| Dogfish Head Craft Brewery 6 Cannery Village Center | Milton, DE 19968 For GPS use 511 Chestnut St., Milton, DE 19968 www.dogfish.com |
Recently, I revisited one of my favorite craft breweries, Dogfish Head in Milton, DE. The brewery pumps out 233,000 barrels of beers each year. Some new additions to the tour included the new brewhouse, the upcoming distillery, and the new Off-Centered Center.
The new brewhouse at Dogfish Head, which has been operating for just over a year now, is a 200-barrel German system that pumps out some of Dogfish Head’s most popular like 60 Minute IPA, 90 Minute IPA, Namaste, and Punkin Ale.
The tour now begins in the new brewhouse where Sam’s original SABCO system sits alongside the original continuous hoppers, including Sir Hopsalot. A discussion about Dogfish Head history and brewing beer takes place here.
Next, the tour passes by the 100-barrel system, past the new SABCO system, and into the fermentation and filtration room. After that, visitors get a peek into the room where the American Oak and Palo Santo wood fermenters are housed.
A quick walk past the yeast room leads to the warehouse where Sam keeps his “secret stash.” Beer drinkers can attend Vintage & Vinyl nights at the brewery where they break out some vintage Dogfish brews and spin some vinyl.
After a look at the kegging line, the tour heads outside where you can peek through the windows and see where the new distillery will be located. Dogfish Head expects the distillery to be up and running by the end of the summer.
A 5-minute walk leads to the new Off-Centered Center. The long, rectangular building building has circular windows to mimic carbonation bubbles. Visitors follow the sidewalk along the umbilical cord, the pipes that carry the beer from the mother (brewery) to the baby (new building).
Inside the Off-Centered Center is what they call “beer heaven.” Pallets and pallets of cases of bottles of beer wait to be taken off for beer drinkers everywhere to enjoy. Most beer does not spend more than a week in this building before heading off somewhere.
The new $21 million building houses a German-made, robot-equipped packaging line. The new line can put out 39,000 bottles every hour. The larger 750-milliliter bottles are still bottled on the older bottling line the other building.
If you are interested in going on a tour at Dogfish Head, tours take place Monday through Saturday. The doors open at 10:45 AM, and tours are first come, first serve (and free!) with the first tour beginning at 11:00 AM. The last tour starts at 4:00 PM on Monday through Thursday and 5:00 PM on Friday and Saturday.
After you check-in and show your ID, visitors are given a pass to receive four free samples of Dogfish Head beers at the bar. You can enjoy these samples whether you take a tour or not.
The store is also open, selling bottles, clothing, hats, books, signs, and various other branded swag. Bunyan’s Lunchbox also serves their beer-centric foods (brats, chowder and Hop-Pickles) during Tasting Room hours.
If you plan to take a tour, you’ll need close-toed shoes for the tour. Wheelchairs can be accommodated, but access is limited. There are stairs along the tour, as well as a lot of walking. The tour lasts about 60 Minutes.
The Tasting Room, Bunyan’s Lunchbox and Shop are open from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM Monday through Saturday.
