Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

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

Bottled. Deep and dark brown, almost black colour. The head is minimal, beige in colour and somewhat creamy. The aroma is simply delicious! Deep, sweet maltiness is combined with milk chocolat and flowery hops. Plums, dates and such ripes have lots of sweet power. Gentle roastestedness lies somewhere on the background with a hint of vanilla. Roastedness and darker chocolate have more to give in the flavor. Thick, even syrupy maltiness and powerful bitterness shake hands in the middle. Dark chocolate and coffee beans give some sourness in the finish. The alcohol is totally absent. The palate is full bodied, oily and slightly carbonated. Overall it´s rich and powerful porter and best when at room temperature.

Bottled. Dark, Blackish. Light brown thinning head, thick at first. Unexpected smells of flower. lighter caramel notes--sweet. Very dry taste also of caramel burned malts with hops. Very tight/quick finish with big bite at end.

An interesting beer to be sure. Something is missing, but I can’t pick what it is, and to be honest, in trying to figure it out, I’ve decided I like this way more than I did at the beginning! It’s a flavour bomb, with a ton of roasted notes going on, ranging from slightly overextracted dark roast coffee, to dark fruit toast, to roasted kumara! The alcohol is very noticeable, but that’s not a bad thing. There’s a ton of hop bitterness too, and the hint of something that might have been hop flavour, but died quickly. The final impression is toffee and fruit toast. It’s a seriously complex beer.

Bottle. Pours black with a little brown head that quickly vanishes. The nose has equal parts coffee and toasty yeast. Medium bodied, this has a dry finish and a little bitterness in the end. The flavour has a little chocolate but more of the coffee and roasted malts with a lovely enveloping smokiness. Can’t wait to get my hands on the barrel aged version.

01.06.2008, 0,355l Bottle. Dark brown colour with pale brown head. Aroma is rich malty with a dry hoppy finish. THis is a tastefull and rich beer, really nice. Re-rate and new tasting 06.11.2009.

beer that was dedicated to Hunter S. Thompson can not be a bad thing. I was intrigued so I decided to give this porter a try. Poured from a 12oz bottle into a pint glass The color is a dark black, held to the direct light it seems almost a deep brown, the heap is good foamy white, white sticks to the glass as is dissolves. The smell is of roasted malts, a good auroma of coffee and dark chocolate. The taste is just deep. Roasted malts, drak chocolate and a bit of coffee flavor rounds out the taste buds. Keeping up with a great Imperial crowd this beer had the balls to to a little strong but flavorful at the same time. It was just the right mix of malt flavor and tasty coffee undertone that made me do a double take. Pretty darn good.

Good old Gonzo... A nice black beast of a beer that has an air of "I was once incredibly hoppy". That’s probably died away and he’s left a little sweet, but he’s still a good friend that I’d like to hang out with more. I’ve recently begun thinking of big black beers as falling to two distinct categories: "drink now" and "drink later". Gonzo falls into the former, I even wish I’d had it earlier. All that aside: I give Gonzo two thumbs up!

Bottle, 355ml. A deep treacle colour with a good head. Strong aroma of roasted barley and some biscuit notes. A strong malty flavour with treacle notes, hops and a touch of spice. Really good!