Guys:A visit to Dogfish Head Brewery was truly a “pilgrimage” of sorts. While Sergeant Stout paid a visit, I convinced him that it was worth a 150-mile journey. This had indeed been his largest brewery visit, while I had seen large operations such as Boston Beer, Brooklyn Brewery, and Red Hook, all of which were conducted by knowledgeable, approachable people. Dogfish was still perhaps the most unique: the brewery was as unique as the beer was, which I will tell you in a photojournalistic way. Observe, for example the tasting room/gift shop as you enter. It lacked the gift shop cheesefest you normally see–this was as expansive as the brewer’s imagination, where other gift shops are an afterthought. Moreover, it felt like a true brewery upon entry–make no mistake about it, they make 55,000 bbl annually, 362 days per year.     The Operations  The rest of the brewery tour was fantastic. Imagine seeing grain conveyors pulling barley from the next building, then placing it into an enormous elevator. The tour guide Jill was quite knowledgeable, having once worked at New Belgium Brewing in Ft. Collins, CO. Granted, with only 55 employees running the brewery, one has to imagine the many hats worn in a given day (her primary job is marketing coordination). We got to see so many outstanding pieces of equipment, including the famed 10-gallon SABCO system Sam Calagione started with, as well as the original Sir Hops-a-Lot.     Afterwards, we went for a tasting of several of their quality off-centered ales, and were of course impressed with the imaginative quality going in to each batch. Cheers!