Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

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

Serve in Shaker, Snifter

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Standing 200 yards from the Gonzo Fist Cannon amidst 50 or so of my fellow uninvited riffraff (90% of us journalists), I answered one young man’s query as to the taste of the Imperial Porter in my hand, saying "It’s 85 percent Owl Farm soil, 10 percent gunpowder, and 5 percent of Hunter’s ashes. Oh, and some hopped-up water." -Rick McKinney, Jigglebox.com

What can I say? Wow. A phenomenal beer. Ridiculously rich. Looks like Coca-Cola, but darker and redder. Strong hints of chocolate and coffee. The 9.2% alcohol content is incredibly well-concealed; you don’t notice how strong it is until wham, it just hits you. Perhaps a 4.8 rating is a bit high, but I think the average rating on this beer is way too low. It definitely ranks in the top several American beers I’ve ever had.

UPDATED: OCT 4, 2007 Bottle. Dark, black with a dirt-brown head. Very sweet, thick palate. Some hops in the aroma makes this come together wonderfully, otherwise, malts.. coffee. This is really good. Re-rate: SBWF 2007. Had to take this up a few notches. Amazing stuff!

Bottle 12oz. Pour a dark black, with dark haed. Smells of hoppy chocolate coffee beans. A bitter taste of hops and coffe and alittle cocco in there to. The character of this beer ranks amoung the best of them.

Dark brown body, with nice, light brown, long lasting head, and excellent lacing. Aroma was caramel, mocha, with a hing of pine. Taste was burnt, nutty, choclate, espresso, and sweet, with a lasting mildly bitter finish. Mild alcohol, but did a great job of hiding the 9%. Texture was creamy with soft, but fitting carbonation. Delightful, tasty beer, which definitely is worth buying again.

sweet, sweet GonZo juice, how i have loved thee...much, much better on draft than from the bottle...have served this on tap since the first batches were unleashed in the spring/summer of 2005...deep, deep roasted flavors and aromas reminiscent of baker’s chocolate with a slight hint of (dare i say it here!) hashish and dried fruit...at its best( i believe, in 2005) a massive assault on the senses...an opaque monster of a porter dwarfing inferior stouts...’you buy the ticket, you take the ride...’ !r.i.p.h.s.t.!

Extremely thick and dark head.. complex flavor that is delicious... and you gotta love Hunter! =p

NIce fullflavour beer. Love the nince full dark head. It’s full flavour going all the way to the U have to stomach. nice choclateroasted flavor that explode in the palate and have a long taste that keep you company ’til you brusch your teeth. Wonderful beer taste.

Incredible. Besides being a huge HST fan, I’m a huge fan of this beer. Has a terrific aroma of coffee and roasted malts. What makes this beer even better is it’s balance between it’s ABV and its flavor. What a great beer.

Lovely beer, perfect color and appearance, and gives a good and healthy, natural taste. Strong but very balanced, complex yet friendly, a truly great porter. Drunk from bottle, gift from friend, 17.dec-10