More great happenings through the end of May!

As we continue to ship more beer than in the history of Dogfish Head we continue to break benchmarks. After shipments closed for the month of May we officially crossed the 50,000 bbls mark. To put this number into multiple context-essss heres what it means: 701,402 case equivalents shipped (24/12oz), or 16,833,648 12oz bottle equivalencies. Truly amazing! We are on pace to hit our year end number having shipped five percent over our budget through the first five months. I know its not enough, youre still thirsty and you need more Dogfish Head! We hear you, we feel ya, and we are giving the brew house all she's got to make this happen for all our drinkers. Thanks for all the patience, love and support. We wouldn't make such great beers if it wasn't for all of you.

We had a lot of firsts in May, not only did we cross the 50,000 mark we instituted our first ever Distributor Council. A combination of managers and owners from ten of our wholesalers across the country descended upon the brewery in Milton for a day of business and a day of brewing a batch of beer at our Pub. Our goal was to bring together ten wholesalers from different parts of the country, with different portfolios of craft, mega brews, wine and spirits to talk about all things Dogfish Head. Sam and I sat with them and addressed concerns, business ideas and general what-not of the things we are doing. It was a great day to absorb and trade key insights. We shared future visions on sales, marketing, beers and overall business practices. Spending time with what amounted to forty five percent of our total business gave us some good fodder for next years plans. After a day of business meetings we met Saturday morning to brew a batch of beer down at our Rehoboth pub. Things started off shaky but with the help of our 'brewmaster for the day' Matt Patton (our pub assistant GM) we were able to brew an IPA made with local honey (now on tap at our pub as Ardent IPA). A full day of brewing was quite exhausting for all of us (standing around drinking beer and watching Matt shake his head at us for getting grain in places where it shouldn't have been). We finished the weekend off with a great dinner at one of our local DFH hot spots. Being that this was our first year for a Distributor Council, I think we pulled it off. It was great to have ten different people all with the same passion for Dogfish Head and our beers. Every year we will rotate different people onto our council and continue the tradition of business, then pleasure. Many thanks to all who attended your insights were invaluable!

May also marked the release of our first occasional Ancient Ale for the year. Sah'tea! A modern update on a 9th century Finnish proto-beer. Brewed with rye, we caramelize the wort with white hot river rocks, then ferment it with a German Weizen yeast. In addition to juniper berries, we added a sort of tea made with black tea, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and black pepper. This beer should be on the shelves and taps as I type this Blog. Our next Ancient Ale will be Theobroma which is shipping to wholesale now. The last of our Ancient Ales will ship out in July, the much anticipated release of Chateau Jiahu.

Last but never least, in May we started shipping to our distributors this years version of our summer seasonal Festina Peche. Scheduled for a June 1st launch this beer is currently hitting shelves and taps. Be on the lookout as we brewed more than last year but it is going quickly.

So.. to regroup, through the end of May we have shipped over 50,000bbls, we had our first ever distributor council, we starting shipping our Ancient Ales, we hit our schedule for our summer seasonal, and we shipped a total of 20 different brands of beer year to date. Wow! What a job well done by our entire company, wholesalers, retailers and all our thirsty friends out there for drinking everything were brewing!!!!! If it wasnt for all of you, we wouldn't be able to do the things we do! Thanks for all the support!

Cheers

Adam