Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA (2008 and later)

Brewed by Flying Dog Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Frederick, Maryland USA

bottle, burnt orange pour, foamy head, flavors of malty pine and wheat, finish is smooth hops

Poured from a 12oz bottle and served in a shaker. This IPA poured a clear amber with a thin, short-lived beige head. Some light lacing was left around the glass. The aroma of the beer was made up of strong citrus with some caramel sneaking in. The flavor consisted of oranges, grapefruit rind, a hint of iced tea, and some mild caramel. The mouthfeel was medium-bodied with moderate carbonation. Just a bit on the thin side and lacking in body. The new recipe isn’t really anything to get that excited about.

Pours a clear golden hue with a hint of amber with a light white head. Lacing is decent, not great. Aromas of pine, citrus and a light corn/oats/cereal odor. Mouth feel is medium bodied with a lingering finish. Flavors of the same as the aroma with a nice balance of hops and malts. Better than the original, yet still not something I will go back to.

Bottle. Pours hazy orange gold, white head. Aroma is hoppy (citrus, kiwi) and has bit hint of caramel. Flavor is hoppy bitter, some malty sweetness but there is a nice clean crisp finish. Decent IPA and no detection of peat. This has my IPA stamp of approval.

Bottle from 12-pack. This one’s a looker: clear copper with sustaining white head. Smells of citrus hops (dry-hopped w/ Columbus). Tasty hop flavor, although not really all that bitter. Hops are floral and spicy as well as citrusy. Malts have their say as well. Body is medium-to-full.

12oz bottle. Pours clear golden orange with thick light off-white head. Aroma is light with hops and light citrus. Flavor is citrus hops, malts, citrus. Finishes bitter but doesn’t have big hop flavor you expect from an IPA. Reminds of the shitty IPAs you find in no name airport breweries.

Bottle Code 303FX08; Sampled August 2008
A vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass produces a four-finger thick, light tan colored head. The beer is a brilliantly clear red-stained, amber color that shows a rich copper hue when held up to the light. The aroma is definitely American in its focus with notes of sweet grapefruit, lychee, super ripe tangelo and bright orange zest. Some caramel grain notes and some biscuit-malt notes, especially towards the finish, provide just a touch of malt character to the nose.

Sweet malt has a touch of a caramelized edge to it, but really serves as support for fruity hop notes of lychee, bergamot and tangelo. There is also a biting, pine-needle edge to this beer that wraps up with a substantially bitter finish that really tempers the caramelized sweetness from the mouth found up front. My mouth feels scrubbed clean by the aggressive hop bite in the finish. The substantial pine flavors take a turn towards the herbal at times with notes of hemp seed and almost a rosemary like note. A touch of dry malt character in the finish contributes flavors of lightly browned, whole-grain crackers as well as a touch of bread crust Maillard browning flavors. This is nice and quaffable as a good IPA should be; it has enough heft to carry the ample hop character, but not so much as to take this beyond a light-medium fullness.

This is quite a characterful IPA, lots of hop flavors with a good balance between fruit and sharp herbal notes. I consider this an easily found alternate for when I need a decent hop fix.

Purchased: Plaza Liquors, Tucson AZ

Smells of juicy grapefruit, nice thick hops and balanced malt underneath. Pours an orange/copper color with a medium white head that took its time fading. Taste is of dark hops, thick and heavy with a good malt presence and a biting bitter finish. Thick mouthfeel.