Flying Dog, Snake Dog IPA

Flying Dog Brewery, Denver, CO

ABV: 7.1% (Alcohol By Volume)
IBU: 60 (International Bitterness Unit)

"Tired of those annoying 3AM hang-ups from your crazy, stalking EX? Turns out the same qualities that make your EX so damn annoying make our Snake Dog IPA so attractive. Chock full of bitterness bite and attitude, it slaps you in the face with flavor. Just like your psycho EX did at the bar last weekend."

You have to appreciate a fun brewery with a good sense of humor, hilarious art work, and an uncanny ability to brew delicious beer!

Flying Dog Snake Dog IPA sports your typical fun Flying Dog art work which consists of a Picasso style dog with a long snakey neck. It pours a beautiful rich amber with reddish a reddish hue. The head is a fluffy white that has a decent amount of retention for an IPA. It subsides slowly leaving nice lacey ruminants and a nice frothy slick on the surface of the beer.

The aroma is a wonderful thing! Thick bitter hops emanates from the glass. It smells rich and flowery and with an IBU of 60 it tickles the nose and promotes mouth watering anticipation.

The story on the bottle, written above, says it all. This beer smacks you in the face with cool crisp betterness. Some of the sweet flower aromas manifested in the form of dry fruits. The finish is long and rich with hoppy bitterness coating your mouth.

This is an amazing IPA, and to be expected from Flying Dog. Hop Heads look out... this is a delicious beer that can be enjoyed at any time.

DRU: 89 (Dan's Rating Unit)

Orval Trappist Ale

Orval Brewery, Guame, Belgium

ABV: 6.9% (Alcohol By Volume)
IBU: N/A (International Bitterness Unit)

So it's Friday... It's been a long week of overhaul inspection standards, overhaul repair standards, dealing with emissions issues, and developing repairs. In other words... it's a perfect night to crack open a beer, and not just any beer. Granted, writing these opinionated reviews take some presence of mind, I'm happy to do them... after I am occasionally drinking some of the best beer in the world. This week I am going for an Orval Trappist ale made at the Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval monastery. Thank you Central Market in Dallas for once again providing me with a beer selection that just won't quit. Lest I begin...

Orval pours a light reddish amber that is cloudy and seemingly mysterious. There is a pronounced, creamy, off-white one-finger head that settles quickly so a nice thick sheet of icing on the surface. I would have to say that it is unique and unexpected coming from the unusually shaped Orval bottle.

The aroma wreaks of Belgian abbey ale. The malty spiced cloves balance a typically bready nose. Finally, amongst the sweet spice is a hint of bitter hops. I can't wait to finally get into a nice Belgian with a detectable bitter perception.

This is a beer with a medium bodied mouthfeel. The carbonation is nice and slightly nips at the tongue. Overall it is smooth and calming. There is an instant shot of winter spices complimented by nutty yeast remnant from the bottle fermentation sediment. The finish is where the bitter hops come out and land the back of your tongue. After spending so much time focusing on the dubbles and tripples of the Trappist beer population and glad to finally find one that has a hoppy perception. It is really quite fantastic.

Well, overall, a delicious beer that should be enjoyed one or two at a time. I would not recommend this beer as a third or fourth sitting at the bar. If I could I might classify this beer as right in the middle between the double and the tripple. It has the malty richness of a dubble and the light spicy citrus flavors of the tripple style. Truly interesting, and truly enjoyable.

DRU: 94/100 (Dan's Rating Unit)

Brugse Zot

Brouwerij De Halve Maan, Bruges, Belgium

ABV: 6.0% (Alcohol By Volume)
IBU: N/A (International Bitterness Unit)

I got rogue text from my Dad while he was in Bruges with Mom on a business trip said, "We tried this beer called Zot, even Mom liked it!" This is something to be said since my Mom swore off beer back in college after a run-in with Colt 45. Regardless, I looked for the beer and I couldn't find it. I gave up and thought that maybe it didn't make it to the US on a large enough scale to find it in stores in Dallas. Picking up a bottle of Jameson at Siegles got me browsing their beer selection, BAM - there it was! A nice little four pack plastered with cartoon jesters.

I'll get down to it. Zot is a Belgian Pale Ale. It pours a golden to dark-golden color. It's hue is darker than that of Duvel. *Warning* This beer produces an almost stark white head that is almost uncontrollable. You have to know what's coming before the first drop hits the bottom of the glass. The head is foamy consisting of strangely large bubbles and the retention is surprisingly good. In a few minutes it settles to a thin top layer. As I drink the beer there is very little lacing on the glass. Unibroue 0.3L tulip glass.

The aroma is familiar to the of a lighter Belgian ale. Floral and clove odors erupt from the glass with notes of grainy yeast compliment. It perception is light and cool and I am pretty excited to down this Belgian import. At this point I would equate it to PranQster or Duvel.

The first taste is really nice. I can honestly say that is is smoother and much more manageable than the taste of Duvel. It has a much more easy a homey mouthfeel compared to PranQster. While both PranQster and Duvel are great... I just want to point out that the differences are noticeable. The carbonation is moderate and not overwhelming giving a very nicely balanced and frothy mouthfeel. The initial taste is sweet and mildly fruity with the malty breads coming out on the swallow. The finish is bone dry while a hint of yeast (presumably from the bottle conditioning sediments) remain and the floral aromas remain dancing in your throat.

I would characterize this beer as a nice Belgian Golden/Pale Ale that is comparable to Duvel - minus the Devil qualities. From the art work on the bottle to the malty sweet flavors and the hysterically uncontrollable head it's just a fun beer. It is easy to drink and with a small amount of bittering hops coming out in the end it might be a good starter for someone seriously interested in Belgian beer culture. Enjoy and drink up!

DRU: 92/100 (Dan's Rating Unit)