Dogfish Head Original Cherry Pale Ale Homebrew Returns

I brought you a peek at this beer back in June, 2025…and now this from Dogfish Head in Milton, Delaware:

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Back in 1993, Dogfish Head founder and brewer, Sam Calagione, was living in an apartment in NYC and was beginning his journey as a brewer with his first ever homebrew that he very dearly called Cherry Pale Ale. He snagged the ingredients, brewed the beer, and after giving the recipe a big ol’ thumbs up, he decided it was time to share his first homebrew with his friends.  

In preparation for the beer’s release party, Sam took to bottling and labeling the beer. The labels were decorated with handmade potato stamps, and the bottles were adorned with custom carpet coasters. We know what you’re probably thinking … carpet coasters?! Well, it turns out, as Sam discovered a little too late, that when you pull hot bottles out of an oven after disinfecting them, that they will, in fact, be hot enough to melt the carpet below them right to the bottles. And thinking to himself that, ‘this could still work’, Sam simply cut the carpet around the bottles to make these custom coasters.  

Now, thirty years later, this story lives in infamy in Dogfish Head’s history, and in celebration of 30 off-centered years, it’s making a limited come back! We’re releasing a reconstruction of Sam’s first-ever homebrew, Cherry Pale Ale, with replicas of all of the original adornments, from the potato-stamped labels to the carpet coasters all in a special 30th birthday box exclusively available at www.givethembeer.com starting Friday, July 18, 2025.  

Cherry Pale Ale is a limited-edition beer that’s as authentic as possible to Sam’s 1993 homebrew. It’s brewed with Delaware wheat, a nod to our home state, and Maine barley, a nod to our namesake, alongside Cascade hops and boatloads of beautiful cherries for an easy-drinking, summertime sipper with balanced sweet and tart notes of stone fruit. Alongside a six-pack of 12 oz cans of the beer, the 30th birthday box will also include a selection of 90s-inspired Dogfish Head merchandise including a magnet, sticker pack, mini pennant flag and a special Post Tape digital cassette. 

While the Cherry Pale Ale 30th birthday box will only be available for purchase online at www.givethembeer.com, drinkers in Delaware can pick up a 6-pack of12oz cans of Cherry Pale Ale, ‘carpet coasters’ and all, at our Milton Brewery. Limited to one 6pk per person. 

Dogfish Head Press Release:

A liquid time capsule transporting drinkers back to the mid-90s, this limited-edition beer is brewed with Delaware wheat, Maine barley, Cascade hops and boatloads of beautiful cherries for an easy-drinking, summertime sipper with balanced sweet and tart notes of stone fruit.

Want to try the beer that started it all? Beginning this Friday, July 18, at noon EST, Dogfish Head’s Cherry Pale Ale will be available for purchase within a special 30^th birthday box exclusively at givethembeer.com. Dogfish Head’s Cherry Pale Ale 30^th birthday box includes a 6pk/12oz cans of Cherry Pale Ale alongside a selection of 90s-inspired Dogfish Head merchandise – a magnet, sticker pack, mini pennant flag and a special Post Tape digital cassette. Priced at just $30 each, including shipping, while supplies last.

“I first brewed Cherry Pale Ale back in 1993, while I was writing the business plan for Dogfish Head,” said Sam Calagione, Dogfish Head Brewer & Founder. “After serving it to my roommates and friends at a party in our small New York City apartment, I knew – and proclaimed to everyone – that brewing beer was what I wanted to do with my life. Now, in honor of Dogfish Head’s 30^th birthday, I couldn’t be more excited to share my virgin brew with drinkers near and far!”

