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Dogfish Head limited-edition ale releases to begin Sept. 29

September 22, 2018

On an endless exploration of goodness, Dogfish Head is proud to be a craft brewery producing and celebrating sour and wild ales for over two decades and is excited to announce the launch of its brand new, funky wild beer program, Wooden…It Be Nice! With three wild ales primed for a 2018 Milton-only release, and more releases to come in future years, the brewers at Dogfish have already hand-bottled over 2,000 cork and caged 375ml bottles, each one hand-painted with a special stripe signifying its uniquely crafted touch. 

“About 15 years ago, we first started experimenting with sours, beginning with Festina Lente – a peach wild ale that won us a bronze medal at the World Beer Cup in 2006 – then went on to produce SeaQuench Ale, which is currently the top-selling sour in America,” said Sam Calagione, CEO and founder of Dogfish Head Craft Brewery.  “Now, we’re amplifying our wild beer program with Wooden…It Be Nice!, as it’s another step forward in our journey and evolution of goodness incorporating everything from herbs and spices to local fruits, and of course, bringing it all together in wood.” Dogfish Head is the No. 1 producer of the fastest-growing beer in the fastest-growing craft beer style in America: SeaQuench Ale, a session sour.

So what makes a beer wild? It’s different from traditional brewing in that it’s fermented with wild yeast variations like Brettanomyces, and oftentimes with bacteria like Lactobacillus or Pediococcus. The yeast and bacteria are carefully introduced to the wood-aged beer, which can develop a wide array of flavors, including degrees of sourness, funkiness and fruitiness. Due to the untamable nature of the yeast, the beer can sit in barrels for months or even years until brewers deem it ready for consumption. This  process can sometimes delay the release of the beer, but when it’s finally ready, it’s truly remarkable. Isn’t that wild?

The Wooden…It Be Nice! program opens with the release of KnottyBits, a wild ale (8.2 percent ABV) aged on sweet and sour cherries and rhubarb, available beginning at 11 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 29. KnottyBits was wood-aged for a year with Brettanomyces and then racked onto several hundred pounds of sweet and sour cherries and locally sourced rhubarb from Fifer Orchards at a rate of more than 2 lbs. of fresh fruit per gallon. KnottyBits is bottle conditioned for an elevated carbonation resembling a ruby red-colored sparkling wine. Priced at $10/375ml bottle, approximately 2,000 bottles will be available for purchase at the Milton brewery.

Look for Wet Hop American Summer in early November, a Farmhouse Ale (7.75 percent ABV). This beer was aged in freshly emptied Chardonnay barrels with Brettanomyces for over a year before being racked onto freshly harvested and hand-selected whole leaf Citra hops, still wet from the fields. The resulting beer has a great citrus aroma from the hops which is a perfect complement to the funky and rustic nature of the Farmhouse Ale base. Wet Hop American Summer is priced at $10/375ml bottle, and about 1,500 bottles will be available for purchase at the Milton brewery.

In mid-December, the brewery will release Eastern Seaboard, a wild ale (8 percent ABV). After spending almost a year and a half aging in wine barrels, the liquid was met with several hundred pounds of blackberries and Eastern Shore beach plums, handpicked and selected by the brewers. The jamminess of the blackberry and tartness of the plums perfectly pair with one another in this deceptively dry beer. Eastern Seaboard is bottle conditioned to achieve champagne-like carbonation and is violet in color. Priced at $10/375ml bottle, approximately 2,000 bottles will be available for purchase at the Milton brewery.

For more information about upcoming Wooden It Be Nice! bottle release dates, go to www.dogfish.com.

 

 

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