Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA (through 2007)

Formerly brewed at Flying Dog Brewery
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Frederick, Maryland USA

Brewery Creek
Bright amber colour. Citrusy, woody aroma with some caramel notes. Soft caramelly malts on the palate back up bright mango, orange, wood and pamplemousse notes. Mild, but well-structured with interesting, bright flavours.

12 oz bottle. I had this bottle after sampling a lot of Sam Adams, so the big hop flavor was a fantastic change. The citrus-peachy hops really come through in the smell and the taste. Good brew.

Bottle. Clear dark amber - offwhite head. Aroma: Dry grass, caramel, resin, sweetness, strange fruity. Taste: High hoppy, bitterness, sweet marmelade, fruity, light flowery. Very violent bitter hoppy finish.

Clear orange, amber colour with an off white head. Hoppy, piney aroma with peach fruity notes and hints of flower and sweet malts. Hoppy and quite bitter flavor with notes of pine and flowers and hints of some sweetness. Dry, pine bitter finish.

Bottle: pours a clear honey gold with amber highlights, off-white bubbles, nice lacing on the edges, aroma of flowers, pine and sweet malt, some vanilla fragrance, malt, caramel and sweet flavors with hop bitterness to balance well, mouth feel is a little thin but not much, hop bite lingers into the finish, the hop aroma leads on but the flavor does not follow.

I enjoyed having Goldings in the aroma instead of just PNW hops, and of course Chinook hops derive from Northern Brewer. Snake Dog pours with a small head but with plenty of retention and hop lace. This is a very hop-forward ale, which many Ratebeerians have found unbalanced. Although the malt is reticent, it contributes almost enough roundness and sweetness to soften the hop’s edge. The dry hopping strongly asserts itself in the finish. This probably resembles the historic IPA’s actually exported to India. Since I live near D. C., I’m probably drinking the Frederick, MD version, which is very well made.

Nice blending of traditional English- and American- IPA flavors...floral English hopping and citrusy/fruity PNW hopping. Touhes of metallic notes waft in and out, but not very distracting. Good solid malt caramel and toffee sweetness anchors this brew well, with bitter highlights being contributed by the fairly substantial hop schedule. decent enough.

Orange coloured, lasting foamy head. Predominantly hops in aroma, some fruity notes. Hoppy flavour, quite bitter. Watery and not very complex. Lasting bitter finish. Not bad, but not very impressive either.