By T.R. Foley
Sam Calagione, the owner of Dogfish Head Brewery and star of the new Discovery Channel show, Brew Masters, talks about blasting punk music on rides—and why getting a tattoo with a date on it can be a bad, bad idea.
You live in Lewes, Delaware, the first town in the first state in the nation.
Lewes is the main ferry stop for cyclists headed to Cape May, New Jersey, so some mornings our town looks like the starting line for the Tour de France.
Brewing is a fickle, time-consuming process. How often do you get out on the bike?
I ride through Henlopen State Park every morning on a 55-minute loop. It’s incredible; I see osprey, dolphins, plenty of wildlife. I travel every other week for Brew Masters, so I like to spend the weekends with the family. We ride the Breakwater path from our home in Lewes to the brew pub in Rehoboth.
Tell us about your bikes.
I ride a Mudhoney ‘cross bike from Seven. I wanted a new bike as a gift to myself for quitting smoking. They printed “Off-Centered Trails for Off-Centered People” [a play on Dogfish’s tagline] on it. As a trade we brewed them a beer for their 10-year anniversary. I also have a Salsa Chili Con Crosso and a Specialized Rockhopper.
Do you always barter with beer?
That wasn’t about money. These guys inspired us to think about a new combination of flavors. Everything we create at Dogfish comes from some external inspiration, which means I want to be around entrepreneurs and artists like the guys at Seven.
Speaking of artists, we hear you have a tattoo with a story.
I had “For Sammy: 01-01-01” inked on my hip to commemorate my son’s birth and to signal my motivation for quitting smoking. The first attempt failed… I didn’t get the bike until I was smoke-free for one year, so now it reads “07.”
What’s your riding style?
I do almost everything wrong: I blast punk music like Pavement and the Replacements while hammering out of my saddle. Hard-core cyclists yell at me, but I love it. When I’m on the bike I’m dreaming up ideas for beers and thinking: Don’t tell me this can’t be done. What the @#$%? Let’s do this.
Craft brewers seem to connect to cycling; almost every brewery has kits for sale. Why is that?
Because we aren’t multinational corporations interested in selling you packaging instead of beer. We are creative and competitive, independent and hardworking. It’s just like die-hard cyclists: They tend to be the same kinds of thinkers and hands-on types. And yes, we sell jerseys.
What about your competition?
I was on a national morning show talking about craft beers and brought samples, including New Belgium’s Fat Tire Ale. The next week this box arrives with a New Belgium–themed bike. Coors wouldn’t do that, but guys who have bike-in movies and the Tour de Fat? Always. I’m not afraid of competition; I embrace it. Craft-beer drinkers are promiscuous—I drink plenty of other beers. We just want them to stop by and screw us once in a while.