Flying Dog Brewery- Raging Bitch Belgian Style IPA: At least the bottle looks cool…

“I try, oh my god do I try, I try all the time”- 4 Non Blondes

The more I find beers that I hate, the more beers I will buy from that brewery. I know it sounds dumb but I think it is really important to never write off a brewer until you have given them a fair shake. So I keep coming back and trying to be objective, forgiving each former beer transgression and trying to keep my mind open. Flying Dog, however, is really trying my freaking patience.

It seems like each brew I have sampled is just a little worse than the last from these brew dudes. Raging Bitch Belgian Style IPA is unfortunately not the exception to the rule. This light amber pale ale pours nicely. It has a nice shade, great carbonation and thick cream head. Then the smell hits your unsuspecting nostrils.  It smells like a banana truck overturned into a pool of fresh asphalt. For some reason there is this medicinal aroma, faintly reminiscent of burn cream or some other topical ointment, maybe even fungal cream. It is a unrelenting assault on your pour olfactory glands.

 Sadly it tastes like it smells. If Colgate made a banana flavored tooth paste, this could be the template. Trust me; this bottle of suds is a freaking dud. Sometimes beer is about money. Don’t waste your precious scratch on this god-awful batch. Life is two short to throw away a night on this. Take my word for it. Unless you like to be that person who has a psychological need to stand out in the crowd, Raging Bitch will make you wish you brought a muzzle.   

ABV: 8.3%

Consumed: Pint Glass

Verdict; Skip it

Flying Dog Brewery- Raging Bitch Belgian Style IPA: I’m Sorry, But I Just Don’t Get It

If you’ve been following the site you know two things, 1) I’ve been on an IPA bender and 2) Everything that I have tried so far from the folks at Flying Dog Brewery has made me want to stop drinking, period.  So upon my recent trip to the local beer store I was discussing IPAs with the gentleman at the store and he said that he too is not a big fan of Flying Dog’s but that they just got the Raging Bitch and he heard that it was good.  So I decided to take a leap of faith and go ahead and invest into a sixer and give this dog another walk around the block.

Flying Dog Brewery describes this brew as a Belgian-Style India Pale Ale and their website describes Raging Bitch as "Bitches come in a variety of forms, but there's never been something as sassy as Flying Dog's Raging Bitch Belgian IPA.  An American IPA augmented with Belgian yeast, our 20th anniversary beer jumps out of the glass and nips at your taste buds with its delicate hop bitterness.  At 8.3% ABV, this bitch is dangerously drinkable."  According to the website this is their 20^th Anniversary Brew.

This beer poured a dark copper color with a 1” light tan colored head and has very strong grapefruit aromas with slight hints of hops and this dog bites at 8.3% ABV.

I have come to the realization that beer is a lot like baseball, after three strikes you’re out.  Well, this is the last beer from the Flying Dog Brewery that I will use my hard earned money to buy, drink and review.  I have really wanted to give this brewery every shot to change my mind and I was hoping that Raging Bitch would be the answer.  Unfortunately I was proven wrong.  I’m sure the folks over at Flying Dog are great people and that they have a devoted following but I struggle to understand why their beer just doesn’t sit well with me.  I really have nothing else to say other than I just don’t get it.

ABV: 8.3%

Consumed: New Belgium Globe Glass

Verdict: Buy A Six Pack