Fordham & Dominion Brewing Company - Back Stage IPA

Pouring an attractive reddish-amber hue and capped by a head of persistent tan foam, this IPA looks good in the glass while announcing its not a West Coast-style rendition, nor one of the myriad hazy New England-style IPAs that have caught on in recent years. This one's going to have some deeper malt character. On the nose, we got a nice balance of caramel malt in the undercurrent, overlaid by citrus and floral tones backed up by light herbal, grassy spice and a touch of fresh pine. On the palate, look for a robust malt backbone with bold caramel and prominent toastiness. Hops burst through with resinous citrus zest and herbal pine notes, and the bitterness is firm and drying without being crushing, as the brewers opted for more balance with the flavorful malt backbone. Spicy foods are generally a good pairing with IPAs, though with this one we'd be sure to compliment the malts as well as the hops. A rich jambalaya sounds great to us, as well as pizza with a flavorful crust and spicy Italian sausage. Cheers!

In 2007, Fordham Brewing Company formed an alliance with Old Dominion Brewing Company, and in 2009 the two breweries joined their operations and became a unified company under the name Fordham & Dominion Brewing Company at their location in Dover, DE. Both breweries have an interesting history.

In 1703, England’s Queen Anne commissioned Benjamin Fordham to begin a brewery in America, in her namesake city of Annapolis, MD. Sadly, when he passed away in 1716 the brewery was shut down. The Fordham name was resurrected in 1995 with the establishment of a new brewery by William Muehlhauser and Jim Lutz. After five years of strong growth, they moved to a larger facility in Alexandria, VA, and three years later they had outgrown that building too. Fordham’s brewing and bottling operations moved to their current facility in Dover, DE in 2003 and a few years later they joined forces with Old Dominion.

Old Dominion was founded by Jerry Bailey in 1989 as a brewpub in Ashburn, VA, but soon expanded into a full-fledged production brewery to serve nearby restaurants, pubs, and supermarkets. In the years since, the brewery has been well-recognized in the industry for their excellence, bringing home over a dozen medals from the Great American Beer Festival, as well as being ranked one of the country’s 20 best breweries by Gourmet Food and Wine magazine. After outgrowing their location in Virginia, the brewery was moved to Dover, DE, where they ultimately teamed up with Fordham.

For more information about the brewery, their tasting room, events, and scheduled tours, call 302-678-4810 or check out their web site at www.fordhamanddominion.com.