef

- 1 envelope of Lipton Recipe Secrets Onion Soup Mix

- 1 can (15 to 19 ounces) red kidney beans or black beans, drained

- 1 1/2 cups of water

- 1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

- 4 teaspoons chili powder

Suggested Beer Styles:

- American Pale Ale

- Brown Ale

- India Pale Ale

- Irish Stout

- Smoked Beers

Once you have all of all of the ingredients, this is practically the easiest thing to make ever. Start by browning the ground beef in a pan and draining out all of the fat. After that, all you have to do is mix everything together in a pot (my old homebrewing pot worked perfectly). Bring the ingredients to a boil in the pot and then lower the heat to low. Once the heat is lowered, cover the pot and simmer the chili for 20 minutes stirring every few minutes. Make sure to test the chili after the 20 minutes to make sure it’s spiced to your liking. I found mine to be a little bland and ended up adding more chili powder and a little garlic powder. From here you’re all ready to go. I like to put my chili over a bed of rice and top it with some cheddar cheese and sour cream. I’m also a big fan of crescent rolls (as seen below).

Chili

Dogfish Head – India Brown Ale

Dogfish Head’s India Brown Ale pours a deep brown with a thick, creamy tan head. This beer has a tremendous aroma of sweet malt and caramel. According to the Dogfish website, this beer is brewed as a mixture between a malty, caramel Scotch Ale and a hoppy IPA. This 7.2% ABV ale is dry hopped, similar to Dogfish Head’s 60 and 90 minute IPA but, to me, comes across with a far more subtle hop flavor than dry hopping would leave me to expect. India Brown Ale is a full bodied, rich beer with coffee and other dark tones.

Yards Brewing Company – India Pale Ale

Yards India Pale Ale pours amber in color with a clean, bright, white head. In the spirit of IPA’s, this 7.0% ABV ale has a prominent hop flavor. The hop tones do not dry the finish of the IPA too much and remain refreshing. Yards’ is a crisp and flavorful IPA that is very well balanced.

Dogfish Head Brown and Yards IPA

Good Hop Recommendation – Yards Brewing Company India Pale Ale

This may have been the toughest decision I’ve made in a food pairing yet. Both of these beers were really fantastic and are worth picking up if you see them at your local distributor. I think my decision came down to the difference in styles. I really cannot say enough about Dogfish Head’s India Brown Ale. It may have made a short list among my favorite beers. The India Brown Ale, however, is unlike any other brown ale I’ve had. It is far more creamy, full bodied, and sweet and, as a result, I found it to be much more appropriate for a rich desert. Yards IPA is a solid India Pale Ale that fits the flavor profile well. I found that the IPA was a lighter bodied option that didn’t fill me up as much as the India Brown Ale. Both beers packed a punch as far as flavor was concerned so they stood up to the chili’s spice well. In the end, I would say have an IPA with your chili and an India Brown Ale for desert.

Cheers!

Tim Meyers (Tim@GoodHopBadHop.com)

Tell Your Friends!
Facebook Twitter Email