Flying Dog Brewery Double Dog Pale Ale

Good evening all. Tonight's beer is Double Dog Pale Ale, an American Strong Ale from Flying Dog Brewery (Maryland, USA). Flying Dog Brewery has been featured on this blog before, and was probably one of the first "craft" breweries that I got into, so I always look forward to their offerings to some extent. I'm also a big fan of the American Strong Ale beer style, and whilst its not strictly a true style but more of a blanket term used to categorise the uncategorisable, the offerings within it are so similar to Barleywines and even DIPAs that I'll always be a supporter. Review after the pic....

Double Dog (11.5% ABV) pours an amber colour with a centimetre of white head that dissipates to a patchy covering over the surface of the beer. The aroma is fairly standard for this beer style, with plenty of  caramelised sweetness from the malt, some resinous hop character, a real awareness of the alcohol and a herbal quality in the background that I can't quite find the words to describe. The hops and the malty sweetness are the most instantly detectable, combining to create a piney/sickly sweet aroma that almost completely covers up the alcohol. The boozy character starts to permeate through this after the initial burst has subsided, accompanied by the oily vegetative/herbal background aroma. Tasting the beer delivers a lot more of the alcohol and the hop-derived bitterness, with the malty sweetness taking a backseat. Some resinous/piney hop character is also present, but the alcohol- almost reminiscent of acetone- bombards the palette both during drinking and in the finish. Definitely a sipper, the alcohol hit me like a sledgehammer based on my reviewing drinking pace! Unfortunately, without either the hops imparting more than just bitterness, or the malty sweetness acting as a counter to the alcoholic burn, the beer can come across as unbalanced and one-dimensional. The mouthfeel is quite thick and the beer is well carbonated, which fortunately does compliment the amplified flavours on display. Overall, this is quite an unusual beer in that the aromas are more balanced than the flavours, making the overall experience rather one sided. If the taste built upon the perceived aromas it would be a much better beer, but as it stands it's a bit too harsh for my liking and so I wouldn't get it again. Offerings like Stone's "Double Bastard" or "Arrogant Bastard Ale" are much better examples of the style. 

Until next time....

Flying Dog Brewery Kujo Imperial Coffee Stout

Good evening all. Unfortunately I haven't done a lot since my last review post, so I'm afraid I won't be able to supply you with the usual lengthy introductory discourse concerning my personal life. However, that should all change in a couple of days as I'll be heading up to Nottingham to reunite with my old band for a gig and, whilst that does mean I'll be absent from the blog yet again, I should at least have something to talk about afterwards! Tonight's beer is Kujo Imperial Coffee Stout, an Imperial Stout from Flying Dog Brewery (Maryland, USA). I'm a big fan of coffee stouts and Flying Dog in general, so my expectations are pretty high for this offering. Review after the pic....

Kujo Imperial Coffee Stout (8.9% ABV) pours a jet black colour with a short-lived brown head that settles to a thin halo around the inside of the glass. The aroma is rich and sweet, with dark fruits, coffee, chocolate, toffee and some roasted malt in the background supporting everything. Surprisingly, the coffee wasn't immediately apparent on the nose in comparison to the sweeter aromas and the chocolate, but I suspect this was because of over-chilling as the coffee became more noticeable as the beer warmed up. Definitely on the sweeter end of the spectrum in comparison to other imperial stouts, and the generous coffee injection adds another interesting dimension that amplifies the coffee aromas usually present when using roasted malt. Tasting the beer suddenly makes you aware of the alcohol content, and you can almost feel it vaporising as it warms up in your mouth. Accompanying this sensation are a myriad of flavours, including raspberries, chocolate, coffee and caramel. The raspberries come out more in the aftertaste, with the taste during drinking being more reminiscent of a general "dark fruits" flavour (sweet, dry, slightly puckering). The coffee only seems to make itself known through retro-olfaction- the alcohol and sweet fruits overpower this flavour on the palette- and the caramel sweetness becomes predominant towards the end of drinking, mixing well with the lingering dark fruits. Towards the end of the beer, a pronounced creaminess is introduced which acts as a great base for the coffee, giving a taste very similar to a latte. The biscuit aspects of the malt also become apparent, almost acting as a biscotti for the coffee in a strange way! The finish is slightly dry, with some grape flavours lingering in the aftertaste, and the mouthfeel is not overly thick which compliments the flavours in this context. Overall, this is a very good example of a coffee stout, with the malt base acting as a platform for the additional java but still allowing the other flavours (fruit, caramel sweetness) to come through. I'd definitely get it again- it's on par with similar stellar offerings such as Mikkeller's "Beer Geek Breakfast", De Struise's "Black Damnation II- Mocha Bomb" and Dark Star's "Espresso".

Until next time....

Flying Dog Brewery Gonzo Imperial Porter

Good evening all. Thanks to everyone who read my contribution to this month's Session, it was great fun to write and as always they really help to put this obsession into context! I wasn't going to review the star of tonight's post as I've had it many times before, but in the end the desire to flex my assessment muscles was too great to resist. Therefore, tonight's beer is Gonzo Imperial Porter, an Imperial Porter from Flying Dog Brewery (Maryland, USA). This beer used to be readily available in the UK, along with Doggie Style Pale Ale, towards the end of my second year at uni, so along with BrewDog Punk IPA this offering was certainly one of my first experiences with "craft beer"- seems only fair to subject it to the reviewing treatment then! Which, as always, can be found after the pic....

I assure you that I won't be biased by the awesome Ralph Steadman artwork!

Gonzo Imperial Porter (9.2% ABV) pours a jet black colour with a thick brown head that settles to a thin halo of foam around the inside of the glass. The aroma consists of chocolate, licorice, yeast extract, dark fruits, citrus fruits, roasted malt and a nice burnt sugar sweetness in the background. The chocolate hits first with aromas of syrup and cocoa powder, which are surprisingly rich and dark even in the presence of the other aromas. The hoppy citrus fruits combine with the chocolate to give a black IPA feel to the beer, whilst also conjuring up memories of barley wines when the sweetness becomes more apparent. The alcohol isn't overpowering and only slightly vaporises into the nose to accompany the other aromas, despite the high ABV percentage. Definitely on the sweeter side of the stout spectrum, it's great stuff so far! The taste is similar to the aroma, with dark fruits, coffee, some chocolate and a caramelised sweetness in the background accompanied by a dry, papery aftertaste in the finish. The dark fruit flavours (blackcurrants, raisins) are quite fleeting, and the alcoholic presence is definitely more apparent on the palette compared to the nose, but after the roasted malt flavours have subsided the aftertaste kicks in and adds a slightly unsavoury element to the beer with some grapes and the aforementioned papery dimension. Every so often the flavours combine to give an Asian sauce flavour, similar to Hoisin, which is understandable given the sweetness and the piquant fruits from the roasted malt. The mouthfeel is slightly thick and the beer is moderately carbonated, which compliments the hop-derived fruits and supports the darker flavours very well. Overall, an interesting porter with a healthy injection of fruity hops set against characteristic roasted malt flavours. It's immensely drinkable despite the high alcohol content and is very well-balanced. The unusual aftertaste is something I've never come across with this beer before, so I'm going to chalk it up to having a bad batch and I won't let it affect my decision to purchase it again in the future. Definitely recommended!

Until next time....