To make this release of Cherry Pale Ale as authentic as possible, every detail was thoughtfully inspired by Dogfish Head’s history and Calagione’s first time homebrewing. The beer’s recipe includes Delaware wheat and Maine barley, offering loving nods to the brand’s bistate roots – Delaware, where the brand was founded and is still rooted today, and Maine, the state housing the jut of land after which Dogfish Head was named. The label artwork, which features a hand-painted cherry, is a recreation of the artwork that adorned Calagione’s original homebrew. And to keep things true-to-history, it was created the same way as the original, by Calagione, using a hand-carved potato stamp and finely bristled paint brush.

“Everything about this release holds a special place in my heart, but one of my favorite details has to be the infamous ‘carpet coasters,’” said Calagione. “You’re probably thinking, ‘carpet coasters’… what the f*ck? Well, when I first brewed Cherry Pale Ale, after heating the bottles in the oven to sanitize them, I placed them on the carpet to cool. Little did I know the heat would melt the carpet to the bottles requiring me to cut a ‘coaster’ around each bottle. Hey, necessity is the mother of invention … right? So that’s why every can of Cherry Pale Ale is lovingly affixed with a hand-crafted carpet coaster of its own.”

While Dogfish Head’s Cherry Pale Ale 30^th birthday box will only be available for purchase online, drinkers in Delaware can pick up a 6pk/12oz cans of Cherry Pale Ale, ‘carpet coasters’ and all, at Dogfish Head’s Milton brewery. Priced at $16 per 6pk/12oz cans. Limited to one 6pk per person.

Rooted in coastal Delaware, Dogfish Head opened its doors as the first brewpub in the First State – and one of the smallest commercial breweries in America – in June of 1995. Now, 30 years later, Dogfish Head is one of the largest, most well-known craft breweries in the country, with a production brewery, production distillery and tasting room in Milton; a beer themed, canal-front hotel in Lewes; and two delectable restaurants in Rehoboth. And while many things have changed over the past three decades, the brewery’s raison d’etre has not; Dogfish Head remains committed to providing “off-centered goodness for off-centered people,” in the forms of beers, spirits, culinary adventures and more. For more about Dogfish Head and its 30-year history, please visit dogfish.com.

About Dogfish Head:

The story of Dogfish Head began in June of 1995 when we opened Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats – the first state’s first brewpub – in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. The plan was to bring original beer, original food and original music to the area … and we did just that!

Not only was Dogfish Head Delaware’s first brewpub, it was the smallest commercial brewery in America. With our very first batches brewed on a system that was essentially three little kegs with propane burners underneath, we were brewing 12–gallon batches of beer for a whole restaurant. It proved to be more than a full time job and when the doors to the brewpub first opened, we brewed three times a day, five days a week! The benefit? Brewing on such a small system gave us the ability to try out a myriad of different recipes.

Insert ‘off-centered ales for off-centered people.’ Our hunger for weird ingredients and venturing off the beaten path was just getting started.

Fast-forward to 2002 and after spotting a stainless-steel bin in a rural Delaware scrapyard, our wandering eye led us to explore the wild and wonderful world of spirits. Sam worked with engineers and welders to reshape the tank in the form of a pot still – lovingly named ‘Frankenstill’ – and Dogfish Head’s days of hand-distilling gin, rum and vodka began. We’ve since expanded our distillery operations to our Milton campus with Frankenstill standing guard.

The off-centered fun doesn’t start and stop with beverages though … oh no. Here at Dogfish Head, we have places to eat, places to drink and places to play. The missing link? A place to stay. That’s why in 2013 we designed a basecamp for both beer lovers and adventure seekers alike – the Dogfish Inn. Located in historic downtown Lewes, it’s chock-full of style, quality and craft … let’s spend the night together!
But Wait, There’s More…


But before we get ahead of ourselves, we have a bit more to tell you. With connections to both the Maine and Chesapeake regions from our founders Sam and Mariah, it only makes sense that our coastal roots would lead to our very own seafood restaurant, and in 2016 we opened the geographically enamored Chesapeake & Maine. Featuring fresh seafood sourced exclusively from the coastal waterways between the Chesapeake & Maine, you’ll find our take on coastal dishes, handcrafted cocktails and Dogfish beers in a casual, nautical-themed atmosphere.
And just when you think there couldn’t possibly be more…

Still motivated by non-conformity, by spontaneity and by experimentation, Dogfish Head turned the page of our American craft beer story in May of 2019 and started our next chapter by merging with our longtime friends-in-beer – The Boston Beer Company. With complementary portfolios and a band of like-minded co-workers, we combined our own superpowers in the beer, spirits and off-centered experience worlds with Boston’s superpowers in building strong, diverse and innovative brands in craft beer and beyond-beer.

