Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

Brewed by Flying Dog Brewery
Style: Imperial/Strong Porter
Frederick, Maryland USA

12 oz bottle. Decent, but really nothing overly exciting or complex in the aroma, some good roasted black malts, nutty caramel, and some unimposing hops. Interesting swirled head of mixed dark and light creams, but besides this, nothing more incredibly enticing about its looks, as its visually lighter in body than expected and dark cocoa brown in color. Initially there is a nice creamy, solid feel, but then this gives way to a rather blah carbonated soda type feel right through the middle of the swallow, that puts me off a little. It is also lighter on the flavor and complexities than it could, not poorly balanced though, with a similar package of taste notes to those of the aroma. The end of the finish is by far the most enjoyable aspect of this beer with a good, creamy caramel and light mocha malt along with a hint of earthy bitter. A good beer, but it definitely left me underwhelmed as i usually like hopped up porters of his kind. Oh well.

smells and tasted much like your typical porter, so I was dissappointed with that. Visual seemed cola-like with lots of bubbles, not much head and a dark syrup brown hue.

4 pack of 12 oz bottles from BevMo. Lovely black pour with a solid light brown head. Pleasant roasted aroma with some chocolate and coffee and a hint of plum. Very well balanced flavor, starts out with a big chocolate burn and follows with a dry hop snap that is very pleasing on the tongue. Nice chocolate and licorice aftertaste. Also an awesome as hell label.

(35.5cl bottle) Almost black coloured hue with a firm and thick brown foamy head. Sweet roast-malty aroma with notes of mocha, dark chocolate, licorice and an aromatic fruity and slightly piney hoppy blend. Bitter-sweet flavour, full bodied with a well-carbonated mouthfeel. Rich roasted malty taste with light burnt elements and a present fruit-character, combined with a marvelous presence of aromatic hops. Dry-ish roasty and hop bitter finish with chocolate and licorice in the aftertaste. While the FD Road Dog Porter was rather disappointing, this one is almost great (16.II.09).

Pours black with a nice brown head. Sweet malty aroma. Thick mouthfeel full of roasted malts, molasses, and a little bit of coffee sneaking up for a nice bitter finish.

7oz bottle. $13.99 Mix Pack sampler from Julio’s Liquors. Vintage 08. Nice head with good lace. Strong roasted malt flavor. Delicious. 2/26/08 - Bumping this one up a couple points. This beer is growing on me. I definitely liked it at first taste but I seem to be enjoying it more each time. Will definitely be getting more of this.

TAP: At the Happy Gnome (St. Paul, MN) on 2.14.09. Big black pour with good lacing. Aroma is roasted malts, with sugar and dark fruit in subtle amounts. The fruits are less subtle on taste - there’s some red wine charaacter (although far from a barley wine) in the taste. Excellent porter.

Bottle. Pours dark with a dark head. Aroma: some chocolate, roasted malts. Flavor: hops, roasted malts with a mild coffee finish.