Dogfish Head Weekend of Compelling Ales and Whatnot Pt. 1

Sierra/Dogfish Life & Limb

Over the weekend, the P90 family made the trip out to Delaware for Dogfish Head’s Weekend of Compelling Ales and Whatnot (WoCAaW). Somehow, Mrs. P90 was on the Facebooks when Dogfish announced the special tours (more on that later) and managed to score two tickets.

If you are not familiar with WoCAaW, it’s Dogfish’s annual celebration of all things beer and a thank you to the folks who spread the good word about Dogfish. Interesting tidbit I picked up over the weekend – Dogfish does very little traditional marketing and relies mostly on word of mouth and events (think pint nights) to spread the word.

So back to the festivities. Day one of WoCAaw took place at the Dogfish Rehoboth Beach Brew Pub and focused on some special Randall concoctions and limited release beers. I’ve included a picture of the menu below.  The wife, girls, and I headed over the pub around 4:00. It was packed, but we only had to wait about 15 minutes for a table. We got what we now call the "kids table." It’s the furthest back in the room near the stairs and kitchen. We've been placed there the last few times (with kids in tow). My guess is they put people with kids there to keep them out of the way. I’d probably do the same thing.

WoCAaW Menu

We started off with the 90 Minute IPA pulled through the hop randall and the Dogfish/Three Floyds Poppaskull (Belgian Strong Ale brewed with cardamom and aged in brandy barrels). Both were delicious. Not sure how I went so long without having a beer through the randall, but the hop aroma is amazing!

Next, we had my most highly anticipated item of the weekend – Burton Baton pulled through a randall stuffed with hops, oak chips, and vanilla beans. Words can’t describe the aroma of this drink. It was nothing short of amazing. We also had the Dogfish Sierra Life & Limb from cask. Being the product of two of my favorite breweries, I want to love the Life & Limb. It’s too sweet for me though.

Burton Baton Randall

As for the food, we were pleasantly surprised. We’ve been let down by the food at Dogfish on our last few trips, but this time it was pretty good. Mrs. had the veggie burger and I had the indulgence burger (topped with cheddar, bacon, and an onion ring). We’d get either again.

And because the girls behaved through dinner and allowed us to indulge in and enjoy our adult beverages, we finished the evening off at the Blue Scoop opening day. Beer. Ice Cream. Yum.