With a never ending thirst for exploring new waters, in 2021 we swam south for our next great adventure – Dogfish Head Miami. Located in the Wynwood neighborhood, this off-centered outpost was a place to celebrate all of our favorite things – innovative ales, tasty eats, and immersive art. Sadly, due to significant rent increases throughout the Miami area, we made the difficult business decision to permanantly close our Dogfish Head Miami doors in Nov. 2022. 

At every turn, our restless desire to create what hasn’t yet been imagined keeps us bringing new stories, new tastes, and new experiences to you.

Because we don’t jump on the bandwagon, we are the funky drummer.

Every day is an exploration. A thoughtful search through a crowded world, we search for that thing that makes us pause – that idea that excites us, the inspiration we can’t ignore. The journey can be unpredictable … but that’s what makes it kind of magical.
Dogfish Head Brewing & Spirits…


If you haven’t had the chance to taste Dogfish Head, find a beer, track down one of our spirits or visit one of our restaurants! You’ll quickly see why international beer writer Michael Jackson called Dogfish Head “America’s most interesting and adventurous small brewery.”

We’re beer geeks with a music problem. We’re analog beer for the digital age. We take what we do seriously … ourselves? Not so much. But mostly importantly, we make off-centered goodness for off-centered people and there’s a whole mess of us that work hand-in-hand to make it happen.

Founded in coastal Delaware by Sam and Mariah Calagione back in 1995, Dogfish continues to move in a slightly off-centered direction, motivated by non-conformity, spontaneity, and experimentation. We’ve been known to march to the beat of our own drum, and that’s just the way we like it.

There are over 2,000 of us now thanks to joining forces with our longtime friends in beer at the Boston Beer Company … so lots of people work together day in and day out to make Dogfish Head, well, Dogfish Head.
When we opened in downtown Rehoboth Beach as the smallest commercial brewery in the U.S., we began with a straight-forward, but unorthodox mission: off-centered ales for off-centered people.

Flash forward to today. We’re a bigger – but still small – brewery (with a distillery, tasting room, two restaurants, and a hotel!), with the same mission.

Thanks to a lot of awesome fans who believe in what we are doing as a company we have a lot of passionate, talented, and team-oriented co-workers who have come together to grow this company into a very special community. A community that has supported us fiercely since the day we opened our doors and a community that inspires us daily.

Here at Dogfish Head, yes, we make off-centered ales for off-centered people. The key word though … people. People means that all are welcome in our off-centered world. A world where we’re dedicated to providing a safe environment for our coworkers, guests, and partners. A world that is free of discrimination and intimidation, and where all are treated with respect and dignity.

With people at the heart of everything we do, the following behaviors are just not going to fly when you find yourself in any of our locations:

Physical touch without consent
Unwanted attention – staring, stalking, or trapping an individual
Hate speech or attire
Inappropriate, disruptive, or offensive behavior that crosses personal boundaries (unwanted nicknames, sexual remarks, remarks on physical appearance)

If we find that a guest is having a hard time sticking to the house rules listed above, they will be asked to leave. Actions that repeatedly threaten personal boundaries of our co-workers and guests have no place here.
There’s nothing we love more than sharing our space with new and old friends alike, but we want everyone to feel safe and respected. We’ve typed this out to make sure we’re all on the same page – because together we can craft a world where everyone is welcome. Now … who wants a beer?!