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Beer Blogging - Flying Dog (TasteLive 4/19/09)

Kerberos Tripel - 12oz, 8.5%ABV

The Pour - Thin pour, very light head that faded quickly

The Color - A slightly hazy golden-orange body.

The Nose - Barnyard/straw, an orange/citrus aroma opens up the nose like a shot of smelling salts (and I mean that in a good way), clover. It screams Belgian.

The Taste - A touch of sweetness with a hint of caramel, balanced with an orange-peel bitterness. Does not hit you over the head with alcohol; a "sneaky" 8.5 if there ever was one. Very full mouthfeel, lingers on the palate for quite a long time. Getting some hints of banana now that the beer's opened up (and warmed up) a bit. Did I mention this lingers? My beer's been done for 5 minutes, and there's still a pleasant bitterness lingering on the back of my tongue. Now, when I posted that last thought at TTL, my friend Jeff's reply was "Yeah, lingers along the middle of my tongue all the way back." The only thing I could think to say to that was "LIKE MY COCK!" but I didn't want to tweet that publicly. So that was a special message directTweeted to him. Take that, Mr. "I can do 11 minus you divided by FUCK!"

The Verdict - B+.


Horn Dog Barley Wine - 12oz, 10.2%ABV

The Pour - Standard pour, building a nice tall head that lasts.

The Color - Deep orange amber.Very, very slight haze.

The Nose - Getting some barnyard/manure on this one. What the hell is up with my nose tonight? Also, coffee/mocha/chocolate, nutmeg, fig.

The Taste - Raisins, raisins, raisins. Very sweet, more than a little out of balance. Vanilla, molasses, chocolate/mocha. A hint of hops lingers nicely, but I can't get over the syrupy mouthfeel.

The Verdict - B-. Just too damned sweet. Which is strange, because I gave this an A- last time I beerblogged it, and it's been one of my favorite barleywines since I discovered it.

UPDATE: It was less cloying today, but still too sweet. A problem with the batch?




Double Dog Double Pale Ale - 12oz, 11.5%ABV

The Pour - Slightly thicker than average pour, nice long-lasting head.

The Color - Golden amber, medium haze, abundant floating sediment.

The Nose - Cigar box, hops, clove, pine forest. There's a lot going on here. Some tropical fruit too?

The Taste - Holy shit. This a hop monster. Bitter orange peel, corriander, and yes, pineapple. My nose isn't broken after all. Great beer.

The Verdict - A

UPDATE: Revisited this one, and nothing changes. I probably nursed this for 2 hours over yardwork and cooking, and it was good to the last drop. Tons of hops character, perfectly-balanced, and a totally sneaky ABV. I'll definitely keep this in the summer rotation. Wonderfully refreshing.




Gonzo Imperial Porter - 12oz, 9.2%ABV

The Pour - Standard thickness, HUGE head, which is to be expected at almost room temperature.

The Color - Brown/black, totally opaque.

The Nose - Caramel, smoke, honey.

The Taste - Everything a porter should be, but maybe a bit too sweet.

UPDATE: I was pretty hammered by the time this one came around, so I had another one today to give it a fair shake. The verdict is the same: too sweet. Everyone was raving about this last night, but I just don't see it. It's basic porter, and flawed at that.

The Verdict - C (downgrade from B- during the tasting)

An-ti-ci-paaaaa-tion

Sitting here with the Canis Major mixed pack of Flying Dog brews, waiting for 8pm to roll around so the latest TasteLive session can start.

One each of Double Dog Double Pale Ale, Horn Dog Barley Wine, Gonzo Imperial Porter, and Kerberos Tripel. Bill did the math on the bud points for me - tonight's tasting is 7.6 standard beers, not bad for a two-hour tasting session. Certainly less damage than the Dogfish tasting last month, which - if you drank all of them - was about 14 beers...

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