Flying Dog The Fear Imperial Pumpkin Ale

After several attempts to try the beer, I finally ordered a glass of Flying Dog The Fear Imperial Pumpkin Ale at Mad Mex in Shadyside. The beer pours a orange-tinted golden color with a frothy white colored head that leaves a thin lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of pumpkin, cinnamon, and vanilla. The taste is smooth and sweet with lots of pumpkin. Better yet, very light cinnamon, allspice, and nutmeg accents appear and balance the sweetness with a hint of graham cracker. The alcohol content is 9.0% ABV. I’d say this was another solid performer in the pumpkin ale category. While it wasn’t the best I’ve had, I would definitely order this beer again next fall.http://flyingdogbrewery.com/

Flying Dog Pearl Necklace Oyster Stout

I went to Alewife in Baltimore to have dinner with friends and I ordered a glass of Flying Dog Pearl Necklace, an oyster stout. The beer pours a black color with a creamy beige colored head. The aroma consists of chocolate, toasted malts, salt, and cream. The taste is smooth with milk chocolate and toasted malts. Vanilla and caramel sweeten the beer before a dry salty finish. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. This beer transported me to a delicious, smooth, and dark chocolate heaven that I thoroughly enjoyed visiting while experiencing this beer.

Flying Dog Kujo Imperial Coffee Stout

I saw a six-pack of Flying Dog Kujo Imperial Coffee Stout from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a black color with with a frothy tan head that barely leaves any lacing on the glass. The aroma consists of toasted malts, chocolate, coffee, and a touch of vanilla. The taste is dry with a large coffee profile on the front end. Hints of chocolate and toasted malts make a presence, with caramel and vanilla coming out on the finish. The alcohol content is 8.9% ABV. I’d say this is a well put together coffee stout with a large, fresh coffee profile, but the chocolate provides a solid base to build upon.

Flying Dog Oak Aged Gonzo Imperial Porter

One of the beers I looked forward to trying on a recent trip to Pittsburgh was the Flying Dog Oak Aged Gonzo at Fat Head’s. The beer pours a black color with a bubbly tan head. The aroma consists of chocolate, vanilla, toasted malts, milk, and oak. The taste is biting at first with bourbon but as it warms, it becomes a sweeter bourbon flavor. There are vanilla accents aplenty in this beer while the chocolate moves to the background with toasted malts and molasses. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV.  There was lots of bourbon in this beer, but I thought it blended very well with the intense chocolate and toasted malt profile of Gonzo. The touch of vanilla was perfect for this beer, and it played really well with the caramel flavors.

Flying Dog Woody Creek

I ordered a glass of Flying Dog Woody Creek from Al’s of Hampden. The beer pours a pale yellow color that is unfiltered with a thin filmy white head. The aroma consists of lemon, cream, wheat, pepper, and orange. The taste is smooth and lemony, has an orange accent, and a solid wheat base. There is a dry peppery finish with grassy hops mixed in as well. The alcohol content is 4.8% ABV. Overall, the Woody Creek is refreshing and well done, a perfect beer for drinking on the patio of your favorite beer joint.

Flying Dog Single Hop Imperial IPA (Simcoe)

While at Max's Taphouse in Baltimore, I ordered a glass of Flying Dog Single Hop Imperial IPA (Simcoe). The beer pours a golden color with a foamy white head. The aroma consists of grapefruit and sugar with pine hints. The taste is big on grapefruit, tangerine, sugar and caramel. There is a gritty hop bite with pine, almost chewable, with a sweet after taste. The alcohol content is 10% ABV. I am a big fan of simcoe hops, and this beer completely delivers. I felt that the gritty and chewable hop bite was very interesting, but still very enjoyable.

Harrisburg Brewers Fest 2010

I attended Harrisburg Brewers Fest 2010, hosted by Troegs and for the benefit of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It was an extremely hot day, but cold beers definitely helped the situation. Below are my tasting notes and pictures of the beers to accompany. Keep in mind that with smaller samples and an expedited schedule, my tasting notes a bit more brief than normal. If I get the chance to review these beers again, I will expand on them.

Bullfrog Fran-tastique Saison- The beer pours a cloudy yellow color. The aroma consists of wheat and lemon. The taste follows the aroma with lemon and wheat and nice slight hop bite. The alcohol content is 7.5% ABV. I thought overall that this was a very good saison that was clean and refreshing

Duck-Rabbit Marzen- The beer pours a nice amber color. The aroma is very malty with a slight sour hint. The taste is smooth and malty with great sour hops finishing off the flavor. The alcohol content is not available online.

