Counter Culture Ale
Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, Maryland, United States 🇺🇸
Amber / Red Ale - American Regular|
Score
6.69
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Known for our hop-centric beers, our brewers developed this malt-forward beer to fly in the face of even our own mainstream tendencies.
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7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
12 ounce bottle into pint glass, best before 4/18/2016. Pours slightly hazy reddish copper color with a 1-2 finger dense light khaki head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Light spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation retaining the cap. Aromas of tangerine, pineapple, peach, apricot, mango, caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, light chocolate/coffee, and floral/toasted earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/tropical hops and moderate dark/bready malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, tangerine, pineapple, peach, apricot, mango, light chocolate/coffee, herbal, and floral/toasted earthiness. Light herbal/roasted bitterness on the finish; with lingering notes of caramel, brown sugar, brown bread, toasted biscuit, nuttiness, light chocolate/coffee, and floral/toasted earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt and moderate citrus/tropical hop flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready, and slightly sticky/chalky balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with zero warming present after the finish. Overall this is a very good amber ale style. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of dark/bready malt and moderate citrus/tropical hop flavors; and very smooth and easy to drink. Very unique but well done for the style. Hop notes are more prominent in the aromas; malts dominate the flavors with the hops showing up near the finish. A very enjoyable offering.
Tried
from Bottle
on 10 Feb 2016
at 19:58
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6
12 ounce bottle. Copper color topped by a large rocky beige head. Toasted malt nose with a hint of nuts. Flavor is soft toasted malt with notes of caramel and white toast. As advertised this is all malt with a very little hop prescence. Some earthy graininess in finish.
Tried
from Bottle
on 16 Jan 2016
at 21:13
7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Bottle pour into nonic pint glass from Epsom Circle Market, Epsom, NH. Aroma is strong resin over bready malts, biscuit, herbs. Appearance is hazy brown with orange tinge, finger-width beige foamy head that dissipates quickly, minimal sparkle, and mild lacing. Taste is moderate piney, resinous bitter balanced with moderate toasted malty sweetness with caramel. Palate is medium bodied with average texture and lively carbonation, and dry, sweet finish. Overall, an above average beer with decent contributions from malts and hops, but not stellar.
Tried
from Bottle
on 09 Jan 2016
at 21:35
5.2/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 4
Overall 5
Crisp deep amber coloured body with a thinnish tan head, about a centimetre tall. Aroma of caramel, raisins, light malt, earthy (english) hops and a subtle tea complexity. Light-bodied; Sharp metallic and nutty flavour coupled with a very light and toffee-based malt showing some subdued caramel and fruits, but not much else. Aftertaste shows the grain and alcohol a touch, but the earth and mellow must comes through near the end and leaves a basement-y type flavour. Overall, a decent beer, but not anywhere close to what I was expecting with these reviews - the best thing I can say about this is that it’s relatively muted and simply not bad or offensive. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Total Wine in Alexandria, Virginia on 05-July-2015 for US$1,99 sampled at home in Washington on 01-December-2015.
Tried
from Can
on 01 Dec 2015
at 23:52
7.6/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 6.5
Bottle: Hazy amber with a thick, light tan head. Aroma is nutty......caramel, chocolate. Taste is toasty caramel malt, nuts, a little coffee... Nice malts... Really tasty....very nice....a standout in what is usually a ho-hum style for me.
Tried
from Bottle
on 23 Nov 2015
at 17:24
7.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
New Beer Distributors, NYC bottle: pours light brown with a beige head. Aroma is toffee, caramel, some light, earthy hops. Taste is quite malty. Light bitterness. Nice body and balance. Generally tasty.
Tried
from Bottle
on 18 Oct 2015
at 14:44
8.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 9
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
This was poured into a nonic pint glass.
The appearance was a dark hazy burnt amber to red color with a one finger white foamy head that dissipated within about thirty seconds leaving some speckled lacing roaming around the glass.
The smell started off with some sweet and roasty smooth caramel, toffee, coffee and cocoa flavors blending nicely.
The taste was mainly sweet underscored with the roastiness rolling over a nice sweet malt body. A light sweet to roasty stickiness slides in on the aftertaste and leads into the finish.
On the palate, this one sat about a medium on the body. Yes, this one is a bit heavier on the body compare to other Ambers. Rich sweet toastiness runs over my tongue nicely.
Overall, I liked this one for me, it’s a bit different than other Ambers, but this could be a highly recommended Amber for maltheads and those who like coffee and/or cocoa beers.
The appearance was a dark hazy burnt amber to red color with a one finger white foamy head that dissipated within about thirty seconds leaving some speckled lacing roaming around the glass.
The smell started off with some sweet and roasty smooth caramel, toffee, coffee and cocoa flavors blending nicely.
The taste was mainly sweet underscored with the roastiness rolling over a nice sweet malt body. A light sweet to roasty stickiness slides in on the aftertaste and leads into the finish.
On the palate, this one sat about a medium on the body. Yes, this one is a bit heavier on the body compare to other Ambers. Rich sweet toastiness runs over my tongue nicely.
Overall, I liked this one for me, it’s a bit different than other Ambers, but this could be a highly recommended Amber for maltheads and those who like coffee and/or cocoa beers.
Tried
on 13 Oct 2015
at 21:13
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 8
Overall 8
Bottle from Total Wine in Sacramento, CA. Pours hazy copper with a slight beige head. Aroma is somewhat roasty, nutty malt. Med body or so. Flavor is somewhat roasty malt, with toffee, and some hints of hop. Must be more than hints, cause it actually seems drinkable. Might be a coffee hint. Or not. Better than most ambers.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Sep 2015
at 21:40