Flying Dog Wild Dog Barrel-Aged Gonzo

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

Bottle from mikesgroove. Thanks Mike. Pours a thick dark brown with a fluffy light mocha brown head. It smells really nice. Sweet bourbon, chocolate, coffee and roast. The taste didn’t quite live up to the smell for me but the flavors were there. Chocolate, bourbon, roast, and oak with a nice bit of hippiness in the flavor as well. There was quite a bit of alcohol present in the after taste. Quite dry and decent mouthfeel. A pretty nice barrel aged beer but nothing amazing.

RE-rate: 07 beer, 08 release courtesy of nbutler11. Even better than the one I had originally, it represented a perfectly balanced barrel aging product (really rare these days). Full notes of chocolate, bourbon, wood, vanilla, cinnamon/sugar and roasty porter in both nose and flavor. All in concert, every sip. BA Decadence, be shamed. Original rate: This was boss. Bottle from Holiday Wine Cellar, and worth the wait. Great oakiness, great smoke, on top of what I can only assume is a great porter, though I have never had the original incarnation. A fabulous go-to beer.

750 ml bottle, from (I forget, sorry). Pours blackish brown and opaque, with a small tannish head. Chocolatey, whiskey, roasty, and herbs. Roasty and herby, quite tart and astringent, Smooth, full body and gently tingly carbonation.

750ml bottle. Pours pitch black in color with full foamy brown head. Aroma sweet, whiskey and chocolate. Taste of whiskey, dark chocolate and oak with bitter finish.

750ml Bottle from 2007. This beer pours beautifully with a thick and frothy tan head. Aroma was complex with hints of whiskey, oak, chocolate and roasted grain. Coffee, chocolate malt and oak dominate the flavor. As the beer warms a sweet vanilla character becomes noticeable in addition to some alcohol notes. Mouthfeel is rich and velvety, but lacks a bit of the chewiness I prefer with this style of beer. Whiskey is prominent in the finish. Overall an outstanding beer that is akin to a rich dessert. I would highly recommend letting this beer warm up to the 55-60 degree range as it seems to allow the flavors to really stand out.

Bottle from Holiday Wine Cellar. Pours dark brown, nearly black, with a thick brown head. Beautiful roasted chocolate, nuts, leather, and whiskey in the nose. Velvety mouthfeel. Incredible taste. Blended cocoa, vanilla, bourbon, oak, smoke, and roasted malt. This beer alone redeems all the other overrated Flying Dogs I’ve paid too much for.

Side by side with regular Gonzo: Pour is black with a dense huge brown head....lighter in color than the regular Gonzo’s dark brown chocolatey head...it also has lots of sediment...smell is roasty with some milk chocolate notes and a chestnut-ish quality...lightly tart/lactic note...taste is roasty chocolate and vanilla with a rich creamy mouthfeel...much less coffee than regular Gonzo... it warms, vanilla and woody bourbon flavors, along with alcohol become more dominant...well done...from what I remember, at GABF 05 this and the extra special Gonzo were at the brewery...then at GABF 06 they were pouring this with brett...but I don’t remember really...but I think the ’05 of this at the brewery was really really good...

On tap @ Trapezze pub, Athens, GA. Shared a pint with Jimbowood and we both thought this was excellent out of the tap. I haven’t had this one bottled, but I didn’t really care for the regular version. But, this was pretty damn fantastic. The barrel aging was very well done and the beer was velvety smooth. Very good.