Alpha Initiative Pilot #01
Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, Maryland, United States 🇺🇸
IPA Regular Out of Production|
Score
6.69
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Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 6.5
Pours a coppery color from bottle Strong malts, some dry hoppy resin. Really very pretty good.
Appearance - 10 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 6.5
Orange and grass nose, not strong. Clear amber, thick yellowish head, decent lace. Orange. Medium body, easy carbonation, warm.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
12 ounce bottle into tulip glass, best before 7/8/2018. Pours fairly crystal clear golden amber color with a 2 finger dense and rocky off white head with fantastic retention, that reduces to a large cap that lasts. Dense foamy lacing clings around the glass, with a fair amount of streaming carbonation. Fantastic appearance. Aromas of lemon, grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, mango, melon, berry, citrus peel/zest, mint, green pepper, pine, honey, white bread dough, biscuit, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Nice and pleasant aromas with good balance and complexity of citrus/fruity/earthy hops and bready malt notes; with solid strength. Taste of lemon, grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, mango, melon, berry, citrus peel/zest, mint, green pepper, pine, honey, white bread dough, biscuit, herbal, and floral/grassy earthiness. Light-moderate pine, citrus peel, herbal, grassy, spicy bitterness on the finish. Lingering notes of lemon, grapefruit, peach, pear, pineapple, mango, melon, berry, citrus peel/zest, mint, green pepper, pine, honey, white bread dough, biscuit, and herbal/floral/grassy earthiness on the finish for a while. Very nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/earthy hops and bready malt flavors; with a great malt/bitterness balance, and zero lingering hop astringency after the finish. Light-moderate increasing dryness from lingering bitterness. Medium carbonation and medium-plus body; with a very smooth, moderately creamy/bready/grainy, and fairly sticky balanced mouthfeel that is nice. Zero warming alcohol for 6.5%. Overall this is a very good IPA. All around nice complexity, robustness, and balance of citrus/fruity/earthy hops and bready malt flavors; very smooth and easy to drink with the mellowly bitter/drying finish, never aggressive. Interesting hop profile from HBC431, in combo with Centennial. Kind of Loral/Lemondrop feeling. Juicy and lightly dank hop complexity; sizable bready malt backbone, but not overly sweet. A very enjoyable and unique offering.
Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 2 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 2
This bottle does not say frederick but everything else seems to be on target, because my bottle also says #01, so I guess this is it. But now I see that my label says 6.5%, so maybe its not? WTF? Pour is pale yellow. Smell is dull spicy IPA hop perfume. Thicker rich IPA flavor that coats your mouth and sings the same old bitter song. Just another ubiquitous IPA that ruins yer taste buds with a rototiller. Almost becomes a little astringent after each gulp. Super super azz duper. I think there is co2 in there but the IPA bitter bumpkin hides it.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 7.5
Bottle from Village Beer Merchant. Nose mix of herbs, melon, hint of bubblegum. Flavour more grapefruit and piney. Pretty good.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 8 | Flavor - 8 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 7.5
Hazy copper and bronze coloured body with a nice single to two centimetre tall off-white head. Aroma of citrusey and very resinous hops with a good bitterness and punch, but also some tropical fruits and a dose of flowers as well. Medium-bodied; Assertive hoppy flavours at first with a big dose of tropical fruits and a pungent bitterness that shows a hybrid strain of hops, but also a great balance of malt and pungent, high alpha acid hops. Aftertaste shows more of the flowers and resin than anything else, but still bitter and showing a good light sweetness from apricots and fruits along with a bit of caster sugar. Overall, a very nicely balanced IPA with a good hybrid, fresh hop character coupled with a properly balanced malt backbone. This isn't a West Coast IPA nor a really high alpha acid beer and it's definitely not a 'New England' IPA, but that's fine, because it's just good without going to far or having silly names. Good to try if you can find this one, especially fresh. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from Bob's Beer Cave at the Sunoco Gas Station in Callaway, Maryland a few hours ago on 05-March-2018 for US$2,00 sampled a few hours later in my hotel room here in Lexington Park, Maryland on 05-March-2018.