Smuttynose Barleywine- The beer pours a golden amber color with a bubbly white head. The aroma is malty with a light citrus zest. The taste is malty and bitey (great hops included) with caramel and some orange and spice accents. The alcohol content is 10.0% ABV. This was a great barleywine and I would like to get an entire bottle of it rather than just a taste.

21st Amendment Brew Free or Die IPA- The beer pours a clear yellow color with a bubbly white head. There is a lemon aroma that is pretty faint. The taste is mostly lemon with some light pepper accents. The alcohol content is 7.0% ABV. I thought that this was a tame IPA, making it great to an IPA newbie, but still pretty good and easy drinking.

Market Cross Pub Red Ale- This beer was the winner of the home brew contest that Market Cross held previous to Brewer's Fest and it was available on hand pump. The beer pours an orange amber color with a bubbly white head. There is a nice malty aroma. The taste is malty, smooth, and creamy. There is no alcohol content available online. I thought that the Red Ale was delicious and one of my favorites, if not my favorite, beer of the day.

Erie Presque Isle Pilsner- The beer pours a yellow color with a bubbly white head. There is minimal aroma. The taste is sweet and wheat and overall light bodied. The alcohol content is 4.2% ABV. I thought that this pilsner was pretty decent but not mind blowing. I would definitely order this beer again for its easy drinking on a hot day.

Swashbuckler Mocha Stout- The beer pours a dark black color with a tan bubbly head. The aroma is coffee and chocolate with a bit of cream. The taste is coffee and cream with some good chocolate taste holding together the backbone. There is no alcohol content available online. This beer was excellent and smooth and made my list of great beers for the day. I would make this my second favorite beer of the day behind the Red Ale of Market Cross.

Otto's Pilsner- The beer pours a clear yellow color with a thick bubbly head. The aroma is filled with sour malts. The taste is malty and crisp with a good helping of sour hops. The alcohol content is 5.1% ABV. This pilsner was very refreshing and again is a great choice for a hot summer day.

Weyerbacher Double Simcoe- The beer pours a reddish amber color with a bubbly foamy white head. The aroma is filled with grapefruit, just the way I like my IPAs. The taste is really well balanced with caramel and grapefruit and a sweet sugary finish. The alcohol content is 9%. The Double Simcoe was an extremely delicious beer and I plan on tracking this beer down for home consumption.

Flying Dog Woody Crick White- The beer pours a yellow color and cloudy with a bubbly white head. The aroma is filled with wheat and light hints of lemon. The taste is lemon and wheat. The alcohol content is 4.8% ABV. I thought that this witbier was really good but might have been slightly over-carbonated. However, this is less intrusive on a hot day as the beer is very refreshing.

New Holland El Mole Ocho- The beer pours a dark amber color. There is a chocolate and sour hop aroma. The taste is filled with chili and coffee, but in a great balance. The alcohol content is 8.0% ABV. I was very surprised as to how good this beer was. It was my first experience with a spiced beer and I really enjoyed it.

Thirsty Dog Siberian Night- The beer pours a dark brown color with a tan bubbly head. The aroma consists of coffee, chocolate, and oak. The taste is the same as the aroma, mostly with the coffee and the chocolate. The oak provides a nice finishing touch. The alcohol content is 9.5% ABV. Overall, this beer is very delicious and I enjoyed the oak accents.

Marzoni's Avalanche IPA- The beer pours a dark amber color which was very surprising with a bubbly head. The aroma is filled with grapefruit. The taste consists of toasted malts and grapefruit. The alcohol content is 6.9% ABV. Overall, a decent IPA, as it contained a great bit of grapefruit flavors and the toasted malts gave an interesting but pleasing balance.

Flying Dog Tire Bite Golden Ale

As part of the Flying Dog sampler pack, I tried the Tire Bite Golden Ale. The beer pours a golden color (as said in the name) with a bubbly character and almost no head. The aroma is lightly sour malts with some sweetness. The taste is a bit sour and malty with some breadiness and butter on the finish. The carbonation is present but not overdone. The alcohol content is 5.1% ABV. Overall, this is a satisfying beer. It goes really well with warmer weather. It may not be an experimental brew that pushes the limits, but is is great beer to fall back on.

