EatingOUT: 

When Susan and I headed for Dogfish Head we knew about their brewery and thought we’d try a beer while we were there. A beer? Not hardly! As soon as we were seated the manager, Fred, sent over to our table not one beer but two sampler racks, each containing 5 glasses of brew. Add to that a sampling of two of their house made vodkas (one raspberry infused, the other orange), and we were ready to rock and roll.

More about the suds later. What we really came for was the food. And what we ate made us glad to be there. Our server, Kristina, was very helpful. (The fact that she had beautiful brown eyes didn’t hurt.) She told us what a few of her favorites were from each of the categories, and, also, what were some of the most popular dishes. There’s a lot of diversity and interesting things on the menu.

To start, I couldn’t resist ordering the ale battered onion rings. What a treat. First of all, there aren’t many places these days that have onion rings on the menu, and these were the best. They were greaseless, crispy and the ale batter gave them a special zing. They were served with a dipping sauce of Shelter Pale Ale ketchup. Don’t miss these. While I carb loaded on the rings, Susan had the baby American field green salad. There were heaps of assorted greens, mixed with locally grown shitakes, roasted corn, topped with crispy noodles and dressed with a spicy wasabi-ginger vinaigrette. It had to have been good—it disappeared before I got a taste.

Selecting a main course is always work for me. Everything always sounds good, and Dogfish Head made my choice even more difficult than usual. They offer crabcakes, seafood penne, stout-marinated strip steak, and those are just a sampling of their main fare. There are single portion woodgrilled pizzas that have thin crusts made with a bit of wheat, barley, and pre-fermented ale. They all are dressed with a basil pesto sauce and mozzarella as a base. Then just try to decide which one of the wittily named pies is right for you. If all of that isn’t challenge enough, the list of hearty sandwiches with imaginative fillings had me reading the menu more than once before I could make a decision.

Susan wanted to try one of the pizzas and selected the Scrouille Andouille (irresistibly pronounced screwy andewy). It was topped with a confetti of andouille sausage, black beans, roasted garlic, corn, red peppers, scallions and parmesan. The flavors were wonderful and the crust was a perfect complement. Eying all of the brew in front of us, I decided to try to order light and asked for the lobster roll. Well, my intentions were good. I did manage to leave a few of the great tasting French fries that came with the sandwich, but I devoured every bite of the lobster roll. The lobster was unbelievably tender, and the sourdough roll was filled to the brim. You don’t have to go to Provincetown for a fantastic lobster roll.

The beers and ales. Oh my. We were sampling the two racks and talking to Kristina about them and she felt we just had to have another glass to taste. If you think a beer is a beer is a beer, then you are dead wrong. I could write a sonnet about these brews (with a few more of them on board, I undoubtedly would have!). A number of them are served in brandy snifters or wine glasses to showcase just how fine they are. Let me take a deep breath and tell you the ones we sampled: Midas Touch, Snow, 90 Minute IPA, 60 Minute IPA, Immort Ale, Shelter Pale Ale, Lawnmower Light, Chicory Stout, Indian Brown Ale, Raison de Etre, and last but not least, Old School. Our favorite was the Midas with Old School a close second. And here’s an amazing thing: I felt sure we’d each have a headache the next morning because we’re not used to drinking very much but, I swear, not a hint of one. They are doing something more than right.

Dogfish Head takes their brewing seriously. Not only do they offer a plethora of the sudsy stuff, along with vodkas there is also a variety of their house distilled gins and rums to be sampled. There’s not room enough here for me to try to describe the varied and smooth tastes of the different varieties but do stop in and read over their beer list, it’s amazing. There’s also a wonderful house made birch beer for those who prefer non-alcohol.

Yes, we had dessert: Napoleon for me and Beach Beer Float for Susan. Both were scrumptious. The Float was made with vanilla bean ice cream swimming in their house made birch beer. Great endings to a great meal.

Dogfish Head has been around for nine years now. It should enjoy many more. Check it out—the joint is hoppin!