Operation Breakfast
Flying Dog Brewery

12oz bottle poured into a snifter. A year old at time of consumption.

A: Black pour, fine-bubbled light brown head at a half finger in height. Good retention. Wispy lacing.

S: Treacle/syrup up front. Nutty, mild whiffs of woody roast. Hot cocoa with extra marshmallows. Fudge sauce. Fading medium roast coffee nestled at its core. Hint of some smelly hop bitterness.

T: Maple syrup up front. Big pull of marshmallow fluff. Medium roast coffee with extra cream and sugar. Hot cocoa. Chocolate hits a crescendo with a nibby fudge sauce blast. More nutty and roasty coffee mingles with a nice woody and toasty malt character and cuts through all the sweetness. Hollow hop bitterness for balance. Finishes with a lot of that nutty coffee and lingering roast.

M: Big boned body with a gentle sense of weight. Creamy and velvety, but with some coasting residual sugars too. Not at all sticky though. No sign of alcohol warmth or the 9% ABV at all. Ample carbonation has a hint of a carbonic bite, but stays fine enough to provide great lift without going full seltzer.

O: Pretty great stuff. It's a very sweet beer, but somehow avoids the "beetus" sort of feel. What's hard to get over is just how tame the 9% ABV is. If I didn't know going in, this could come across as a sugar-laden 6% beer. There's just no apparent alcohol taste or feel. Of course, the year of age may have helped that. This is one of those instances where I didn't check the date on buying, but I wasn't overly worried either. All in all, it's a great breakfast stout that can compete very favorably in this resurgence we're having, and I think it's flying a bit under the radar.

 

I must confess I might have underestimated what I was getting into with this one.
Smells like an Ihop, Denny's, or even a 711 at breakfast time (and I mean that in a good way). The coffee just hits so ecstatically. Not just coffee, but hints of maple syrup, pancakes, French toast. It literally does smell like a proper breakfast joint. The bottle mostly advertises coffee and vanilla, but a deeper look reveals that there is maple in the mix as well. It smells like heavenly and tastes very good as well. The minute I caught the aroma on this one I just closed my eyes and inhaled through my noses. It was quite nice. The taste is great, proper breakfast stout that brings to the imagination of being in a breakfast place at any time. It reminds me of Funky Buddha's maple bacon porter sans the bacon but just as much if not more maple and coffee.
Oh, aside from the taste and aroma it possesses a dark brown body and a very brief flash of a beige head. The carbonation has been so far so good as well. It's also a bit thick, and is hearty to drink so is on the sipper side. It's also legitimately sticky and doesn't have the most pleasant aftertaste as it's a mixture of tangy maple syrup and bitter coffee, but it's roughly the same after effect of consuming those very ingredients in general anyway. At 9% it's definitely on the stronger side to the point of reducing my ability to even make a proper review as I go on drinking and writing. With that being said, I'm not the biggest fan of how these beers taste when they warm up a bit, the notes tend to amplify a bit much, the tang comes out a bit too much, and so do bitter notes. This beer is not exempt from that, but it's still very well done.

 

 

 

 

Pitch black with a creamy tan head. A normal, good stout appearance.

Smells extremely sweet, vanilla dominates everything. Maybe some milk chocolate and maple syrup, but that only adds to the sweetness.

Vanilla extract sweetness dominates everything. Hardly a hint of coffee. A slight hint of roast. Maple and milk chocolate add to the sweetness. Borderline cloying. Dominates with overpowering vanillin sweetness.

Not a fan of this one. Too sweet, artificial, and lacking in nuance.

Bottle dated "enjoy by 4/12/22" into pint glass. Pours a very dark brown with ruby highlights in the glass. Substantial but brief tan head. Initial impression is coffee, vanilla, dark chocolate, and a bit of char. Alcohol is quite well hidden. Mouthfeel is thick and creamy - spot on for the style. Finish is lingering coffee and roasted malts. Overall, a very enjoyable Imperial Stout - would buy again in a heartbeat.

 

Appearance:
Jet black, luminesced by slivers of ruby brown. A head of compressed, khaki, mini-bubbles that drizzle down the glass like rivulets of rain on a window.

Bouquet:
French roast coffee beans, soaked in maple syrup that’s been infused with vanilla. Then, as if from a distant campfire, in wafts the scent of charred firewood and cocoa.

Feel:
Thick, viscous, and undeniably full-bodied. Low carbonation accents the linger’s boozy warmth with a pleasant, persistent tingling.

Taste:
Chocolate covered espresso beans, then a sting of vanilla rum coupled with baked oats. There’s a roasty, dark chocolate aftertaste but its shy and doesn’t show up until the party’s half over.

 

 

 

 

Really is an all you can eat breakfast stout.

 

Sampling a cellar temp 12 oz bottle poured into my trusty snifter. Courtesy of a swap with @cubatobaco, thank you!!
The beer pours a rich cola brown color with only faint hints of light passing through the edges of my glass.
A creamy beige head of 1 cm foams up from the pour, but quickly becomes a sturdy edge layer. I get some scattered lacing when I swirl the glass or take a sip.
The aroma is some dark chocolate and whisps of maple syrup, but roast coffee is dominant. No booze notes really and I dont get the vanilla on the nose either.
First sip reveals a medium body with soft gentle carbonation. The beer has a soft creamy texture to it and feels very nice, while being very drinkable for a larger ABV brew.
Flavor is similar to the nose. I get some dark chocolate, a bit of maple syrup, a bit of caramel and here the vanilla is in the background. I get a lingering roast and slightly bitter coffee ground finish. No ABV hints here either.
I find this an enjoyable big stout and glad to have had a chance to review the beer and add bottle to the collection.
Worth a pickup if you like bigger stouts

 

12 ounce bottle poured into a Duvel tulip glass.

L---Impenetrable dark brown color. Full, light brown head that faded quickly to a cap and left very nice lacing.

S---Strong coffee aroma. Lighter chocolate and roasted malts.

T---Follows the nose, but adds flavors. Coffee, chocolate and roasted malts are complimented by vanilla and maple syrup. Really complex.

F---Full bodied. Light carbonation. Creamy.

O---Excellent effort by a really good brewery. Shame it's a one-off.