IPA Review Series #13 Dogfish Head 60 vs 90 Minute IPA

This is the final review in the 2009 version of the IPA a Day series, #13.  For the big finish I review two very popular IPA’s from Dogfish Head Craft Brewed Ales, their 60 minute and 90 minute IPA’s.  I’ve had both of these before but not in a while so this was a nice way to reacquaint myself with these beers.

Here’s the review (watch how I virtually ignored the ringing phone proving that not much can interrupt a quality craft beer review) :

60 minute IPA: 6.0%ABV, 60 IBU’s

90 minute IPA: 9.0%ABV, 90 IBU’s

What a way to finish the IPA series!  Both of these beers are very good and have a great mix of smell, taste, and looks.  They are both well worth your money to buy and try.  I scored them both very highly with the 60 minute getting pretty close to a “5 Mug” rating.  There were definite differences between the two:

Appearance:  Both beers poured very nicely and had a nice clear and clean look in the glass with the 90 minute being just a bit darker in color.  They both had nice white heads and good lacing.

Smell: This is where there were distinct differences between the beers show themselves.  The 60 minute had a wonderful fresh hops and floral/citrus smell that was very nice.  The 90 minute had a typical pine dominated smell backed up with a nice floral and citrus component.  I liked the 60 minute a bit more in this area.

Taste: The tastes of these beers were very different once again.  The 60 minute had that same fresh clove/floral/hops flavor with a slight sweetness to it. The 90 minute had a slightly sweeter flavor with a pretty strong pine forest component.  The floral notes were still there but at  a much lower level.  The 9%ABV made it’s presence known as well.  The aftertaste of both was clean and crisp with the 60 minute leaving more of a floral note while the 90 minute left a stronger hop taste.  Once again I liked the 60 minute a tiny bit more.

Drinkability: The 60 minute, primarily because of the lower ABV, was slightly more drinkable than the 90 minute.  They both are very drinkable so once again I was splitting hairs to a certain extent.

These are both great beers but they are different.  For those of you that are more of a “hophead” type the 90 minute will definitely appeal to you.  If you like a more balanced beer the 60 minute will probably become a favorite.  Either way, I don’t think you can go wrong.

Here are the detailed scores:

Dogfish Head 60 Minute

1. Appearance-  8 points (out of 10)
2. Smell- 9 points (out of 10)
3. Taste- 17 points (out of 20)
4. Drinkability-  9 points (out of 10)

Total  43 (out of 50) Points- 4 Mugs

Dogfish Head 90 Minute

1. Appearance- 8 points (out of 10)
2. Smell-  8 points (out of 10)
3. Taste- 16 points (out of 20)
4. Drinkability-  8 points (out of 10)

Total  40 (out of 50) Points- 4 Mugs