This month marks the second anniversary of this blog! My first post in June 2009 was about my visit to Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, Maryland. So it’s appropriate that I celebrate two years of beer blogging with a post about Flying Dog.
Day 2 of my three-posts-in-three-days review of mixed 12-packs features The Alpha Collection from Flying Dog Brewery. I picked up this variety pack at Magruder’s, my DC beer store. The 12-pack includes:
- Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale (5.5%), rated #1 American Pale Ale by the New York Times. The training beer of the mixed 12-pack.
- Snake Dog IPA (7.1%), resident hop monster with in-your-face citrus, pine and herbal notes…more cunning than a snake in a bush. This is my kind of IPA!
- Raging Bitch Belgian-Style IPA (8.3%), a [bitch] slap of grapefruit and pine Amarillo notes balanced by exotic, fruity Belgian yeast flavors. The sting of a good whack never felt so good. Drink this one with caution – it catches up to you quickly.
- Simcoe Single Hop Imperial IPA (10%), the début release in the Single Hop Imperial series, only available in this mixed 12-pack. Strong and tasty!
If you love hoppy beers, this is the perfect 12-pack. I love the variety, ranging from session Pale to Imperial hop bomb.
In the Washington Post, beer writer Greg Kitsock calls The Alpha Collection “a primer on the evolution of the pale ale style.” I enjoyed my lesson!
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