Dogfish Head distillery
by Mark Tumarkin
I often include posts or info from the Home Brew Digest in our newsletter. There are other email groups out there on other interesting and related topics. The following is from the DBD, the Distilled Beverage Digest. Of course, it's illegal to distill alcohol at home, but this group often discusses the subject 'theoretically.' There are often articles (like the following one about the new rums being made by Dogfish Head brewery. Check the info at the end of the post if you're interested in subscribing.
<editor's note> The following is from the DBD, the Distilled Beverage Digest. </editor's note>
---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 16 Mar 2002 07:26:37 -0500 From: mchahn@earthlink.net Subject: DOGFISH HEAD DISTILLERY Dogfish Head Brewpub in Rehoboth Beach, DE, recently opened a distillery. I went down there last weekend to try their wares. They currently have three rums online. I only recently started to get into rum, so I am no expert, but here are my notes. Their WHITE LIGHTNING RUM is most like a mega-distilled rum, such as Bacardi. It is light in color and in flavor. Would be good in any rum drink. The WIT RHUM is very pale gold, with a big citrus nose, a coriander aftertaste, and hints of anise. Despite its spelling, I could not determine if it is actually distilled from sugar cane juice. The others are definitely made from molasses. It is good straight or in a mixed drink. I had a mangolada, made w/cointreau, Bombay Sapphire, and mango juice. It would be good in a rum gimlet. My favorite was the BROWN HONEY RUM. It had a light amber color, buttery flavor, honey nose, and big honey aftertaste. I had a drink made w/this rum and the house birch beer, among other things, that was very good. This would be fabulous in a hot buttered rum punch, which, surprisingly, they don't have on the menu. They do list numerous other drinks. I read on the internet that they are also distilling whiskey, but I could not find out if this is true or what kind of whiskey they might be doing. Sam Calagione, the owner, wants to start an American rum renaissance, and he is well on his way. I checked their website, but there is no info on the distillery, and it doesn't seem to have been updated in quite some time. Service was indifferent, as always (I have read other complaints about service here, too), but for distillery pubs, this is the only game in town. Probably the only game east of Michigan. And of course, the beers are great. If you hurry, you might get some RAISIN D'EXTRA, sort of a turbocharged version of RAISIN D'ETRE which is something like 18% abv.