If you ever find yourself in the state of Delaware, you should make your way down to Rehoboth Beach to visit Dogfish Head Brewing & Eats. In my quest to visit all 50 states, I recently found myself in Delaware (my 49th state). Dogfish Head was a planned stop on our trip and I’m glad that it was. Originally I pictured the restaurant and brewpub to be a tiny shack on a small and somewhat isolated beach, similar to the beaches and towns I found up in Connecticut and Rhode Island. I was completely off on my vision, as Rehoboth Beach is quite the booming beach town. Plus Dogfish Head is multiple blocks from the beach. Though once we made it inside, I was not disappointed at all.

First Round Of Samplers

We arrived around 6pm one Saturday evening and found that there was only a fifteen minute wait for a table. Even though we weren’t too hungry at the time, we figured we better take the opportunity to sit down inside, or else we may miss the chance. Our table inside the cramped room was ready quickly. Before we could even think about eating anything we had many important decisions to make selecting what to drink. The tap list is constantly changing, in fact one of the choices from the freshly printed menu, 120 Minute IPA, was already dry.

I Think I'm In Love

For our first round of tasters we selected Hellhound On My Ale (Imperial IPA), Indian Brown Ale (American Brown), Sah’tea (Sahti), Theobroma (Chile), and Black & Red (Imperial Stout). All of these beers were good, though all quite different from the next. Hellhound was a delicious and hoppy replacement for 120 Minute, though I still would have liked to have had another try of 120. Indian Brown is available year-round but is a great example of the style. Sah’tea was very interesting, with an almost chai tea taste at times. Theobroma was the biggest surprise, with flavors of chocolate and chile packed into a lightly colored beer. Finally Black & Red was a high alcohol stout with lots of fruit and mint flavors mixed in.

Revolutionist Pizza

While enjoying the tasty samples of beer, my wife and I decided to order a little food. We agreed to split the Revolutionist Pizza which is topped with roasted garlic olive oil, Cypress Grove Midnight Moon aged goat cheese, caramelized onions, green apple, and fresh thyme. The wood fired crust with bits of wheat, barley, and un-fermented ale was thin and crunchy. The toppings were a perfect complement to some of the outrageous beers that we were sampling. The flavors could easily go with any beer they have on tap.

75 Minute IPA

Eventually we ordered another round of tasters. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo so I forget some of the samples we had, but I know that Chicory Stout, My Antonia, and Raison D’Etre. We may have also had Chateau Jiahu and Namaste, or maybe I’m getting confused since I bought a bottle of each of these from the production brewery for beach enjoyment later on our vacation. I also ordered a glass of the 75 Minute IPA on their cask system, a tasty blend of 60 and 90 Minute IPA’s. All of the beers were tasty, that’s for sure.

Chicory Stout Bacon Chocolate Cheesecake

To wrap up the night, my wife and I split a piece of the Chicory Stout Bacon Chocolate Cheesecake. In theory this sounded like a tasty mix: beer, bacon, and chocolate. However, the desert fell a bit short. I think the bacon could have been a bit crisper, since find a big piece of chewy bacon in your desert is really strange. The flavors went together pretty well, but the texture was hard to adjust to. I’d try one of the other beer infused deserts if I were to make it to the restaurant again.

Overall we had a really great experience at this legendary establishment. I would highly recommend checking it out if you are ever in the neighborhood.

I had a couple of tickets for Grace Potter and the Nocturnals this past Friday night. Originally Kim was going to go with me to see this amazing singer, but she decided to stay home with Trey after just getting back from a tiring vacation. I convinced my friend Rob, who also just moved back to Cincinnati from Denver, to go to the show with me. Despite being the only guys in the audience without a female in their group, we had a wonderful time. Guys should not be afraid to rock out with Grace Potter.

If you have never seen Grace Potter perform before, get off your butts and go check her out. She has an amazingly powerful voice that soars over her accompanying organ and guitar. Not to mention that she is quite the entertainer with her always sparkling short dresses and her wild dancing across the stage. Her backing band, The Nocturals, are all very talented musicians as well, who can really turn a song into a long jam when needed. However, they also know when to keep it down and let Ms. Potter shine.

This was my fourth time seeing them play and my favorite show of theirs to date. Previous performances have all been either short festival sets, or an opening slot for another band. This night was a headlining performance, complete with a powerful encore with Grace performing “Nothing But the Water (I)” alone on stage with only a pair of drum sticks to lead the clapping crowd. This was of course followed up with a rocking “Nothing But the Water (II)” that eventually faded out with the band leaving the stage chanting the chorus, “Tried my hand at the bible, tried my hand at the prayer, but now nothing but the water is gonna bring my soul to bare.”

See also: a praising concert review from Cincinnati.com.

A couple of weekends ago I arranged for a happy hour with a few friends and my wife at the Oakley Pub & Grill before heading over to the nearby St. Cecilia’s church festival. Happy hour specials run from 3-6pm Monday through Friday and feature $2 off appetizers and 50 cents off beer. We arrived shortly after 5pm expecting to find the small space completely packed, but there were only a few tables occupied. We grabbed a table for our group and ordered a couple of rounds of appetizers.

Boneless Buffalo Tenders

First up were the boneless buffalo tenders served with homemade blue cheese dressing. The menu also indicated that there would be celery served with the dish, but we received none. For the happy hour price of $5.95 the tenders were quite a bit of food and were tasty. They weren’t drenched in sauce like buffalo wings tend to be, the sauce was cooked into the chicken tender more, which was a little cleaner to eat.

Basil Chicken Quesadilla

Next up, my favorite of our choices, was the basil chicken quesadilla. This quesadilla is a little different from normal with the inclusion of fresh basil and mozzarella cheese, but I found the change refreshing. Plus the standard grilled chicken, tomatoes, salsa, and sour cream are included to give it a little standard flair. During happy hour this dish is only $4.95, which is a deal! I saw a couple orders of nachos being served and those too looked good.

Chicken Philly

We split the appetizers a few ways, so my wife and I were still hungry for a little more food. We decided to split the chicken philly sandwich, which was served with fries for $6.95, which is very reasonable. This sandwich is served with grilled onions, mushrooms, and banana peppers, along with provolone cheese and an olive tapenade. The menu didn’t indicate that pickles, tomatoes, and raw onion would be included, but that can easily be removed if not wanted. My wife and I left the fixings on the sandwich, but still found it to be fairly bland. Maybe we should have swapped the mayo that is served on the beef philly in place of the olive tapenade.

A friend of ours had the grouper fillet sandwich (sorry no photo) and really enjoyed it. I’ve read other reviews praising this sandwich, so that should be a safe bet. The burgers are also supposed to be good, but no one in our party tried one. I’d also like to give the pizza a try on a future visit. I’m sure we will be back for this very affordable happy hour if nothing else.