Poppa Skull is the reciprocation-collaboration between Dogfish Head and 3 Floyds Brewing Co. Our brothers from another out in Indiana. The first beer we did together at 3F, Popskull, was a high-gravity dark lager aged on chunks of our palo santo wood. Poppaskull is similar in abv, a sipper that will age well, also aged on wood, but very, very different in flavor and aroma.
This time around we brewed at our brewery in Milton, DE and made a deep, golden ale spiced with cardamom and fermented using a robust Belgian yeast strain. One third of the volume was then aged for 6 months in oak brandy barrels. Spice, esters, and sweet brandy dominate the aroma. A robust 10% abv is rounded by caramel and vanilla notes from the wood with a slight spiciness coming from the yeast.