Flying Dog Garde Dog Biere de Garde

I picked up a bottle of Flying Dog Garde Dog Biere de Garde when I was in South Carolina. The beer pours a straw gold color with a bubbly white head. The aroma is fresh and has wheat hints with a faint hop smell. The taste is lightly malty with a slight butter finish. There are remnants of hops hit the side of the mouth with carbonation bubbles. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. I thought that this was rather tasty Biere de Garde and was very refreshing.

Flying Dog Snake Dog India Pale Ale

I picked up a six-pack of Flying Dog Snake Dog India Pale Ale at Wegman's. The beer has a medium gold color with a foamy and bubbly white head with a lace that sticks to the glass. The aroma consists of citrus and fresh hops. The taste is is crisp and fresh. It hits on a lemon accent first and finishes with a dry and piney hop bite. The alcohol bite is 7.1% ABV. This is an excellent example of an India Pale Ale without anything being overdone. The beer is not overly sweet with the citrus or overly bitter with the hops.

Flying Dog Raging Bitch

I picked up a case of Flying Dog Raging Bitch from Westy's in Camp Hill. The beer has a yellow golden color with a lofty foamy head that sticks to the edges of the glass. The aroma is full of lemon, orange, and grapefruit citrus and fresh hops. The taste is sweet and lemony citrus on the front. It then turns more to grapefruit on the middle tongue and finishes a little dry and tastes of earthy and piney hops. The alcohol content is 8.3% ABV. This is a fantastic beer with many sweet citrus flavors balanced nicely with earthy dry hops. I absolutely recommend trying this beer and will buy this again.

Flying Dog Horn Dog Barley Wine

The final beer I tried from the Major Canis pack from Flying Dog was the Horn Dog Barley Wine. The beer is reddish brown in color with a sweet aroma. The taste is very sweet and malty with hints of raisin and vanilla. There definitely is a alcohol bite to the beer, as the alcohol content is 10.2% ABV. I thought that the flavors were intense and the alcohol was present but not overwhelming. I really like this Barley Wine and suggest you try it if you like barley wines. It would rank up there with my favorite barley wines and I really like the vanilla accent.

Flying Dog Kerberos Tripel

The third beer out of the Major Canis sampler pack from Flying Dog that I tried was the Kerberos Tripel. The beer is golden orange in color with a fruity aroma consisting mostly of banana. The taste is sweet consisting of banana and spices. I thought the balance of the spices in the beer were perfect. The beer then hits with some hops and and finishes dry. The alcohol content is 8.5% ABV with is very detectable in the dryness. I liked this Tripel and though that the fruit accents were perfectly blended with the spices.

Flying Dog Double Dog Double Pale Ale

The second beer I tried out of the Major Canis sampler pack from Flying Dog was the Double Dog Double Pale Ale. The beer is orange in color with no head. The aroma is slightly sweet hoppy. There is also a note of freshness. The Double Dog tastes very hoppy and has a sweet finish with hints of coriander. The alcohol content is 11.5% ABV. I thought that this beer was surprisingly sweet on the end for the amount of hops included and very enjoyable. It has moved up on my list of favorite Pale Ales and is a must try.

Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

I picked up a four-beer sampler pack, Major Canis (basically high alcohol content beers), from Flying Dog. The first beer I tried is the Gonzo Imperial Porter, named after Hunter S. Thompson. Coincidentally, at the time of this posting, the Gonzo was just awarded the gold medal at the Great American Beer Fest for best Imperial Porter. The beer is dark black in color with a thick and lofty head. The head leaves frothy film on the glass. The Gonzo smells nutty and sweet. The taste consists of dark chocolate and is a bit nutty with a nice hop kick. Overall, the drink is smooth and creamy with a dry chocolate aftertaste. The alcohol content is 7.8% ABV. I thought that the Gonzo is very tasty and it left a great after taste on the palette. There are many levels of flavor in this beer, and not one disappoints.

Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Lager

McGrath's in Harrisburg had Old Scratch Amber Lager from Flying Dog on tap so I gave it a try. The beer is amber in color and has almost no aroma. The taste is sweet and malty, with a crisp hop accent. The finish remains sweet despite the bitter hops and is thoroughly enjoyable. The alcohol content is 5.5% ABV. The Old Scratch is one of my favorite beers on draft at McGrath's and I will be sad to see it go when the keg is kicked (which has happened since I got around to posting this review). However, I plan on picking up a case of it in the future.