Watch: Dogfish Head Brewer Bill Marchi explain the brewery’s new wild ale program

A decades-long tradition, my family spent Labor Day in Rehoboth, Del., with our friends (also co-owners of Rocket Frog Brewing Co.). I finally got the opportunity to visit the new Dogfish Head Brewings and Eats (yes, Brewings has an S). The new restaurant, bar, brewery and concert venue is spectacular (though the original brewpub will always have a special place in my wheezily heart). Of course, my friends and I had to enjoy the tap exclusives, and they were just insanely good and creative. Have no doubt: Dogfish Head Craft Brewery is still pushing the boundaries with top tier results. That’s why I’m excited for this new wild ale program — Wooden … it be nice!

Dogfish Head Brewer Bill Marchi explains the just-announced program in the video above. There are a lot of different ways to make a wild beer, and Dogfish Head will take a few different routes, including taking a base beer and

a) aging the beer for a year in a barrel where it ferments with wild yeast and bacteria, transfer it to a tank and add hundreds of pounds of wild fruit;

b) barrel age it, transfer it and add freshly harvested hops; or

c) transfer it to barrels add fruit and yeast and then age it.

These wild concoctions will be bottled, corked and caged, obviously produced in limited batches (like 1,500 to 2,000 bottles) and go for about $10. Expect Wet Hop American Summer in early November and Eastern Seaboard (a wild ale brewed with blackberries and beach plums) in mid-December.