Alpha Initiative #02
Flying Dog Brewery

 

Flying Dog Brewery "Alpha Initiative #02"
12 fl. oz. brown glass bottle, "09.21.18"
$2.79 @ Total Wine & More, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: I seem to recall thinking that the first Alpha Initiative was pretty good so I thought I'd try #2. What does the label say about it? Cascade and Simcoe, you can't go wrong with that, and it looks like they're using Cryo hops. OK, so, it's poured a hazy golden/amber colored body beneath a thick head of frothy off-white foam. I wonder if this is the same base beer as the first release? It's quite pleasant in the nose and not exactly what you'd expect. It's floral and honeyish, and softly citrusy and piney. There's a lot of aroma there so it's not like they didn't use a lot, but it's softer, which I assume is from the Cryo hops. On to the flavor... very nice. The same is true of the hops in the flavor as the aroma, they're clearly there but also soft. It's not that bitter, maybe 45 IBUs or so, and it's quite smooth. I do get some more grapefruit out of it, and a little bit of something like passionfruit or guava. The malt is gently grainy and bready, and it balances the hops nicely. I get just a suggestion of its strength, and the alcohol never shows, but then again, at just 7.4% it really shouldn't show anyway. You know, I think I'm getting some peach or apricot in the aroma now that it's warmed a bit. OK, so, in the mouth it's medium bodied with a little bit of a dextrinous side, and gently crisp then smooth. Did I miss anything? Oh, lacing. The head retention was very good and I still have an almost complete surface covering, and a creamy collar, but beyond some very nice initial lacing where the head had formed there wasn't much. Still, I'd call it a pretty good appearance. Overall I enjoyed it and I'd have it again. The softness and smoothness of the hops was interesting, and it's really nicely balanced and rounded.
Review# 6,305

 

 

 

Poured into a narrow pint glass: color is gold, transparent, quite a bit of effervescence on the initial pour, but that subsides through the head that presents at least 1 inch thick and lingers quite well with a solid 1/4 top 10-15 minutes after the initial pour; head is off white with fine to small bubbles.

Smell is a blend of dominant hop aromas - pine, citrus, tropical fruits, herbs and spice; malt is light and toasty.

Taste is similar with pine, citrus, tropical fruit (mango and pineapple most notable) and herbal/spice notes, in that order. Malt is light toast and maybe some biscuit.

Mouthfeel is a bit on the light side in terms of bitterness, the carbonation that presented initially seems to have subsided in the mouth presence.

Overall a good IPA with a great blend of hop aroma and flavor that spans the potential of dominant hop flavors but they all present and compliment quite well.

 

 

This site has been on Sunday since 2000 (EDT), it is now just past 0300 & I don't feel like waiting for somebody to start NBS (Week 694) when I have my New Flying Dog Beer Sunday (Week 694) ready to roll! It took me most of the week, but I am within three (3) CANs of being caught up on my Tavour CANs. In the process of rolling through them, I noticed that I had a number of Flying Dog bottles that were worthy of a brewery horizontal today. This is the eighth of eight (8). Made it!

From the bottle: "Alpha Initiative is a playground for our brewers to explore, create, and analyze all things IPA."; "Pilot #2 is bursting with the grapefruit, pine and resin aromas and flavors of Citra and Simcoe hops –both familiar varieties but in a brand-new form. Only the lupulin gland of the hop is pelletized, resulting in the most concentrated hop pellet available right now."

