Last night I got my hands on a glass of Dogfish Head 120 Minute IPA at a fine local establishment. Let me summarize: it’s 20% alcohol, 30% hops, and 50% awesome.

Now, the internets claim that this stuff tastes wildly different out of a bottle and a tap; I’m skeptical, but I’ll mention that I got it on tap. I paid $10 for a 10 oz glass, which seems pretty extreme (and, well, it is), but the good news is that it’s so much more alcoholic than regular beer that it’s actually a relatively good deal. Not that I recommend this stuff to anyone who just wants to get smashed - this stuff is seriously dangerous, and it would be a waste of some fine craftsmanship.

I try not to spend too much time talking about things like the “bouquet”, so I’ll simply instruct you to smell this beer. I think the word “apricot” would be appropriate, at least if “apricot” is ever an appropriate choice of words.

“But,” you ask, “what kind of IPA smells like fruit?” It’s a fair question and brings me to sort of the major point about this whole ruckus: this stuff transcends regular beer categorization. I mean, it may have been made like an IPA, but calling this an IPA is like calling Porto a fortified wine — there’s important information that’s not getting conveyed. There is a hell of a lot of hops in this, I guess, but I wouldn’t call its flavor bitter in the traditional sense. It’s… I dunno. Sweet, strong (that 20% business is no joke), rather less head than you’d find in a Belgian ale (though since I didn’t pour it, I don’t know if that’s by the brewer’s design or the bartender’s.

In fact, I think the analogy to port wine might be a good one: Dogfish 120 may be the first beer I’ve ever encountered that I would ever consider calling a “dessert beer.” This stuff isn’t cheap, but I would definitely put it in the category of things you have to do at least once in your life. You may or may not like it, but I guarantee that it will change the way you think about beer.