“Wow!” Was my reaction to my first sip of this beer. I was immediately struck by the creamy, sweet, and ridiculously hoppy character. A little later on I was struck by the 10.5% alcohol content!

Flying Dog describes this beer as a “Double Pale Ale” because of the high hops and alcohol content. It is an extremely rich and flavorful beer, and I now consider it to be one of my favorites. The color is a very deep amber, much darker than what you would normally see from a pale ale. The body is very creamy and thick, just coating your mouth as you drink. It has a very rich malty flavor, but the hops just cuts through it like a knife once it hits the back of your tongue. It is kind of similar to the Victory Hop Devil I wrote about last month, but the Double Dog takes it to a whole new level.

The one drawback to this beer is that it is so rich and hoppy that I really can’t drink more than one in a sitting. But considering that it takes me about an hour to drink one bottle and it has 10.5% alcohol, I really don’t need to drink a second. I think this is a great beer to have with a nice piece of bitter dark chocolate, or when you are engaged in the depths of conversation and just want a magnificent beer to sip on for while.

Be warned, this beer is not for the faint of heart. It may be a little intense for those not experienced with a wide variety of beer tasting. Then again, I encourage you to be adventurous and at least give it a shot! If you don’t, you might be missing out on something great.