Dogfish Head's Sam Calagione - Barrel to Bottle Rages Against the Reinheitsgebot

(check out part 1 our interview with Sam Calagione)
Sam Calagione Interview pt. 2
Canned cocktails are all the rage right now, but Dogfish Head has been perfecting their own recipes for the last twenty years. In part 2 of our interview with Sam Calagione we’re sampling through some of their vodka-based cocktails.
When we first started tasting cocktails at Barrel to Bottle, we asked the question “if you were served this at a bar, would you order another one?” But now that the category has exploded, we have different parameters for how to judge them.
Some beers in the Dogfish line didn’t quite take off with customers, because they were a little bit too out there. And speaking of that vast portfolio, how do they balance producing old favorites with continuing to innovate?
Drink along at home with the following cocktails:
Sam Calagione Interview pt. 1
Roger has been working on getting Sam Calagione for an in-person podcast basically since the last time he was on, several years ago. We made the most of this in-person opportunity and ended up with a two-part podcast. Up first, we taste beer!
Dogfish Head has always pushed the envelope and brewed beer outside of the Reinheitsgebot. As far as Sam knows, they’re the only brewery to use black limes in massive scale, for Seaquench.
Making styles that most craft breweries weren’t making caused many retailers and customers to assume a beer had gone bad, but it was just a sour. Using unique ingredients has also necessitated the invention/engineering of special equipment. To make Seaquench they rigged up a used clothes dryer and an apple press to crush the black limes.
When Dogfish Head first made 90 Minute IPA, they used one of those old vibrating football games, with a perforated bucket, to introduce hops on a continuous basis for 90 minutes. And now that machine is in the Smithsonian.
People often say it takes a lot of beer to make good wine, but Sam feels that it takes a lot of lager to make good beer. If you listen to the podcast at all, you know how Roger is always banging the drum on lagers. Sam thinks lagers are coming back because new drinkers are rebelling against what their parents drank, which were tongue-burning IPAs.
Drink along at home with the following beers:
If you have a question for the Barrel to Bottle Crew, email us at comments@binnys.com, or reach out to us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. If we answer your question during a podcast, you’ll get a $20 Binny’s Gift Card!
If you like our podcast, subscribe wherever you download podcasts. Rate and review us on Apple Podcasts.
Related Posts

Barrel to Bottle: Gregory Hall, Man of Many Apple Tattoos
How do you follow up Bourbon County Stout? For Gregory Hall, son of Goose Island founder John Hall, it started nearly 20 years ago during a trip to England.
Learn more
Barrel to Bottle: Stone Brewing's Greg Koch is No Arrogant Bastard
Another industry giant joins the Barrel to Bottle podcast. This week, it's Stone Brewing Executive Chairman and Co-founder Greg Koch.
Learn more
Barrel to Bottle Episode 52: Garrett Oliver of Brooklyn Brewery
When beer has needed a voice, Garrett Oliver has supplied it. Author of The Brewmaster's Table, regarded by many as the quintessential guide to beer and food pairing, and editor of the Oxford Companion to Beer - he has traveled the world, championing the cause of beer.
Learn more