Dogfish Head Brewery - Pangaea

The mission statement painted high on the wall at the Dogfish Head brewery in Milton, Delaware, is a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Whoso would be a man
must be a nonconformist.
He who would gather immortal palms
must not be hindered
by the name of goodness,
but must explore if it be goodness.
Nothing is atlast sacred
but the integrity of your own mind.

People often assume that those who love beer are incapable of other sensitivities. But Dogfish Head seems to be the most verbal brewery in the country. It is a literary brewery. That’s very much a part of beer tradition, too. Graham Greene, the most famous British novelist, was a member of the Greene King family of brewers. Rodenbach contributed a couple of famous writers to Belgian literature, one writing in French and one in Flemish.

It’s like a parable of American capitalism to see how far the Dogfish Head brewery has come since starting out in 1996. And yet hadn’t anyone pointed out to Sam that all of his beers are non-commercial, that they would never sell because no one would ever drink them? Well, the brewery has really grown up, and now has its most popular beers sold in 24 states.

From the man who was once described to me, by an admirer of his, as the Robert de Niro of brewers - with the good looks of a movie start but the sensitivity of a poet – comes this month’s selection, Pangaea. It was brewed with ingredients from every continent, and is yet another extraordinarily adventurous Dogfish beer.

Cheers, and Happy Holidays.

Pangaea is ale brewed with ingredients from every continent, including crystallized ginger from Australia, Moscavado sugar from Africa, basmati rice from Asia, European malt, American hops, quinoa from South America, and water from Antartica.

This slightly spicy ale, with a mouthful of rich flavors, displays a nice hint of ginger, and its complexity increases if drunk cool, not cold.

7.0% alcohol by volume.