Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter - Barrel Aged
Hunter S. Thompson once said, "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." Consider this our professional version of Gonzo Imperial Porter. Aged and seasoned for three months in wood barrels from our neighbors at Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey, this ale has a well-balanced taste and abundance of character. The taste will remind you of sweet chocolate, dry oak, and smooth whiskey with a memorable, velvety mouthfeel.
3.9
825 reviews
Frederick, United States
Community reviews
It pours dark brown with a brown head. It has woody overtones with roast, cocoa, slight coffee, and a hint of dark fruit.
Draft. Pours deep black and the aroma is whiskey and chocolate. The palate is creamy and full. The taste is chocolate malt and hints of vanilla and esspeso. Then a finish of whiskey. Awesome porter
Intense deep beginning. Wood, plums, cherries. Intense deep with the alcohol warming but not rough. Very deep, viscous, thick. Intense deep aromafull, dried fruit, wood, fascinating!
2012 version draft at Gambrinus. Pours a deep brown to black with a finger of eggshell colored foam. Cinnamon, cardamom, cacao nib and milk chocolate nose. Creamy on the palate, milk chocolate. Wow, super smooth, vanilla some bourbon mid-palate. Light chilli, more spice and bourbon on the finish. Killer beer and still has good legs at 5 years old.
Pours dark brown opaque with beige/light brown foamy head with good long lasting lacing. Aroma: dark malts, with notes of toadted toffee, chocolate, coffee, cocoa powder, vanilla, whisky. Flavor is very similar, even more intense with notes of chocolate, coffee beans, cocoa powder, vanilla, dark fruits esters, whisky. All ingredients are pretty well blended together. Body is medium to full, texture soft, carbonation is moderate to medium.
Bottle
Aroma-caramel, coffee, whiskey
Appearance-brown, hazy, minimal brown foam,
Taste-medium sourness, medium bitterness, light sweetness,
Palate-full body, creamy, average carbonation, long finish,
Overall-very good
12oz bottle, BBE 17.12.10.
Pours pitch black, with a thin brown head,
Complex, matured aroma, roasted, chocolate, coffee, licorice, vanilla, wood, whiskey notes, tobacco.
Semi-sweet, full bodied, mid to high bitterness, quite low CO2.
Complex, well developed taste, chocolate, coffee, vanilla, wood, tannins, tobacco, licorice, faint whisps of smoke.
Long, balanced, dry finish. Very well made, very drinkable. (2016-11-21)
Een straffe porter. Dit zware bier is gitzwart en heeft een aroma van geroosterde koffiebonen. In de smaak komt deze sensatie terug. Ook chocolade en een licht zoete toon zijn aanwezig. Het bitter wint het van het zoet.
Pours a jet black. Aromas of espresso/chocolate and roasted malts. Taste dark roasted coffee and bittersweet chocolate malt with a nice bitter bite.
On draft poured into a teku glass..dark brown with a thin tan head..aroma of bourbon,vanilla,coffee,roasted
nuts,chocolate..tastes of all the former with a bit of smokiness..medium bodied..good stuff.
RateBeer rating #500.
Where and How: My neighbor texts "Come over and let’s open a growler I just brought home" and we enjoyed this beer sitting by a fire pit. Pretty perfect evening.
Appearance: Black, deep cola edge, large foam, nice head.
Aroma: Nose of whisky, lightly charred malts, cocoa powder and wet wood.
Taste: Strong whisky, richly sour dates, cocoa, burnt carmel and a hint of smoke.
Palate: Mouthfeel is nice surprisingly carbonated for the style.
Overall: Pretty amazing beer, I can only imagine what some aging could do.
A truly excellent porter, probably one of the best I’ve ever had. Super strong of barrel notes. Loved it.
On tap. Black as night. Nice dark head. Greatt aroma, tofee, chocolate, bourbon. God taste a bit Alcoholic . Excellent beer.
Heavy whiskey and cola flavors. A bit much for me, but I’d like to try it again.
