Beer Review: Flying Dog Garde Dog Biere De Garde

Flying Dog sent me this brew a while ago. I tried it but lost my tasting notes. Well, tonight I decided to get some beer to do a new review and saw this beer. Thought I’d finally review this for my blog. So here goes…

The Pour
This poured with a two-finger head that dissipated quickly with a decent amount of lacing. It pours, in a pilsner glass, to a burnt yellow-orange color. It’s quite clear and looks to be a crisp brew.

The Nose
The first thing you notice is the nice citrusy hops. Since it’s summer, the hops are quite appealing. Then some toasty malty notes come through, with hints of caramel sweetness. Kind of like a nice toasty biscuit but with caramel on the side.

The Taste
This is a medium bodied brew with light to medium carbonation. The first thing you notice is the citrusy grassy hops, but this fades and the malty sweetness takes over at the back of the tongue. The finish coats the mouth with nice caramel and citrus flavors.

Overall
I think this is a good transition beer. It is best in the spring, where it transitions you from the malty stouts and porters of fall and winter to the hoppy IPAs and pale ales of summer.

Recommended: Sure….this is a good beer to prepare for the mouth-puckering summer brews.

Price: $8.49 a six-pack

ABV: 5.5%

IBU: 27

Beer Review: Sam Adams Longshot – Grape Pale Ale

Sam Adams has had a home brewing contest the last couple of years, and at least one random person’s brew and one Sam Adams employee’s brew get bottled for sale. This is one of the 2007 winners, developed by Lili Hess, winner of the Samuel Adams employee homebrew competition.

According to the bottle, this beer is an ale brewed with natural grape flavor and maple syrup added. Lili Hess describes it this way: “It’s like you are drinking a pale ale after biting into a fresh green seedless grape.”

Here’s what I thought…

The Pour
I poured this into a good pilsner glass with a little trepidation. I was afraid it would taste like grape jelly or be overly sweet. It pours with a loose thick head and a light golden coppery hue. The carbonation looks minimal and minimal lacing is left on the glass as the head dissipates.

The Nose
This smells like a nice hoppy pale ale. There is a slight sweetness to the nose coming from the maple syrup. This smells clean and fresh, but doesn’t have an exceptional nose. Good, but not exceptional.

The Taste
This has a good pale ale flavor. There are nice crisp hops but it’s a little sweeter than a typical pale ale, not dry or bitter. You can taste the green grape in the background and it really is nice. The maple syrup also starts coming through on the finish but it’s pretty subtle, so it’s not cloying. Good depth of flavor profiles here. It’s a light bodied brew and is crisp and clean. There is medium carbonation and a very clean finish.

Overall
It would be a very drinkable pale ale without the grape and maple syrup, but the added complexity and depth that come with the added flavors make it a standout among this type of beer. This is, I think, a pale ale to be savored more slowly than the usual pale ale. It could be a good session beer but it also is worth sipping and noticing in order to enjoy the interesting flavors.

Recommended: Yes, I would recommend this to any fan of pale ale looking for something new and interesting.

Price: I paid $8 for a 6-pack of this and the Weizenbock (the other winner) at a charity auction.

ABV: Unknown

Beer Review: Sam Adams Longshot – Weizenbock

Sam Adams has had a home brewing contest the last couple of years, and at least one random person’s brew and one Sam Adams employee’s brew get bottled for sale. This is one of the 2007 winners, developed by a Rodney Kibzey of Illinois. According to the German Beer Institute:

Comparable to the barley-based regular Bockbier, a Weizenbock is the strong version of an unfiltered Weissbier or Hefeweizen. It is usually made with 60 to 70% wheat malt (German law requires that a Weizenbier, regardless of strength, be made from at least 50% wheat). The other 30 to 40% tend to be so-called Pils, Vienna or Munich malts. These are pale to amber, and sometimes slightly caramelized barley malts that give the beer a full-bodied mouthfeel, a rich and satisfying malty finish, and—depending on the barley malt’s color—a more or less opaque appearance. While regular Bockbiers are lagers, Weizenbocks are all ales. They are fermented with a special yeast that gives the brew a slightly spicy, clove-like flavor.

Now onto the tasting…

The Pour
What a pour! This pours into a glass and carries along with it expectations of greatness. It pours a cloudy, chocolatey brown with a big thick fluffy beige head with good lacing on the glass. The beer almost completely opaque. It really looks full-bodied, almost thick and meaty.

The Nose
This has, as the style should, a dark fruity nose, but with hints of coffee and chocolate. I also notice some spice and hops in the background. Smells as full-bodied as it looks and smells very complex.

The Taste
The pour and appearance and nose were all correct. This is one full-bodied brew. It’s meaty but smooth and tastes just like it smells. Dark malty fruit takes center stage, with coffee and chocolate notes as the supporting cast. It has a medium level of carbonation. The dark malty fruit and the spicy hops profiles come stand alone at first but meld together and give you hints of a good woody whiskey in the finish.

Overall
Mr. Rodney Kibzey of Illinois, I salute you! I wasn’t sure what to expect but this is one excellent brew. It’s solid and meaty and really has a great depth of flavor. From the dark fruits and sweet malts to the spicy hops to the whiskey finish, it’s definitely a pleasure to experience. It really makes me want to homebrew in hopes of creating something half this good.

Recommended: Without a doubt! This is one fine brew that tastes much more expensive than a Sam Adams product.

Price: I paid $8 for a 6-pack of this and the Grape Pale Ale (the other winner) at a charity auction.

ABV: 7.2%