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New off-centered spirits in the works at Dogfish Head

Two rackhouses will provide space for aging whiskey
February 3, 2017

Dogfish Head is about to step up its craft spirits game with some new, off-centered whiskey.

Since launching a commercial-scale distillery at its Milton headquarters in late 2015, the company has sold more than 5,000 cases – or about 30,000 bottles – of its Analog Vodka, Compelling Gin and Whole Leaf Gin, headliners of the brewery's burgeoning liquor line.

The company now is seeking final approval to build two 9,900-square-foot rackhouses, also known as rickhouses, to store and age its latest creation:

"While you don't see any warehouses out there now, we're working on whiskey," said James Montero, Dogfish Head Distilling general manager. "At this stage, our focus is to make a very good whiskey. We'll be sharing with guests for reaction to a couple of different whiskeys. But the goal is to make sure we have one really, really good one."

Frequent fliers to Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats in Rehoboth Beach will get to test some infant brews in March, Montero said, when the pub begins to offer flights of unaged whiskey, 3- or 4-month-old whiskey and vodka. That's where Dogfish first started experimenting with craft spirits on a much smaller scale in 2002.

While it's too soon to tell exactly what the new liquor will taste like, Montero said, there will definitely be similar characteristics to Dogfish's unique beer profiles. Once the rackhouses are up and running, the environment they age in will play a huge role in a future whiskey's flavor profile.

"Part of the whiskey maturation process has to do with the environment it's aging in, and it's impacted by things like temperature, humidity, the length of winter and summer seasons," he said. "So when our whiskey is bottled, it will have a profile that is characteristic of this area."

Head Distiller Graham Hamblett said he's excited to work on more spirits from scratch.

"We have access to an almost endless supply of ingredient options – all of which are proving valuable in creating our unique vodkas and gins, and will help distinguish our whiskey," he said.

Milton Planning and Zoning Commission Jan. 17 reviewed Dogfish Head's request to build the rackhouses and granted preliminary approval of the plan. Final site plan approval is pending assurance that the brewery has adequate parking spaces for the addition, according to town zoning codes.

However, the rackhouses, which will store anywhere from 3,000 to 7,000 barrels each depending on the size and stacking style, will not be open to the public. Essentially, they're just big warehouses with proper ventilation for the aging process, Montero said.

"There's a bit of an unknown here," Montero said, noting a difficulty in describing the fusture flavor of a liquor that hasn't had time to age yet. “There's an excitement that we have to see what the impact will be [of the climate here]. There is an element of fog and ocean we're impacted by. There's distinct components to where we live here on the Delmarva Peninsula.”

Montero said he hopes the first bottles of whiskey will launch in about 18 months, after Dogfish gathers reaction from customers tasting the new flavors at the brewpub throughout 2017.

He said he hopes the rackhouses are completed by the end of the year.

It will still take a while for Dogfish Head's spirits line to catch up with its popular beers, though.

“Think about the journey Sam [Calagione] started 22 years ago. Back then, craft beer was 1-2 percent of the total beer pie,” Montero said. Now craft beer has taken over about 14 percent of total national beer revenues, he said, and craft spirits are sitting modestly at 1-2 percent of the national spirit industry.

“We in the craft spirits are in the early stages of what we believe is going to be in greater adoption,” he said. “People are choosing Dogfish Head beer because of the quality of the liquid and also the brand, and we believe consumers that drink spirits are starting to discover what's behind the liquids and brands behind the spirits. Who knows how big it's going to be.”

For more about the Dogfish Head Distillery, go to dogfish.com.

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