Super donker, mooi karamel kleurig schuim. Heerlijke wiskey vat geur. Iets te zoet qua smaak, maar de nasmaak is super. Whiskey, rook, hout, en iets droppigs. Lekker!
Bottle shared by Damian and Lona. Poursa dark brown with tan head. Aroma and taste of chocolate, oak, and some booze.
On tap at Beer Temple in Amsterdam. Dark brown body with thin head. Nose is alcy, woody, malty, roasted. Taste is also similar of booze, malts and caramel. Oily texture. Well done.
On tap at Beer Temple, Amsterdam. Pours dark color with a tan head. Aroma is lots of bourbon, vanilla, chocolate. The bourbon is intense. Flavor is oak, chocolate, bourbon, vanilla. Really good. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but it’s very well done.
330ml bottle. Black color with beige head. Roasted malty aroma, coffee, licorice, light chocolate, wood, alcohol, light fruity. Sweet and bitter taste. Medium oily body with soft carbonation
On tap @ Beer Temple, sample size glass. Black color. Beige sticky head. Aroma’s of wood, tannines, whiskey, light chocolate. Retronasal it’s whiskey, alcohol, wood/tannines, light sweet. Flavor is light to moderate sweet, alcoholic/whiskey, light chocolate. Medium bodied. Finish has more whiskey, roasted malts, ground coffee, chocolate. A bit too much whiskey for my liking but if you’re int that...
Tap at beertemple, amsterdam. Black as night, nice brown head. Aroma has big roasty, licorice, wet wood, coffee. Full sweet roasty body, hint of smoke, wooden notes.
I’ve tried Flying Dog a few times before this, and never really cared too much for them. Mainly tried their variety pack, IPA, and a brown ale I think. This was a little better than I expected....especially after paying the price. I didn’t think anything too special after I drank the first one, but the 2nd beer (another day of course) seemed a little smoother to me. A very dark brown, coffee black appearance with a mocha head. A pretty thick, heavy porter........strong too. This may have me curious to try some of their other beers again.
I had once written "holy explosion of flavor Batman" for this beer. It a tightly packed punch coffee and porter.
Draft at Barrel Republic. Pours dark brown with a thick, creamy beige head. Tastes like booze, lightly astringent, dark fruits, earthy, woody, and some sweet roasted malt. Light body and low carbonation. Smells like dried dark fruits, lightly astringent booze, raisin, earthy, woody.
On tap at Mackeys Hideout from a snifter. Pours black, minimal head. Charred wood aroma and a hint of whiskey. Very smooth taste, a little alcohol burn at the end. A pretty damn good beer.
Aroma of roasted malts, chocolate, bourbon, some vanilla, oak, coffee. Flavour is moderate to medium sweet with a little bitterness in the aftertaste. Smooth and potent. Lovely.
Sweet roast malt aroma and lots of charred oak barrel. Chocolate and coffee notes too. Almost black with dark brown head. Starts with roast malt and coffee notes, but dominated by the the barrel. much less hop character than the non barrel-aged version. Both are a pleasure to fuss over.
12 oz bottle at home (also notes from a 750). Pours dark brown to black in color with a small khaki colored head. The aroma and flavor have roasted malt, chocolate, dark fruit, cherry, with noticeable bourbon (especially the nose), vanilla and oak, smooth drinking and an improvement on the base.
from growler..pours a fairly medium black with a slight mocha brown head..nose is laden with vanilla..oak..slight bitter chocolate as well..mouthfeel is sublime on this..velvety is a solid description..the initial hit of the whiskey packs a slight boozy punch at first but is quickly mellowed out by some cinnamon/spicy notes and is not hot at all..had this in a 12 oz bottle a few years back and haven’t seen this around as much..very good offering..quite similar in many ways to bcbs with considerable less abv..
Poured from a bottle it is a dark brown and has a slight head it has the aroma of coffee and the taste is bourbon and has the taste of coffee yummy