Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter

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

Bottle from my local Tesco. Again with Flying Dog, if I was going to demonstrate a style I would not choose their brews. However, I do enjoy some of them. Black with a chunky beige head. Like the frothy foamy trd foam that washes up on English beaches. And Welsh too, get down to the lovely black rock beach. Aroma is a little alcohol, chocolate. Flavour is smooth and mellow, bit of hops and the usual roasted malts, coffee, chocolate Porter characteristics. Easy to drink and tasty. Enjoyed this one.

Bottle from Jason’s in Ellicott City, MD. Pours darkest brown with a foamy tan head and great lacing. Aroma is coffee, cocoa, dark fruits, and some floral hops. Flavor is lots of caramel malt, toffee, coffee, roast, nuts, chocolate, and a surprising amount of citrusy and floral hops. Palate is smooth and full with some lingering hop and coffee bitterness. This is a very good beer.

Bottle. It’s dark: almost black with a thin tan head. The beer has a complex aroma of molasses, dark chocolate, black licorice, raisin with scents of citric hops alongside. The body is quite full; it has a nice, smooth mouthfeel. After sitting and settling, the aroma shows more of the initial raisin with prune. The flavour is nicely balanced, with an interesting green hop presence right alongside the expected, dark roasted porter flavours. There is a fair bit more of the dark chocolate and black licorice, molasses, some nuts, subtle coffee, all with an underlying citric element: lemon and slightly sour white grapefruit pushing through the darker flavours. The finish is long and dry with more licorice, coffee and light leafy hops.

Dan’s Bachelor Party Extended Weekend Rating #58 of 90. On tap at HopCat in Grand Rapids. Baltic Porter. Pours pitch black with thick tan head. Some coffee and dark malts in nose and flavor. Smooth going down...not bad! Revisited on tap at B-dubs D-town Indy, much the same but noticeably hopy this time. Very good again.

Another good looking beer, with a nice tan head. A burnt malt with hops nose. Coffee and chocolate with a balance of hop bitterness. Feels good on the palate. Clean dry finish. Fits the style, well done!

Bottle from Tesco’s Watford. Black pour with a beige head. Roasty aroma. Tastes of coffee, hoppy, roasted malt, dark fruit. I’ve had this on draught a couple of times before at the White Horse in London. One of Flying Dogs better brews.

Another one I’ve had before but had to buy again. This is one of their best beers, if not the best. Very smooth drinking porter for how strong it is. Nice.

On tap at Barcade. Pours a deep dark black with a thin beige head. Coffee, roast, caramel. Malty, light roast, little coffee. Finishes with a bit of roast.