That distinction goes to the Dogfish Head 60 Minute IPA.

I haven’t really made my love of the Dogfish Head Brewery a secret here on Brews and Books. My guest posters and myself have written quite lovingly about a number of different brews from the Delaware powerhouse. Hell, I even pushed a Dogfish beer on the community at Murmur.com by incorporating beer in the site book club. But none of the crazy, unique beers they produce hit me quite the same way as one of their tasty (and surprisingly traditional) brews.

Here’s how the brewery describes the India Pale Ale;

Our 60 Minute IPA is continuously hopped - more than 60 hop additions over a 60 minute boil (getting a vibe yet of where the name came from?). 60 Minute is a session India Pale Ale brewed with a slew of great NorthWest hops. A powerful, but balanced East Coast I.P.A. with a lot of citrusy hop character. The session beer for hardcore beer enthusiasts!

So, tons of hops, lots of citrus, and the ever-important balance - sounds great coming from the brewer’s mouth, but what does it all mean? Follow me down the tasting rabbit hole after the jump.

On the pour, the 60 Minute IPA is a brand-new-penny copper color, orange and bright - in the light, it practically seems to radiate light in the same way that imperial stouts feel like black holes. There’s plenty of haze in the glass, and a nice fluffy head that dissipates pretty quickly to leave a bit of lace on the top of the beer. The brewery wasn’t kidding about “citrusy hop character” - the 60 Minute has loads of grapefruit and orange in the nose. I’m not sure of the entire hop bill for the 60 separate hop additions, but there are definitely some pine and grassy notes in the aroma as well. Some bready malt and the tiniest hint of alcohol keep the nose from being non-stop hop.

The brewery also wasn’t kidding about the beer being balanced - the first sip (not to mention the following ones) is pretty perfect. Up front, the bready malt gives some sweet sugar cookie flavor, followed right up by sharp and citrusy hops. The Dogfish crew created a very drinkable, very sessionable beer by crafting a light-bodied, well-carbonated beer that finishes really dry - so dry that you want another sip right away. It also accomplishes something many other IPAs fail to do; because the hops are added continously during the boil, you get a lot of hop flavor without things being too bitter. Again, yum.

So…hoppy? Check. Balanced? Check. Drinkable? Check. Tasty? Check-chiggity-check! The 60 Minute is a really, really well crafted beer, and deserves it’s spot as the best-selling brew from Dogfish Head. If you’re looking for a solid, sessionable beer to keep stocked in your fridge, this is the beer.

The second Central Maine Brew Fest is scheduled for April 17th at the Augusta Civic Center. The first big brewfest of the year is hosting 16 brewers and brewpubs from around the state, from small outfits like Sheepscot Valley Brewing to the big dogs like Shipyard and Allagash. Kennebec Home Brew Supplies is also listed among the exhibitors, although I’m not entirely sure what the brewing experts are going to have on hand.

Tickets are still available, and go for $25 a pop – not a bad price for the number of breweries that will be at the festival. As is the norm with beer festivals, there are both afternoon (2 p.m. to 5 p.m.) and evening (7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.) sessions. Along with food and prizes, both sessions will feature live music from the State Street Traditional Jazz Band and the School Street Band. Like last year, both the Comfort Inn and Holiday Inn in the capitol are offering reduced room rates for the night of the festival, so out of towners can still imbibe.

Check after the jump for a full list of brewers, accommodations and ticket information from CentralMaineBrews.com and Central Maine Festivals, LLC.

Central Maine Brew Fest
At the Augusta Civic Center
Saturday afternoon & evening
April 17, 2010

Two Shows: 2-5 pm and 7:30-10:30 pm
Samples from Maine’s Premier Micro-Breweries
Live Music, Souvenirs, Food, and Raffle Prizes
Tickets $25 starting December 2009

2010 Participating Brewers

• Allagash Brewing
• Andrews Brewing
• Atlantic Brewing
• Belfast Bay Brewing
• Casco Bay Brewing
• Geary’s Brewing
• Gritty McDuff’s Brewing
• Kennebec Brewing
• Liberal Cup
• Oak Pond Brewery
• Peak Organic
• Penobscot Bay Brewery
• Sea Dog Brewing
• Sebago Brewing
• Sheepscot Brewing
• Shipyard Brewing
• Kennebec Home Brew Supplies

Musical Guests

State Street Traditional Jazz Band

Returning by popular demand, the State Street Traditional Jazz Band from Portland, playing New Orleans-style jazz at both the afternoon and evening shows at the Augusta Civic Center.