My glands were tingling as I Pop!ped the cap on this one! I was as gentle on my pour as I have been at any other point in today's madness. I was extremely curious to see what all of this initiative & innovation was going to bring me. Once sufficiently decanted, an in-glass swirl raised just under three fingers of foamy, rocky, tawny head with moderate retention that left behind nice lacing as it fell. Color was Golden-Amber (SRM = > 5, < 7) or solid Amber (SRM = > 7, < 9), but The Gelt Gang of Midas, Croesus & Mammon helped to make up my mind as they clambered for a taste. Okay! I stuck my nose into the glass for a deep sniff, only to have naughty Simcoe the Kitty surprise me with a lick on the tip of my nose! Eeek. Apparently, I caught her right in the middle of her catty business. Ooops! Beyond that little number was a nice citrusy grapefruit that had been cut open and sectioned alongside a fresh papaya & some spruce tips. 8=O Mmm. Mouthfeel was simply medium, nothing to get excited about. I allowed it to roll around on my tongue to really get the full monty & I was not disappointed. Man, this was like a cross-section of PNW hops in an AIPA! Pine, grapefruit, cattiness, all were in evidence & yet it was not as bitter as one might think. It was actually tempered by a peachy sweetness, which was totally unexpected. Finish was dry, of course, but not overly bitter. They certainly had a good time on their playground & so did I. I hate to dun an AIPA for a lack of bitterness, but I do so all the time with the tropical iterations. It was bitter, but it could have been more so & more to both my liking & in keeping with the style. YMMV.

Enjoy by 9/21/18. 12oz bottle poured into a tulip. Pours golden with nice clarity and transparency with bubbles racing upwards; big fluffy white head that slowly falls leaving great thick retention and sticky lacing. The aromas have some subtle tropical fruits along with some malts. Some bread and crackers. The flavors basically follow the nose for the most part. More hints of tropical fruits. Subtle hints of coconut and mango. Some fresh grass. More fresh bread and crackers. Moderate bitterness. Malts do their thing without dominating. Alcohol goes unnoticed. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied with moderate carbonation. It's smooth and easy to drink.

This is a solid IPA. I like it. It's clean, refreshing, enjoyable and fun to drink. The craftsmanship is on point.

 

The clear amber yellow beer pours out into a Duvel glass with a 3/4” ivory head that recedes slowly leaving plenty of foam and lacing on the sides of the glass. Sipping creates lots small patches and legs lacing that mostly cling to the side of the glass. By the end of the beer there’s still lots of foam on the sides of the glass, a ring around the glass and a thin island of foam on the surface.

The aromas are full of citrus, resin, pine and a bit of grass. The malt backbone in the background has a nice bready character.

The flavors are much as expected from the nose with the citrus, resin, pine and grass all showing up. There’s some solid bitterness that is softened and smoothed out by the controlled sweetness of the beady malt backbone.

The mouthfeel is medium bodied and smooth with some moderate carbonation. The finish begins as the flavors begin to recede but with the bready malt sweetness disappearing to be followed by the citrus, resin and pine, leaving the grassy bitterness behind to very slowly slide into a long dry ending.

Overall this is a solid, well made IPA which showcases the citrus, resin and pine but without letting either the malt sweetness or the bitterness overwhelm the other flavors. As for having another, if offered I’d accept one, but it’s not a beer I’ll be going out of my way to have again. Worth a try if you find it but not exceptional enough to demand a repeat.

 

Poured from the bottle into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Beaming pale bronze body color, with excellent clarity, and fast amounts of cola to pinhead size bubbles of carbonation rising through. Fluffy and big topped three finger tall plus sized head. Lots of thick soapy retention and cling.

Very odd aroma. Doesn't come off as described, in fact it comes off as a bitter skunk like quality strangely which is just very weird. Touches of resin bitterness saves it a bit, but much of the declared grapefruit and pine is nowhere near to be found on the nose.

Palate makes a big save. Spicy front touch on the lips, with a bit of lingering bitter taste and sweet honey. Much more West coast like juicy grapefruit front, with more sticky and resiny finish. A bit gaseous and dioxide tasting particularly in the aftertaste. Good supportive and touches of sweet malt backbone mixing slight honey and caramel.

A decent IPA but with a nose that is pretty jarring unfortunately.

poured into my flying dog glass from a bottle.

look: 2 finger tall foamy white head. lots of bubbles in the body of the beer. the beer itself is a nice clear gold. beautiful lacing.

smell: resiny, piney, overall hoppy. a slight tinge of citrus.

taste: a decent bit of citrus followed by pungent hoppiness. pretty piney, not super bitter.

feel: oily and slick. creamy. surprisingly not as effervescent as the appearance would lead one to believe.

overall: a good ipa but not my favorite. a bit lacking in the flavor department, compared to the rest of it, but it's worth a try, so get it while you can.