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. 

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Guys: I am not sure what to make of this. I gave my IPA a taste just before bottling. It was both hoppy and reasonably bitter, almost to a point of harshness. Completely understandable--after all, this was a very young IPA. Fast forward to last night. It's been in the bottles for a week, and I began thinking about how the flavor is refining. My wife suggested I open one; after all, I have 50 left. Impatient as always, I quit brooding over the issue and stuck one in the fridge. A couple hours later, I opened it, and was delighted at the sound of gas escaping as I used my favorite wall-mounted bottle opener. It whispered to me, "Psst! I have bubbles!" as the cap came off. At least it carbonated, so I had surpassed the Sarge's carbonation issue. The good half of the story ends right about there.

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