We here at DrinkCraftBeer.com are working to help the craft brewing industry and the brewers who make it. We love to give exposure to any new beers we've tried and liked. Beer costs money, though, and we're not made of it... not by far! Luckily sometimes breweries will send us sample of new offerings that they are excited about. We're not going to ignore any of these, but we are going to be 100% honest about them... especially since we don't get any advertising spend or money in any form from any of them. This section will have a little bit of both, beers we've bought and beers we've been sent to try. 

We'll give you any information we have about the beer (basically the style, anything interesting about the story, etc...), some quick tasting notes, then we'll each give you our frank assessments of how we liked it. Hopefully this new feature will help! So, with that said, on to the beer!

Flying Dog K-9 Cruiser Winter Ale

Appearance: Dark Ruby-Brown

Smell: Smeet malts with a tiny hint of fig

Taste: VERY smooth, very low bitterness, though it does have a touch of roasted malt flavor. Smooth and very mild vanilla tones as well as notes of dried fruit, can't say if either of those are actually added, but the flavors are there. A bit metallic on the finish, but not in a bad way. A very unique finish, that neither of us can really pin down

Devon's Take: I really like it and wish we had more. I'm not one for sweet beers and this definitely has some sweet tones but the smoothness and slight bitterness of the malt really balance this beer for me. It's not over spiced like many other winter beers and for that it makes it a good beer to have a few of for me.

Jeff's Take: I thought it was pretty good. Up until the finish it's pretty great. I don't love the dry raisiny metallic finish, and for that I'd probably get sick of this after one or two. A good beer that reminds me of a dark English pub ale, although I probably wouldn't session it. One of the better winter offerings, though, as it doesn't have spice and is smooth as hell.

Flying Dog Collaborator Double Bock
(Check out OpenSourceBeerProject.com for Flying Dog's story about this beer)

Appearance: Brownish Copper in color with a tan quickly dissipating head.

Smell:Very sweet and bready with mild hints of alcohol

Taste: Both of us were actually caught off guard on the first taste. With a double bock you expect a certain malt sweetness and roundness to the flavor. This beer is a bit of a surprise and doesn't taste nearly as sweet as it smells and also has a stronger hop finish that many double bocks out there. Lower carbonation that is indicative of the style.

Devon's Take: To be honest, I'm not sure where I stand on this beer. First off, I'm not a fan of double bocks in general, though there are exceptions. I do really like the finish of this beer. The hops are nice addition but for me there seems like there's something missing, but I can't put my finger on it. I think if it was a little more viscous that might do it.

Jeff's Take: I took my first sip and was quite surprised... thinner than a double bock and hoppier. More of a hoppy Oktoberfest almost. I dig it and could drink a good bit of it. Easier to drink than a traditional double bock... It's like a session double bock, and I'm a fan.

Flying Barrel Aged Horn Dog Barleywine
(This is a very limited batch of their Horn Dog Barleywine that they aged in whiskey barrels, only available at the brewery. We were lucky enough to receive some.)

Appearance: dark and cloudy

Smell: Whiskey. A LOT of whiskey. Strong oak tones and a hint of vanilla

Taste: The whiskey is surprisingly controlled, while it's definitely there the lack of booze coming through tones it down a lot. This is a very sweet barley wine and if you go in expecting aggressive hops you'll be disappointed. However, if you take this beer as it is, without any preconceived notions, it's quite good. It's incredibly smooth and somehow covers all of the booze. Neither of us can recall a a barley wine that covers the booze this well. TONS of vanilla on this one and a good bit of oak. Almost no carbonation... slick, smooth and pretty interesting. This would be great to split after a big meal.

Devon's Take: There's a lot of whiskey in the nose which is almost overwhelming. This beer took me more than a few sips to figure out. In the end I liked it though, but only in a 6oz serving I'd say. It's quite sweet and a bit viscous, with very intense flavors would be better paired with food.

Jeff's Take: Holy whiskey! So much vanilla oak and whiskey in this, without any booze! I'm not a whiskey fan, but I love whiskey barrel aged beers. I think this is a really good one, too. The whiskey taste is surprisingly subdued. I would love to drink this again... as long as I can split a 12 oz bottle with somebody else.

So that's our take, what's yours? Be sure to let us know over in the forum.

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