Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

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

351 mL bottle. Pretty much opaque black, with a film of brown head. Aroma of coffee, cocoa powder, and dark malt. There’s that stout-like astringency in there, as well. The flavour is full of roast, vanilla, raisins, cherries,sticky caramel, and alcohol, with hops from start to finish. Very nice. Body is full and smooth. Tough to distinguish from an I.S. Excellent.

12 oz. single - $2.79 at Total Wine & More in Kennesaw, Georgia. Listed as "Vintage 09". Appearance: Pours a black body topped with a frothed, tan-colored head. Smell: Cutting aroma of charred black malts, dark chocolate, fragrant colophony, and even chiffonade mint leaves. Taste: Bittersweet, fudge-like chocolaty malts coupled with sharply roasty black maltiness and its taste of fire-scorched coffee grinds. Strongly sweet, though this is tempered somewhat by the bitter qualities of the roasted malts blended with the bitterness of the earthy, resinous, pine-tinged hops. As with the nose, there’s a touch of spicy mint. Drying, bitterish finish with a final lingering taste of creosote. Mouthfeel: Medium-full body. Medium carbonation. Soft, creamy mouthfeel. Drinkability: It’s certainly one of Flying Dog’s better offerings. Paired well with the bittersweet, oft melancholy tones of the Kings of Convenience and Pedro the Lion. It makes me a bit wistful for the barrel-aged Gonzo.

Bottle. Black. Smells malted barley, hops and lots of chocolate. Complex flavor of hops, raisin/butter-like tones. Lots of chocolate and roasted tones in aftertaste.

Flying Dog Oak Aged Gonzo(Sample Date: 1/26/2009 Source:Capital Ale House - Downtown) Roasty with some wood in the aroma. Very dark with a small white head. Flavor of dark fruits and caramelized sugars with some oak up front. Dry finish with the whiskey coming through. Nicely balanced.

Bottle.Pours black with a big brownish head. Hops de luxe aroma, also some spices.Tastes of coffee, chocolate, long aftertaste. Balanced.

Black pour with a large brown head. Aroma of roasted malts, coffee, alcohol and some hops. Thick mouthfeel with a strong flavor or roasted malts and coffee.

Bottled:Nearly black color with a foamy, brown (like coffee) head. First impression, a bombastic hop aroma. Notes of fresh, whole aroma hop umbels. Then dark fruits, roasted malt and smoke. Soft mouthfeel, velvety, full bodied. Raisins and rum plums, malty, intensive roasted malt notes, alcohol. Dark chocolate and coffe beans in the end. More of this stuff, please.

I have had this on tap and bottled. One of my favorite beers. A huge porter, pours black as night, and a deep brown head. Aroma is nice roasted coffee, chocolate notes, burnt malt. The label is accurate, this has a very complex and deep flavor. Each sip takes you somewhere else on the palate. Traditional coffee, chocolate, sweet malts body of a porter/stout. This is a huge, robust and I think the best, porter on the market.