The Spirit World

As you know, I just got back from a week in Denver, drinking Denver brewed beer and sipping (not so wee) drams of single malt scotch. On my last day in Denver I walked over to Flying Dog for their weekday afternoon tour (4 pm). I wish that I had found the Flying Dog tasting room an hour earlier. Here’s why. I had one of those celebrity moments where someone comes up to me and says, “Hey, aren’t you Donavan Hall, the famous beer writer?” Well, it was almost like that.

I walked into the Flying Dog tasting room and signed up for the tour and the tour guide, Devon Adams, noted beer expert (that’s what it says on her business card), takes a look at my name on the list and asks, “Are you the Donavan Hall?” As it turns out, I’m on a list of bloggers that some (the best?) beer companies keep for special beer distribution purposes. Turns out, Devon had a little package set aside for me, and I was kind enough to fly out to Denver to pick it up in person (none of this prearranged, mind you).

In this special package of mine is the Wild Dog Barrel-Aged Gonzo Imperial Porter. Basically, this is the Gonzo Imperial Porter that we all know and love, but aged in oak whiskey barrels. Neither the beer, nor the whiskey barrels have to travel far since Flying Dog is next to Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey, the supplier of the oak whiskey barrels.

I know I gave up doing tasting notes on beers long ago, but I’ll give you my impressions of this brew just to round out this bit of experiential prose—

This Imperial Porter pours a prodigious head, frothing up like a Duvel, but black with a dollop of chocolate mousse rather than gold with a dollop of whipped cream. The beer itself has a rather surprising taste. Sure it’s sweet like many of these 9.5% ABV extreme beers, but that sweetness is taken off in a completely different direction by a vanilla and whiskey bite. The flavor lingers on the tongue for quite some time and leaves a slick coating behind. Underneath all of this is the slight hint of bitterness, some coming from the dark malts and some coming from the hops. This is a good sipping beer. It’s taken me more than an hour to nurse mine and I’m still enjoying it. Best at room temperature if you ask me.

I’m not sure when this gem hits the shelves in your neck of the woods. Maybe Devon, the noted beer expert, will let us know.