Flying Dog: Like it? Love it? Hate it?

I enjoy them, but it's easier for me to say that because I have pretty good access to their best offerings. Most of their good ones seem to be harder to find like the Double Dog and Truth. To my knowledge, the Truth is only distributed in DC and MD. I don't think I've ever seen the Barrel Aged Gonzo anywhere than at the facility as well. There aren't many I downright don't like.. except Snake Dog.

 

Love/Hate here. Fuck Flying Dog! They are essentially what inadvertently got me into craft beer. One of my absolute favorites years after getting me to notice craft beer was Double Dog. It was my number one got to quality cheap beer with a great buzz. That beer is no where to be found for years now! I could seriously walk into any store and pick up a four pack for $10. Maybe it sounds a bit sarcastic but after years of having my nectar taken away from me I feel seriously pissed lol! Flying Dog gets a bad rap on here like Rogue but you cannot ignore the fact that they do make solid beers and have been doing it longer than a lot of other craft brewers. So they do get my respect in the end.

 

I like some. When they brewing in CO, it seemed like their reputation suffered due to so many staying on store shelves forever. I would always be willing to try anything new from these guys...

 

I am far from an artist, but I happen to love that they appreciate the art...

granted it was my first "real" brewery tour years ago, but what I felt I learned was that there is an artistry aspect to beer (making and marketing). They also introduced me to aged beer, which has significance to me despite the fact I would've learned about it later. Add to that the single-hop Citra IPA introduced me to the wonders of said hop, and I feel an affinity of sorts to FD.

That said, their beers as a whole are ok (like vote from me). I enjoyed Kujo and single hope rarities the most, Gonzo and Dead Sea surprised me, but most of the rest were no better than solid to me.

 

I believe they are only available in MD, VA, and DC. 2015 will be the first year they are all packaged. They used to bottle some in 750 bomber C&C. All bottles have been bolded. Even in MD all of the bottles have been to hard to find, even the draft. Not super hard to find, but some might take a bit of a hike to a different store or bar.

It started in 2012 with these: (apparently they released 40 different beers in 2012)

• Black Lager with Cherries
• Abbey Dubbel (Disobedience)
• Sour Cherry
• Red Ale
• Gose
• Nut Brown
• Weizenbock
• Gruit
• Belgian Strong (St.Eadman Ale)

Our Brewhouse Rarities will be available on draft only in Maryland, Virginia, and DC. The Imperial Hefeweizen will premiere on Thursday, January 5 at Max’s Taphouse in Baltimore, MD.

The 2013 Brewhouse Rarities include:

• Chipotle Dark Ale: January
• Green Tea Imperial Stout: February
• Pumpernickel IPA: March
• Big Black Wit: April
• Easy IPA: May
• Pineapple Saison: June
• Belgian Devil: July
• Roggen: August
• Vineyard Blonde (brewed with local Vidal Blanc grapes): September
• Orchard Ale (brewed with local apples): October
• Cinnamon Porter: December

Since both the Vineyard Blonde and Orchard Ale are agriculturally dependent, the November release was intentionally left open. All of the releases will be in draft only, with the exception of the Green Tea Imperial Stout, Belgian Devil, and Cinnamon Porter. Those will be packaged in both draft and 750 ml bottles. (I never saw the Cinnamon Porter bottles)

2014 Releases:

Our first release, Mango Habanero IPA, was slated for January 1. This draft-only release will now be out February 15, with the remaining releases hitting draft lines and shelves every 6 weeks from there:

• Mint Chocolate Stout (draft and 6-packs)
• Ginger Beer (draft only)
• Agave Cerveza (draft and 6-packs)
• Lemongrass Rice Ale (draft only)
• Hoppy Wheat (draft and 6-packs)
• Black Honey IPA (draft only)
• Doppelbock (draft and 6-packs)

 

Ive only had a few of their offerings:

Classic Pale Ale
Garde Dog
Double Dog Double Pale Ale
Raging Bitch
In Heat Hefeweizen
Snake Dog IPA
Tire Bite Golden

Snake Dog and Tire Bite were what I liked the least and their Hef was a tad bland. The rest were good.

 

similar to Victory...while i have nothing against Flying Dog i'll almost never buy their beer. any place that carries their brew will likely have something else i'd prefer to it.

 

I'm from Maryland and I just like it. There are definitely better breweries in MD

 

Living in Frederick (location of the brewery), one of my gripes is that I'll find out that they will take their rarity beers down to Baltimore (Max's etc) and completely alienate the offering locally in our Frederick City craft bars. Doesn't seem like the best local support to me, even if the keg of the rarity beer will drain a little quicker down at Max's. Just saying.

 

Snake Dog is great!

 

their Truth double IPA is good and a great value at most places

 

I like it. Like many others said, Gonzo and Raging bitch are good beers. The easy IPA session IPA was actually really good IMO too. I also like that everything comes in 12oz 6packs and not bombers.

 

I also live really close to the brewery, so I get to enjoy the freshness factor and get to try most of their offerings. Their core lineup is indeed pretty solid and it's amazing how good their Doggy Style pale ale is when fresh. It rivals SNPA. It's nice when you can get your hands on some super fresh Truth too.

That said, they do have a few clunkers in their lineup -- Snake Dog IPA, Woody Creek wit, Under Dog lager... But overall, an above average craft bewery that I'll continue to support.

 

Where are you looking in Frederick? Places like Madrones, the Roast House and JoJo's get nearly all of FD's rarities and I've never had any trouble finding them locally.

 

I was weened into the craft brew world with Snake Dog. I stayed away awhile when Raging Bitch came out since Ommegang spoiled me with BPA. But the BA Gonzo, Single Hop Citra and Kujo brought me back.
I think they are a little better than Clipper City if you want to compare same sized breweries in MD.

 

I'm heading to Baltimore this weekend and can't wait to pick up some of their beer. For some reason, it just doesn't seem to be around anymore except for Raging Bitch and In-heat wheat. I love Gonzo and can't wait to try it again and I'm looking forward to some other tough to find beers of theirs like the Truth, bloodline, and anything else I can get my hands on to try.

 

Yes, yes and yes plus Brewers, BJs, Friscos and B&H's, Brew'd Pub (the old Hagan's Tavern). I was at Madrones yesterday for Happy Hr. actually. I had the Habenero Mango at Jo Jos' a while back but many of those rarities listed, I've never seen on tap lines anywhere locally but I'll read on here that Max's received them. Perhaps that were very quick to kill the keg of the rarity series and I just didn't cycle through the tap lists of the craft bars frequent enough. I try to get out to one of those craft bar locally around Frederick at least once every few weeks. I guess those rarities series require daily or weekly check-ins.

 

The few brews I had from Flying Dog were very average for craft beer. That is not a bad thing though.

 

They usually make solid beers.