Endless Spirits: Dogfish Head to Expand with Distillery!
Big news from the Dogfish Head campus in Milton: they are adding a small batch distillery to that large complex I’ve spoken of. If you’ve been to the brew pub and went upstairs, you noticed the tiny distillery they have on the second floor. The distillery produced spirits that were pretty much exclusive to the brew pub and a few select places in Delaware. Well, once Dogfish Head opens up the bigger distillery, many of us will benefit from a larger distribution plan.
It only makes sense that Sam Calagione and his crazy “off-centered” partners take some of those off-centered brews and turn them into interesting spirits. We can still expect the highly touted Brown Honey Rum and hop-infused gin, but also hipe to see some new and crazy spirits to be released next spring. The distillery will be headed by Graham Hamblett, who is apparently a horticulturalist with experience running a winery and distillery. Of course, he has won various awards and I’m assuming he’s a grizzly man with an awesome beard.
After staying at the Dogfish Inn and seeing the size of the Dogfish campus, it isn’t shocking at all that this is the next step in what is becoming Sam Calagione’s empire. The craft spirits industry is continuing to grow and if the impact that Dogfish Head had on the beer industry is any indicator, the craft spirits industry is about to explode. I’ll be interested to see how many craft distilleries pop up in the next two years. Having the distillery on campus will make the transfer of grains from the brewhouse to the distillery seamless and I’m hoping it will provide for some “clones” of the popular dogfish beers. For instance – maybe a “Festina Rum” with the ingredients form Festina Peche.
Expectations are high for the small batch distillery. After considering the endless beers coming out of the Dogfish Head campus, I can only imagine that they are working on some crazy spirits as well. With those crazy spirits, I’m expecting cocktails that are unique to Dogfish Head and (hopefully) include beer as well. Finally, the tours in Milton sure as hell will become even more interesting. When I was there, my friend mentioned that he was at the brewery a little over a year ago and there was already new stuff. In less than a year since I’ve been there, there will be an entire new branch to Dogfish Head. Stay tuned.
