Flying Fish Love Fish

Brewed by Flying Fish Brewing Company
Style: Fruit Beer
Cherry Hill, New Jersey USA

On tap at Capone’s. Poured a darker orangish color with a small sized off white head. Aromas of cherris, fruity, and lightly spicey. Tastes follow suit. Light tart cherry finish.

Sample from a growler. Kudos to whoever brought it, because in the mix up that was our tasting table I can’t remember. In my glass the body is perhaps 20-25% opaque, with a garnet color that almost looks like dark cherries or black cherries, but there’s enough of a tan lightness that it resembles a pale pink, unsaturated red color. The nose is entirely sweet, smelling first of cherry pancake syrup and then of some slight hint of melon mixed up in a small dose of bread crust - I imagine this is the dubbel part, and honestly I think it’s the only dubbel quality I get out of this beer. Sweet flavor all over this one, with cherry candy flavors, but not overly sugary, and then some synthetic, watery and slick sweet cherry pie filling. Overall I would say I enjoyed it, but this is ratebeer and I feel I should be more critical than simply saying it was "ok" and giving it a high number. Because honestly I think it would improve a lot.

Draft at the Drafting Room. Deep copper pour with medium ecru head. Aroma of malt, toffee, chocolate, raspberries. Tastes malty, with some cherries and Belgian dubblish fruit at the finish. I call this one the younger brother of 3 Philosophers.

Poured a copper color with a small off white head and no lacing. Fake plastic aroma of some fruit and hops. Young fruity taste of cherry, berry, and grape as well as a mild malt and phenol taste. Some carbonation led way to an average mouthfeel.

OBF 2008. I thought this was just going to be the dubbel they bring every year, but the cherries added a nice twist to it. I didn’t get a lot of cherry flavor, but it did tend to add a good sweet fruit flavor to the finish that before I read that this had cherries I thought tasted like pie. The spices blend well with caramel tones and a sweet fruit flavor to give this an interesting pie like flavor.

Draught: Aroma of cherries, medicine, and maybe a little juniper. Poured orange/amber in color with a medium-sized off-white head that diminished. Hazy. Sparkling. Tasted of cherries, then toasted malts, sourdough, pretzels, and a bit of chocolate. Medium body. Thin, sticky texture. Lively carbonation. Malty, salty finish.

Growler, courtesy of TurdFerguson @ BCTC 2007. Thanks, Sam! Pours a clear, orangish-amber color; off-white head with patchy lacing. Dense, sugary cherry syrup in the aroma; some brown sugar. Tart, syrupy cherry candy and cough syrup upfront; dense, dried red fruits with plenty of chewiness and viscous red fruit; pretty dense, with some doughy and brown sugar notes coming through mid-palate. Lengthy, dried fruit and brown sugar finish.

Sampled at BCTC. Orange-amber body with a sudsy off-white head. Aroma of cherry twizzlers and a hint of cognac. Fruity sweet, cherry Life Savers taste with light herbal bitterness and a woody element. Smooth, medium full body is lightly syrupy, but makes for a pleasant sipper. This is a solid, well-made big fruit beer overall.