Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

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

Bottle - via trade with jerc. Pours a deep, dark brown with a nice tan head. Aroma has a huge amount of chocolate, with some smokiness in the background, and a warm booziness. Flavour - well, the alcohol comes through a bit more than I would like, but aside from that, it’s pretty damn good. Lots of chocolate, roasted malt, coffee, molasses - just really big and tasty. Nice soft mouthfeel as well. A bit of aging might mellow it out a bit - but then again, when you’re making a tribute to HST, you’re probably not aiming for mellow.

Pitch black coloured body with a thinnish brown head. Aroma of hops (surprisingly), malt, coffee and prunes. Medium to Full-bodied; Strong roasty maltiness with some chocolate and coffee in the taste. Aftertaste bitter and roasty - fairly nice, albeit not too sweet. Overall - a dcent beer - roasty and nice. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased at Total Wine in Chantilly, Virginia on 23 November 2006 (Thanksgiving).

Cask, Max’s American Craft Beer Festival. Pours a dense black core; minimal head formation; slightly oily appearance. Chewy dried fruits, raisins, and caramel in the aroma. Light carbonation. Dense, chewy mouthfeel: plenty of toffee, dried dark fruits, and sweet caramel; lively vanilla- and chocolate-tinged roundness in the mouth; dense, satisfying, and intensely drinkable. Lengthy, toffee and milk chocolate finish.

12oz bottle - Pours black with a thick milkshake like brown head of several inches. Aroma is very hoppy. Not as much as alpha klaus but a close attempt. Also aromas of caramel and slight chocolate can also be found. Flavor begins with the floral hops up front then comes the nice roasted chocolate flavor and a dry warm alcoholic finish. On the palate this is thick rich and creamy. Mouth-coating and warming on the back of the sip. This was a very unique beer and complex. The best flying dog brew I’ve had to date...

Bottle: Pours a dark-chocloate brown with a thin tan head, chocolate, cherries, coffee, caramel, and sweet malts in the aroma, starts and ends lightly bitter with hops shining through, oily,slick mouthfeel with a nice alcohol burn at the end. Watch out, we are entering bat country.

Tap at Falling Rock. Pours a rich, deep black. Aroma is chocolate and roasted malt. Flavor is a bit chalky, but finishes with a strong chocolate/roasted malt flavor. Palate is thick and flowing.

Pours with a creamy, slightly frothy brown head that sits atop a midnight black beer. The aroma has a spicy hop note to it up front. There is an intermingling of pine and citrus hop notes with espresso & roasted malt notes, as well as a bit of chocolate. The beer has a thickish, creamy body. This beer is aggressively hopped, at least considering that I was not expecting much in the way of hop character in this beer. The fresh, herbal hop notes actually are the most distinctive part of this beer. Running throughout is a sweet, malty chocolate note that finishes out with an astringent sharp espresso note. This beer has notes of bergamot, grapefruit, and pine. This beer is perhaps a little on the light side, and could of course use a bit more malty notes to help tame the hop notes, but I am definitely enjoying this right now. This was a surprisingly pleasant beer, from a brewery that I honestly have not been all too fond of.

Bottle @ London Gathering Nov 05. Thick black. Liquorice and citrus hops. Clash of citrus and roast notes.