Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

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

Sweet floral boquet. Appearance: dark brown head; liquid is opaque, pitch black. Flavor is strong. Very heavy, alcoholic taste. Palate revealse liquorish, nutty, smokey, some sweet syrup taste. Roasted sour malt. Creamy smooth finish.

Pours a deep espresso brown with a massive coco cola colored head that rapidly subsides. Decent lacing. Nose is malt, coffee and chocolate. Taste is bitter chocolate, with first malt, then hops making their presence known. Decent mouthfeel. Finish is luxurious, with the flavors leaving, one by one, until only the hops remain.

7/6/08 On draught at the Dog & Pony, Renton, Wa. Aroma is sweet creamy malt with strong sour roast. Appearance is near black with a well maintained tan head and good lacing. Flavor is rich in malt and roast, with some faint alcohol and light toast. Overall, never touches the stout character despite the signifigant roast.

Bottle, thanks to beastiefan2k. Black pour, good amount of brown head. Aroma is roasted malt / oats. Flavor is the same, lots of roasted oats, chocolate, and burnt licorice. Decent beer.

Pours like used motor oil, thin brown head that lasts. Aroma is of coffee, sweet breads and a a bit musty. Flavor of coffee, then dry chocolate, then a nice mild chocolatey finish.

12 oz bottle

This is a case where the bark is worse than the bite. I was looking forward to trying this based on other reviews on the site. Now that I have I think I will skip past this whenever I see it on the shelves again. While it is not flawed in any particular way it didn’t get my pulse racing or even catch my interest. This is a case of a beer that is average in most every regard.

Aroma / Appearance - The deep black body swirled fluidly around my glass as a tannish head developed above. Banana peppers, hazel, vanilla and cinnamon blended into a sweet concoction that was most like coffee with a few creamers thrown in.

Flavor / Palate - Coffee mixed with dry tree chips was a nice introduction without any wow factor. The taste of a cup of cooled hot chocolate came next along with a trace of smokiness. All in all there wasn’t anything particularly bad about it. It just lacked any sort of characteristics to set it apart. If you are into baltic/imperial porters it is worth a try. If not go straight for a quality imperial stout instead.

Bouteille de 355 ml. Arômes de grains torréfiés avec une présence marquée de houblon (floral et résineux). Robe noire opaque, légère mousse mocha. Moyennement ronde en bouche, les grains rôtis et le café accompagnent le houblon américain. Finale moyennement amère. L’alcool demeure bien camouflé.

Bottle from Julio’s Liquors in Westborough, MA. Great flavor with a wonderful balance of chocolatey coffee malts and hops. Barely any head, but the slight head it had was almost a dark copper color. Simply a great beer that is definitely worth trying.