I'm surprised that Flying Dog hasn't made an appearance on my blog before this entry. They've certainly been around for awhile, but I've never been a big purveyor of their beers. Of course that all changed with the release of their Belgian IPA, Raging Bitch, which I've seen recently rise to popularity levels not unfamiliar to Green Flash's, California IPA when it first came out.
Clarity on the body is very nice and color borders perfectly between orange and golden. Almost no head to speak of and certainly none worth going into detail about. The aroma is a ripe richness of Autumn Belgian fruit harvest emanating with pollens and nectars.
I've decided to pair this Belgian Bitch with a meal decidedly un-Belgian: In-N-Out. Some may question my choice of burger, however, In-N-Out holds a dear place in my heart and I'm pretty sure there's a unwritten law that when you're passing an In-N-Out and there's not a long line, you have to stop and get a double double animal style.
Despite the heavy alcohol content, clocking in 8.3%, the beer has a very light body, lots of carbonation and floral front end. The herbs taste like chamomile and the fruit coming across the strongest is pear, which binds nicely to the alcoholic tannins. The flavors break near the back of the palate and drive for a nice hop finish; hard to zero in on exactly what type, but my guess is a flavorful mix of both noble and alphas. The front flavors never break though and mix well with the hops without creating an overbearing Belgian fruit/alcohol flavor that you can sometimes find in Belgian styles.
A very crisp and surprisingly drinkable beer, this is a great beer to introduce your non hops loving friends to, and definitely one worth trying yourself. While I picked up mine at Beverage Warehouse, I'm pretty sure you can find these at BevMo and other places (including mainstream bars) around town. As far as the burger, In-N-Out actually probably wasn't the best pairing, but both beer and burger were delcious nonetheless.
A very crisp and surprisingly drinkable beer, this is a great beer to introduce your non hops loving friends to, and definitely one worth trying yourself. While I picked up mine at Beverage Warehouse, I'm pretty sure you can find these at BevMo and other places (including mainstream bars) around town. As far as the burger, In-N-Out actually probably wasn't the best pairing, but both beer and burger were delcious nonetheless.
Raging Bitch: ****
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1 comment:
I'm a growing fan of FD. They definitely know what they're doing.
This one sounds most intriguing!
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