Flying Dog K-9 Cruiser

Brewed by Flying Dog Brewery
Style: English Strong Ale
Frederick, Maryland USA

Decent winter ale. Poured from the tap a dark brown with a finger thick whitish head. Not much nose to speak of, tastes of chocolate, caramel more than anything, hint of dark fruits. Not getting much on the hops side, but the malts are there in full force. A nice session beer, but would do well to jack up the gravity a couple of points.

A dark amber bear with a fair malty flavor up front, but what flavor there is goes away quickly.

Bottle. Pours a clear, very bubbly ruby-amber with an average size diminishing beige head. Mild but pleasant aroma of caramel malt, fruit, toffee and some alcohol -- not getting any hops at all. Slightly watery flavour of caramel malt, very light roastiness, nuts, dark fruit, alcohol and a mild bitter finish. Light to medium bodied. Needs more aroma, more flavour and more body to make it a world-class beer, as is it’s just O.K.

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this beer. Have not been a big fan of flying dog beers in the past, but this one was very good. Nice mild drinkable beer.

12oz. Bottle: Aroma of malts, fruit, apricot, toast, and roast. Poured ruby in color with a small tan head that diminished. Clear and sparkling. Flavor is odd. A little fruity, a little roasty, and a little creamy. Not really sweet, bitter, or sour. Medium body was thin and watery. Average carbonation. Short chalky finish. Overall, drinkable, but not good. Not an English Strong Ale.

an average beer at its start....god.. needs to be fuller...got from nawlins and is a let down...shouldn’t be a winter...muddled and confusing...lifeless...a kick in the junk!

12 oz bottle poured a great cola color with a chocolate milk head that settled soon. Mild aroma of chocolatey malts and light spices. Flavor is slightly sweet and roasted. It’s pretty thin, but the taste is alright.

12 oz bottle Aroma- Sweet malty. Smell reminded me of brown sugar with lightly floral undertones. In no way do I mean hops when I write floral undertones. Hops were pratically nonexistent on the nose. Appearance- Deep, clear red brown. Pretty. Only a minor head at the beginning of the pour that did not sustain at all even though carbonation was OK while drinking. Flavor- Surprisingly in the flavor I denoted some hoppiness up front with caramel malts present. The mouthfeel was somewhat thinner than I expected. The sweetness (sugar and raisins?) remained but was well overpowered by the bitter finish. Palate- Bitter finish as stated above. Lingered rather well which surprised me. Overall- Not a terrible brew but not as good as say Samuel Smith’s Winter Welcome. You can see that they were really attempting to move in that direction but there is still some work to get that level.