Dogfish Head’s Pennsylvania Tuxedo brew to hit taps, store shelves in November

The original Pennsylvania Tuxedo may have made its way to our neck of the woods back in 1925, but this coming November, Dogfish Head will be bringing its own version to our fine state in liquid form.

Beginning Nov. 9, Dogfish Head's Pennsylvania Tuxedo will hit taps and cooler shelves in the 31 states where the brewery's beers are sold — Pennsylvania included. It will be the first time the brew, which was initially released last year, will be available in bottles or on draft outside Dogfish's Rehoboth brewpub and special events.

Dogfish Head teamed up with Pa.-based clothing manufacturer Woolrich Inc. for Pennsylvania Tuxedo, which takes its name from the red-and-black flannel hunting outfits the outdoorwear manufacturer popularized in the early 20th century. Woolrich, for its part, is also offering Dogfish Head-themed clothing.

The beer itself stands at 8.5 percent ABV (up from last year's 4.5 percent ABV), and is flavored with spruce tips picked in the Pennsylvania area, as well as Pacific Northwest hops. As a pale ale, the result is a dry, malty brew highlighted with citrusy, resinous notes — something like Yards' Tavern Spruce, but lighter and more hop-centric, plus more alcohol content.

As Dogfish's Sam Calagione explained last year, the idea behind the brew came from entries written in Woolrich founder John Rich's diaries in the 1840s. At some point, it seems, Rich nearly died after falling off some rafters during a barn raising thanks to having consumed too much of his home-brewed spruce beer. And for Calagione, that inspiration is only fitting.

"When I think of craft beer, I think of rustic wool, trudging through the woods, getting lots of flavors and really being down and dirty at the level of things that are growing in the woods," Calagione said of the brew last year. "And that's why I think Pennsylvania Tuxedo is the right outfit to personify beer."

Be on the lookout for Pennsylvania Tuxedo locally as Nov. 9 approaches.