The first of a series of four tastings put on by the Brickskeller during Savor week was last night and Robin and I were there. Flying Dog and Wild Goose is owned by the same brewery. They moved the Flying Dog line from Colorado to join Wild Goose in Frederick, MD. The event was hosted by Bob Tupper as usual and Bob, the head brewer from Flying Dog / Wild Goose, was on hand. He was an interesting guy who has been brewing professionally for 16 years. He lived and brewed in Japan for many years.
The lineup:
- Wild Goose Wild Goose XPA
- Flying Dog Kerberos Triple
- Wild Dog Belgian Style IPA
- Wild Dog Dog Schwarz
- Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter
- Flying Dog Dry Hopped Gonzo (cask)
- Flying Dog Barrel Aged Gonzo
- Flying Dog Horn Dog Barleywine
- Flying Dog Double Dog IPA
The Wild Goose XPA is their session beer at 4 something %. It was very light and crisp. This was one of two beers served from a 12oz bottle during the evening.
The Kerberos Triple was a pretty good Belgium style with a strong yeast flavor. It hid its alcohol well and weighed in at about 9%.
The Wild Dog Belgian Style IPA was the most popular of the night. Their Wild Dog line is for special or one-off beers. They only brewed 6 barrels of this; that is 186 gallons. It had a very fresh hop smell. And was very well balanced in taste between the hops and Belgian yeast. It was 8.x% and was mmm good. We are supposed to email the brewery and tell them to brew more.
The Wild Dog Dog Schwarz was next. This was the start of the dark beers. It had a coffee aroma and a smoked coffee taste. Bob said he has been brewing smoked beers for years. This was 8%.
The Gonzo Imperial Porter was dry hopped. I thought it was a pretty tasty porter. It rang up at 7.8%.
The Dry Hopped Gonzo was apparently extra dry hopped. It was also served from a cask. This made it may favorite of this line of dark beers. I think the cask mellowed out the porter flavors I’m not fond of and brought out flavors I do like. Maybe someday I can tell you what those are. I liked the less-carbonated cask feel as well. This Gonzo was the same as the last Gonzo at 7.8%.
The Barrel Aged Gonzo had that bourbon taste I’m not fond of. My memory starts fading here, I do remember a conversation on bourbon barrels so I’m pretty sure I’m accurate on the liquor. This was served from 750ml bottles. You get an extra tenth of alcohol at 7.9%.
Next was the Horn Dog Barleywine. I don’t remember tasting the alcohol but that doesn’t mean anything. I also didn’t write down the alcohol content. This was served from 12oz bottles.
The Double Dog was last. I really don’t remember this one at all. The previous 10 beers had quite a high average alcohol content. This Double Dog weighed in at 11% which probably didn’t do any of us any good. There is a good possibility this was also served from a cask. I’ll have to remember next time to increase the quality of my notes instead of getting lazy at the end of the night.
Tomorrow is Carol Stoudt from the Stoudt brewery and Dave from the Brickskeller says he is going to bust out some of his rarest beers for the event.
Friday is the popular Lupulin Reunulin. I’m very much looking forward to this after last year.
Monday is a Stone tasting with Greg Koch but I won’t be in town unfortunately.
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