Country of Origin: United States
Price comparison: About the same as national-branded beer.
Alcohol percentage by volume: 6.08%
Cute bottle/label? Standard twelve-ounce brown glass; label depicts a punk-ass bad (as in "bad to the bone" bad, not poorly-drawn) pen-and-ink drawing of a pit bull in shades saying, "Good beer; no shit." Also a mini-lineup on the side of "the Flying Dog Litter of Ales," clever, but too small to make out the names as such.
For the record, I would like to state that I bought this almost completely on the basis of being attracted to the label.
Appearance: Dark brownish-black with a thin tan head that disappated to a small disc of lace on the beer's surface.
Scent: Black grapes and malt.
Flavor: Hoppier than I expected given the scent; nicely bitter and citrusy with a finish reminiscent of dark greens like kale or spinach.
Impressions: The bottle says this is a Scottish porter. I found this quite drinkable indeed, but it feels thinner than a porter and more bitter than a typical Scottish ale. I'm not sure how to characterize this. Dark color notwithstanding, I'm inclined to just call it a "bitter" and recommend it with nice strong food like curry or Szechuan.
Will I buy this beer again? It tastes good and is very refreshing, even though it's not really a porter. And it's got a really cool label. How can you not want a beer that has one of the Seven Words You Can't Say on Television right on it in plain sight?
I'm not going to buy it again just yet, but only because I now know about the Flying Dog brewery and am curious about its other offerings (litter-mates). Once I've tried those, I imagine I'll be having some more Road Dog.
Rating:
3½ out of 5 cute beer glasses
Reviewed: February 15, 2004
