Sam Calagione started brewing in his kitchen in New York City,[9] where he created his first beer out of overripe cherries with his roommates Ken Marino and Joe Lo Truglio.[10] Dogfish Head has brew houses in Rehoboth, Lewes, and Milton, Delaware.[11] The first successful beer that Dogfish Head produced was Midas Touch, which was brewed with honey, white Muscat grapes, and saffron.[12] Although it started by only selling beer in the state of Delaware, Dogfish Head became one of the most profitable microbreweries in the United States. As of 2017 it distributed its beer in 38 states, the most recent being Louisiana.[13]

Calagione sources ingredients from around the world. Dogfish Head has become one of the most watched and well-respected breweries in the country thanks in large part to Calagione’s unconventional brewing methods. These ingredients made it possible for his company to grow.[14] The company used to be the smallest microbrewery in the United States, with Calagoione starting with three very small kegs with propane burners beneath them. Dogfish Head’s brewery in Rehoboth, Delaware, originally produced only 10 gallons of beer per day when it opened in June 1995.[15] By 2018, Dogfish Head had become one of America’s largest and most well-known breweries, producing around 15,000 gallons of beer per day.