Delaware Breweries History: Dogfish Head Brewing Restaurant & Eats Dogfish Head Brewings & Eats was opened in June of 1995 and was Delaware's first brewpub. Dogfish Head was the smallest commercial brewery in America when it was opened. When Dogfish started distribution of their beers it became necessary to separate the packaging operation from the restaurant. In the summer of 1997 the Dogfish Head Craft Brewery was opened in Lewes. The brewery was started with three year-round brands; Shelter Pale Ale, Chicory Stout, and Immort Ale. In 1999, Dogfish added two more bottled beers to the lineup, Indian Brown Ale and Raison D'Etre. In January of 2000, Malt Advocate Magazine named Dogfish Head Raison D'Etre their Domestic Beer of the Year for 1999 (out of over two thousand candidates)! When the distribution responsibilities moved from the brewpub to the brewery, bottles of Dogfish Head Shelter Pale Ale were available in Delaware and Pennsylvania. Within months the distribution radius expanded to include much of the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond. Dogfish quickly outgrew the Lewes building and in the summer of 2002, the Dogfish Head brewery was moved to Milton, Delaware in a new residential/commercial community called Cannery Village. In 2002 Dogfish head started a whole new dimension with the addition of a distillery on the second floor of our Rehoboth Beach brewpub. Dogfish began with 3 styles of rum, and quickly added a gin and vodka. The spirits are distributed in Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Dogfish Head is now a brewpub, a distillery and a production microbrewery.