School Street Band

Augusta’s School Street Band will also perform at both the Civic Center’s Brew Fest shows. Go to www.schoolstreetband.com for information about the band.

Participating Hotels

SPECIAL Brew Festival rate of $65 (plus tax) at the Comfort Inn Civic Center Augusta. Rate includes deluxe continental breakfast, indoor pool and hot tub. Just across the way from the Festival. 99 Restaurant & Pub open for lunch and dinner. Must call the hotel directly at 207-623-1000 and ask for the Brew Fest special rate. One of Augusta’s Most Recently Renovated Hotels.

SPECIAL Brew Festival rate of $65 (plus tax) at the Holiday Inn Civic Center, host hotel for the Brew Fest. Located adjacent to the Civic Center and the Festival. Ground Round attached, open 6:30 a.m. to midnight. Join all your friends at the Holiday Inn! Call 207-622-4751 for your Brew Festival hotel accommodations. One of Augusta’s Most Recently Renovated Hotels.

I think this dismissal is a bit misguided, although probably not ill-intentioned. The fact is, a lot of folks still think of games as kids stuff, and games like Pong and Rampage didn’t have a lot of story to tell (although Ms. Pac-Man did have some cute intermission scenes). In the four decades since home and arcade video games started appearing, the storytelling in games has evolved to something nearing the level of film and prose - albeit in an interactive rather than inevitable form.

As I wrote for Laws of Play, the audience that plays games has also evolved. Sixty-nine percent of American heads of households play games, and the average gamer isn’t a teen or child, but 33 years old. This maturation of the audience means that there’s room under the umbrella of video games to tell adult stories for adult players. Studios like Rockstar Games, Bioware and Quantic Dream have used the platform of video games to create fantastic, involved and interactive fiction for a mature audience.

This post is an attempt to get readers to put their toes into the pool of video games, as well as turn gamers on to a couple books that might remind them of their favorite games.

If you liked The Road, The Passage, and other post-apocalyptic stories…
…then check out Fallout 3.

A reason that I loved both Cormac McCarthy’s The Road and Joshua Cronin’s The Passage is the fully developed world that exists in each story. Although you never find out exactly what destroyed most of humanity in McCarthy’s book, the main characters provide a fully fleshed-out post-apocalyptic life, from the culture existing among the survivors to the razed American landscape. The Passage does an even better job of this - it was truly one of the best pieces of worldbuilding I’ve seen in literature, and Cronin does a fantastic job creating a robust, believable and utterly fascinating world 100 years in the future.

Similarly, Fallout 3 is probably the most interesting and full world I’ve seen in a video game. The game takes place in the year 2277 on the East Coast of what used to be the United States of America, mostly in Washington, DC and following a third World War. Due to the intense radiation and killer mutated creatures roaming the metro area, many survivors retreated to massive underground bunkers called Vaults. The main story of the game follows a Vault-dweller venturing out into DC after his missing father. The world of Fallout 3 is a destroyed, retro-futurist take on our Washington, and there are virtual miles for you to explore, all packed with interesting plot threads and stories.

If you like A People’s History of the World, A Mental Floss History of the World, or general world history…
…then check out Civilization IV or Civilization Revolution.

The Civilization games really speak to the history geek in me. All of the Civilization games (the first was published back in 1991) are turn-based strategy games, and you build an empire from ancient times to the near future. If you think video games are all mindless button-mashing, Civilization is a game that will prove you wrong. All of the games follow a similar pattern - you pick a civilization (America, France, Russia, etc.) and found a city. From that point on, it’s a balancing act of settling new cities, researching to uncover new technology, building improvements to your cities and units to attack and defend, and conducting diplomacy with the other empires in the game. Every bit of this teaches you history, and the in-game encyclopedia describes the history and significance of everything from the phalanx to SETI.

