Alpha Initiative #03 Pilot IPA
Flying Dog Brewery

 

Welcome back to Happy New This Year & Beer Are Flying Outta Here On Sunday, Dog (Week 723)! I am so glad that you could join me for this madness.

From the Bottle: "Alpha Initiative is a playground for our brewers to explore, create and analyze all things IPA. "; "Pilot #03 is all about essential oils. To complement the juicy tropical fruit notes of a Galaxy dry hop, a natural hop oil was added post fermentation. The oil is a blend of flavor and aroma fractions from a variety of hops to create an apricot, peach and stone fruit profile."

I was curious about this one, so once I Pop!ped the cap, I utilized a C-Line pour to create just over a finger of dense, foamy, rocky, bone-white head with moderate retention. Color was a very pretty Yellow-Gold (SRM = 4 - 5) with NE-quality clarity, calling forth The Gelt Gang of Midas, Mammon & Croesus for a taste. Nose really smelled of peaches! Man, it was like finding a Snak Pack of peaches in my lunchbox. Never mind that I pack my own lunch. Mouthfeel was medium-to-full, approaching creaminess. The taste was peachy! Well, peach with some apricots thrown in for good measure. The only problem was that it lacked the bitterness that is the hallmark of the style. 8=( Finish was in that Twilight Zone between semi-sweet & semi-dry. It was an interesting beer & while I enjoyed it, I still found myself jonesing for some hops. YMMV.

 

Flying Dog Brewery "Alpha Initiative #03"
12 fl. oz. brown glass bottle, "FOR OPTIMAL FRESHNESS ENJOY BY: 09:18:18"
$2.39 @ King of Prussia Beer Outlet, King of Prussia, PA

Notes via stream of consciousness: So third in the series here, what's in it? Galaxy dry-hopped along with a natural hop oil. Supposedly it has "an apricot, peach and stone fruit profile". Interesting, I thought both apricot and peach were stone fruits so the additional "stone fruit profile" seems redundant, but OK. It's poured a hazy golden body with a fluffy white head that's bolstered by hundreds of tiny bubbles rising from below. The aroma is fruity like apricot and peach, I get that, but there's something else there as well. I'm thinking lychee but I'm not sure as of yet. There's also some sweet malt coming through. It's pleasant and welcoming. I still have a solid, creamy cap of foam but it has dropped. Fortunately, there seems to be some nice lacing left behind, let's see if that continues throughout the glass. On to the flavor... it's as the aroma suggested it would be, but I think with more peach, and a bit more sweet malt. It doesn't really seem that bitter for an IPA, although these days it seems you can call anything an IPA, even one with "zero" IBUs. Still, it's nicely balanced. It's also 6.8% abv which is a nice bonus, and I'm not finding the alcohol, not even as a strength behind the flavor thing; but then again, should you find that at just 6.8%? So back to the flavor, I'm not finding much besides the peach and slight hint of other fruits. It's still fruity, but not super fruity, which is a good thing in my opinion. Hmmm, maybe I'm getting a little bit of a lemon chiffon thing going on in the back. Maybe not, but yes, I think I'm getting that in the finish. It's not bad. I don't really remember the first two in the series although I think I liked the second one better than the first. For some reason I'm thinking I liked that one better than this, but I have nothing to base that on because I can't seem to recall it from memory. This is pretty basic though, not that that's a bad thing, I'm just saying it's not complex. I get the peach and other fruit, and then the malt, and then a pinch of bitterness, followed by light lemon in the gently lingering finish. I could probably enjoy a few of these in a row before realizing the alcohol; it's really easy drinking. In the mouth it's medium-full in body, and gently crisp-then-smooth. It's creamy in fact. Velvety. Interesting. I don't remember the first two incarnations being like that, but again, maybe I just can't recall. So I guess that's it. This is fairly unique, but a little basic as I mentioned, but quite nice. I'd recommend it. Whoops, almost forgot, the lacing did hold up pretty good in the end, and given that it's dry hopped I have to forgive the haziness so it's a pretty good appearance.
Review# 6,321

Overall a nice IPA but I prefer a rich unfiltered look, making it so you can't see through to the other side. A very smooth taste and mouth feel, possibly due to the hop oils added post fermentation.

 

 

 

Poured from a brown 12 oz. bottle. Has a deep golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of tropical fruit, pine, oranges. Taste is a good balance of oranges, tropical fruits, light pine and malts. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a refreshing and enjoyable beer.

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a Dogfish Head tulip

L: Clear light golden pour with 2 fingers of fluffy white head. Nice retention and lacing.

S: Pine forward hops with milder citrus and fruit. Light grains.

T/F: Follows the nose... light biscuity grains and bitter piney hops. Resinous... citrus rind and stone fruit... floral notes. Light bodied... oily on the tongue. The finish is more hops.

O: An easy-drinking IPA. Good flavor... nothing too aggressive, but a nice everyday kinda beer. Would have it again.

Clear, golden color with a quickly dissipating off-white head and moderate lacing. Quite fizzy, even after several minutes in the glass

Not much aroma at all, just a faint hop smell.

Taste is nothing special. Somewhat sweet and crackery to start. Mild, earthy hop finish.

Mouthfeel is like an overcarbonated soda. Fizzy from start to finish.

Overall, just ok. Nothing offensive and nothing noteworthy. Would drink another at a cookout or such but definitely would not seek this one out. Not Flying Dog's best effort.

 

 

 

 

Enjoy by 9/23/18. 12oz bottle poured into a tulip. Pours golden with nice clarity and has bubbles racing upwards; fluffy eggshell white head that slowly falls leaving great thick retention and sticky lacing. The aromas are floral along with some subtle hints of citrus and tropical fruits. Lots of bread and crackers. Some malts. The flavors are very clean, crisp and refreshing. Some grapefruit. Slightly spicy. Solid hop bitterness. Malts are there, but seem to almost take a backseat. Finishes dry. Alcohol goes unnoticed. Mouthfeel is very nice. It's medium-bodied with sharp carbonation. It's very smooth and easy to drink.

This is a solid IPA. Once again, it's very clean, crisp, sharp and refreshing. It's very fun to drink. Well done. I like it.

 

 

Poured from the bottle into a Spiegelau IPA glass.

Pale bronze and orange with a nearly clear body appearance. Fluffy topped white head of three fingers, touch of cream to fine soapy texture and bone white. Settles nicely to a one finger puck.

Hop forward aroma of mild grass and earth. Touches of light caramel malt a little wafery and crispy for some slight balance but also dominates a little.

Interesting palate. Tasty goes with a light body and more of that crispy malt character, mixing moderate bitterness with pine and what seems almost melon like in flavour. Brown sugar like finish, and light hop grass and pine round out.

Interesting neat take, comes off very light bodied but full of good hop flavor.

12 oz bottle poured into a tulip glass.

L---Slightly hazy golden orange color. Thick white head fades to a cap quickly and leaves nice lacing.

S---Sweet. Fruity. Peaches. No real hop presence.

T---Juicy. Peaches and apricot. No pine or citrus, odd for an IPA.

F---Maybe the label description of hop oils planted the thought in my head, but it actually felt a little slick.

O---I'd be more inclined to call it a fruit beer than an IPA, but what do I know. It's pretty damn good in either case.