K-9 Cruiser Winter Ale
Dark reddish bronze. The sand colored cap is good-sized after a vigorous pour and is now beginning to deposit nearly complete sheets of lace on the upper portion of the glass. There's a whole lot of nothin' wrong with the appearance to my eyes. The nose is pretty decent as well and there's enough power that I don't have to take a chance on getting my nose wet each time I give it a whiff. The Flying Dog website describes this beer as much more malty than hoppy, but it's a virtual dead heat as far as I'm concerned. In addition to being dark malty, it's also butterscotchy. K-9 may be an American strong ale, but it's a relatively tame one. There's nothing at all wrong with that because it's such good beer. The generously toasted malt backbone contains flavor elements of dark caramel, dark brown sugar and, less so, cocoa. Citric hops enter at the midway point of each mouthful and become more prominent through the finish. The body is solidly medium (probably closer to light-medium if style is taken into consideration) and is smooth and pleasantly slippery on the swallow. Although flavor fades a bit too quickly on the finish, a light hop scum is left on the tongue until the next mouthful. K-9 Cruiser is unlikely to make anyone forget the best that this style has to offer, but it's a fine effort all the same and would make a good training wheels strong ale for those who might otherwise be intimidated. This is definitely one of Flying Dog's better efforts.