Hello fellow craft-beer-loving-type people. Things are really chugging along here at Dogfish as we install four new 600 bbl bright tanks, two new 600 hundred barrel fermenters, and a sweet new mill that takes our daily brewing capacity from 700 barrels to 900 barrels.

Projects may be chugging along but we are certainly not chugging the corporate-world koolaide that a brewery should focus only on a few flagship products. We don't make 'products' we make beer. Beautiful, diverse beers. And we will package and distribute over 34 of these distinct beers this year. Not all of them will appeal to everyone. And that's a beautiful thing because beauty is in the eye of the beer holder not in the pocketbook of the brewery with the largest advertising budget. The consumer has spoken and the consumer demands choice. So we are responding to that hell-yeah with a couple hell-yeahs of our own...

These two new puppies were not outlined on our 2011 release schedule but when it comes to cheating on your go-to beer there's nothing wrong with a little of the strange & unexpected:

Black & Red, ABV 10.5

This one will be distributed draft-only in limited markets.

Black & Red is a velvety smooth dry-minted stout with a serious fruit problem! The huge portion of heavily roasted grains brings a rich, chocolaty character which contrasts it's sweet fruity full-body. As you tilt your glass, you'll notice that the black color you are perceiving is actually a very deep reddish hue and the rich creamy foam has a tinge of pink to it. Black & Red starts off roasted and warming with a robust mintiness from 100 lbs of organic mint (from our friends at Washington's Green Grocer) added to the secondary fermentation and finishes out sweet and smooth. It's Darn-right pudding-like in it's depth an chewiness. Best enjoyed 6 ounces at a time from a sniffer in lieu of a banana split.

Black & Red is a dessert beer. It is sweet, minty, roasty & chocolate-ty. It is meant to be sipped from a snifter for sure, but for you mixologists it's also yummy blended with a dry roasted stout, like our like our Chicory Stout or one of those Irish nitroginated wizzbangs. We're also getting good reports from folks enjoying the Black & Red with a scoop of vanilla ice cream plopped right into the glass!

Robert Johnson's Hellhound on my Ale, ABV 10.0

This one will see wider distribution on draft and in 750ml champagne bottles featuring a beautiful label from our great buddy Marq Spusta.

2011 marks the 100th birthday of Mississippi Delta bluesman Robert Johnson who, according to legend, sold his soul down at the crossroads in a midnight bargain and changed music forever. Dogfish Head pays tribute to this blues legend by gettin' the hellhounds off his trail and into this finely-crafted ale. Hellhound is a super-hoppy ale that hits 100 IBU's in the brewhouse, Alc. 10.0% by Vol., 10.0 SRM in color, and dry-hopped with 100% centennial hops at a rate of 100 kilos per 100 barrel brew-length. To accentuate and magnify the citrusy notes of the centennial hops (and as a shout out to Robert Johnson's mentor Blind Lemon Jefferson) we add dried lemon peel and flesh to the whirlpool. Everyone tastes stuff differently but I find Hellhound to be driest, hoppyest, beer we have ever made. It has a redonkulous, swamp-boogie-lupulucious aroma that jumps out of the glass and grabs you by the (Hellhound on my) TAIL!

Thanks again for theongoing support ,we can't promise these beers will be easy to find everywhere but we can promise they will be worth seeking-out. Cheers! Sam