Flying Dog Double Dog Double Pale Ale

Bottle (35 cl) at Haket, Göteborg, Sweden. Shady mahogny with a large yellow/beige head. Malty and caramelly, with piney and citric hops, and clear note of alcohol (11.5 % abv according to the label). Well balanced. Would certainly gain from less alcohol content.

Nice creamy beige coloured head. A dark cobber brown colour with small particles. Suberb grapefruitty nose. Sweet malty taste at beginning. A very strong hoppiness. A real thirst maker :-). Quite strong alcohol content.

Smell is floral and resinous. Dark copper/amber pour with a luxuriously thick head, very nice. Wow, the flavor is very smooth all the way through for aa 10.5% beer. Nice malt backbone balanced by a high, but not over the top hoppiness. You can feel the alcohol presence in the mouthfeel, which is nice but not overpowering. Great beer.

Pours a dark amber with a thick off white head. Very hoppy aroma with some fruit and malt. The flavor is smooth and the alcohol is pretty apparent. A thicker beer, which makes sense, and not something to drink when you are having more than a couple.

2007 Vintage. Pours a hazy dark copper with two fingers of creamy beige head that deposits spotty lace upon the glass. The nose is pretty much what you would expect from a "double pale ale": twice the pale caramel malt and a solid backing of fruity and piny hops; a bit of a toasted/biscuity character to boot. Medium-bodied and grainy with a bitter, resinous, mildly astringent, mineral and spicy alcohol finish. If the flavor matched the nose, this would be a great beer. Unfortunately, it doesn’t. "Green" resinous piny and fruity hops over a lesser pale malt, finishing harshly bitter and alcohol-forward. Like a boozy hop cocktail, this is one of those beers that pushes the limits beyond my tolerances. I have to think that this one might mellow with age, but it’s fairly rough right now.