I put together a mixed sixer at Oades tonight on the way to a hockey game. I don't think I've had this one before, and this was the first of the bunch.
Described as a Colorado-style IPA with Pacific NW hops. Lists as 7.1%, 15 Plato, 60 IBUs. 120C malt and no indication of base malt. Hops are Warrior, Columbus, and Golding, and dry hopped with Columbus.
Flying Dog is of course the popular Denver, Colorado-based micro, although the word is all brewing operations have moved to Maryland. This all isn't too important to guy in Michigan, except, perhaps the brand is a little easier to find. What is interesting is Flying Dog released their "house" brewing yeast to home brewers last year through a partnership with Wyeast's VSS program. I didn't try it. I've got enough exciting things going on to be satisfied with my old boring yeasts. In this vein, the yeast in this beer is thought to have an attenuation of about 70%, ferments in the typical ale ranges. No idea on flavor profile. This yeast was released without a whole lot of info.
Anyway... The beer pours a very nice creamy head and holds up well. It's very clear. It's a nice golden-orange-copper, so I'd guess not too much C120. I thought I could get some biscuit in there, maybe a hint of melanoidins with the dark fruit-ish caramel C120. I can pick up the Columbus hops pretty well. Through the powers of suggestion, I think I can pick up some earthiness from the Goldings.
The bottle description identifies the beer with a crazy, stalking, ex girlfriend -- full of bitterness, bite, and attitude that slaps you in the face. A lot of attitude from the marketing, for sure, but a decent IPA. The bitterness is assertive and lingering and melds with some modest hop flavor. It's got some malt to back up the hops, which is nice these days, but it's still a little two dimensional. No idea what a Colorado style IPA brewed in Maryland means, overall, I'd call it a decent IPA in a cool bottle.
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