Tough week, time for some Dogfish Head

Yes, you read that right. Dogfish Head. To the uninitiated, it just seems like a silly name for a brewery. I can assure you that Dogfish Head is one of the best breweries in America. These guys have the knack for making great beer anyway they can, with anything they can find. The brewery is so good that I can already promise that they will make repeat appearances in this blog. However, for this installment, considering I have had a crazy tough week, I've chosen one of their signature brews, the 90 Minute Imperial IPA.

But before I go any further, I should probably explain why this post is late (I've given myself Thursday as a deadline). Since I have no editor to answer to, only you, the few scant readers of this endeavor, do I have the obligation to explain myself. As I was driving down to West Orange on a Wednesday afternoon to drop off some party favors for my aunt, my AC, radio, and speedometer suddenly stopped working. I felt my car's usual power ebbing away but I managed to get to my Aunt's place of work before my car completely gave out. As it turns out, my vehicle, my beloved Subaru Forester, had a bad alternator and a dead battery. Needless to say, it formed a great big dent on my wallet to get it to working order. I think you'd agree, that single event would have made anyone's week tough.

Not my actual car, but close enough. 

Now back to the beer. 

That's Sam Flynn in the background. Tron: Legacy!
Oh, and if you can read it, it says 9% Alc. by Volume (that is pretty much two beers in one bottle!)

The Imperial IPA is probably one of the most flavorful type of beer you'll ever encounter. The IPA stands for India Pale Ale. This goes back to about mid-eighteenth century when India was still a British colony. Don't worry, I won't go on too long about its history (though I'd very much want to since I'm a historian by trade). But to finish the point, there was such a demand for export quality, hopped up ales to be imported to India that it became a mainstay in western beer culture. Dogfish Head Imperial IPAs (there are three kinds, 120 Minute, 90 Minute, and 60 Minute) are arguably the best in the United States. 

Look at the color of that ale. I mean, doesn't that just look appetizing?

Now, you probably are wondering why I choose this beverage. I needed something great. Its been a tough week. A crappy week. A sub-par week. A week that I'd rather not remember. But if anything is going to save my week, it is the wonderfully pleasant bitter taste of hops, balanced with a ridiculous amount of barley and notes of genial citrus carefully crafted by some of the best beer minds of our time. It had to be good, it had to be great, just to salvage this week.