If you like Batman comics…
…then check out Batman: Arkham Asylum.

OK, so this one might seem obvious, but hear me out. There have been video games based on comic books and superheroes for over three decades now. Most of these games have sucked. In fact, if you were a comic book fan I’d take extra care to steer you away from games like Superman 64 and Aquaman, just in case they were to sour you on the character. Yes, those games were that bad. Superhero games are so nearly universally bad that Batman: Arkham Asylum was all but written off for most of its development. Thankfully, Rocksteady succeeded in not only making a good Batman game, but making one of the best games of last year.

There are so many good things about Arkham Asylum that it’s hard to think of them all. The story, penned by Batman The Animated Series writer Paul Dini, feels like a Batman story. The voice acting is superb throughout, and the game offers tons of easter eggs and trivia about Batman, his allies, and his extensive rogues gallery. The gameplay is tons of fun, and the combat system is both intuitive and robust. More than anything, the game makes you feel like Batman. The Dark Knight isn’t invincible - face a couple enemies with guns, and you’re toast. However, you keep to the shadows, confuse the thugs in Arkham, always feel prepared for every situation and strike fear in the hearts of your enemies. In other words, you’re the Goddamn Batman. That alone makes this game worth playing for anyone with even the slightest interest in the character.

If you liked The Mist, V for Vendetta or 1984…
…then check out Half-Life and Half-Life 2.

Combine the otherworldly invaders of The Mist with the oppressive government control of 1984, and you’ll end up with a story quite close to Half-Life and Half-Life 2. Heralded as two of the best games of all time, the Half-Life series puts you in the shoes of Gordan Freeman, a scientist armed with a crowbar with a world to save. The story is told entirely in the first person, without cut-scenes or changes in perspective. From the first moment of Half-Life to the last screen of Half-Life 2, you never leave the body of Freeman, and time never skips ahead. If you’re a fan of storytelling in general you need to play the games - if only to enjoy such a well-executed experience.

The setting and story of the Half-Life universe are wholly original, but drawn inspiration from lots of classic science fiction and horror. If you’re a fan of Orson Welles, George Orwell or Ray Bradbury, you can see their influence in everything from the “set” design to the characters, and the game feels like one of their stories writ large. The Half-Life games represent, in my opinion, some of the best storytelling in video games, and deserve to be held up alongside the best science fiction in film and literature.

So, those are four pairings to start with. What other games suit fans of certain pieces of literature. What books do you enjoy as much as your favorite games? What do you think of my choices? Let me (and everyone else) know in the comments.

This week, I use my soapbox over at RateBeer to recount the 2010 release of Portsmouth Brewery’s Russian Imperial Stout Kate the Great.

Monday, March 1st was Kate the Great Day at the Portsmouth Brewery, the latest uber-hyped beer release in the craft beer world. In December of 2007, Beer Advocate magazine named Portsmouth’s Russian Imperial Stout Kate the Great the best beer in America – and the second best in the world. The stout also clocks in as part of the 100th percentile club here on RateBeer, and reviews around the web give the beer really high marks. The love of the well-brewed beer, along with it’s rarity (the brewery only has the capacity to brew about 10 barrels a batch) makes Kate one of the “gotta catch ‘em all” white whales of the craft beer community.

Check out the full post on the Hop Press.

This week on my Hop Press column over at RateBeer.com, I address the snobbishness and ad hominem attacks rampant in online craft beer communities.

Every so often, there’s something going on in the beer world that’s generating so much conversation that it needs to be addressed. A little while back, it was Rock Art’s trademark dispute with Monster over the Vermonster name. Last week, everyone was talking about Sink the Bismarck, the newest super-high alcohol beer from the Scots over at BrewDog. This week, people on Facebook, in forums and on Twitter seem to be buzzing about two topics in particular; the Call to Action posted by documentarian Anat Baron (director of Beer Wars) and a post on New Brew Thursday titled “Want to advocate for Craft Beer? Then don’t be a hater!“

You can read my collected thoughts on the posts on the Hop Press.