Flying Dog Barrel Aged Gonzo (2012 release)

The 2012 release of Barrel Aged Gonzo. This has been aged one year as of this point. I remember moving into this shitty little apartment with Jennie about a year ago, our commemorative beers were a 6-pack of Hopslam and two bottles of this.  She and I both preferred the regular Gonzo at the time, as we felt the barrel aging, although picking up different notes, lost a lot of the great hoppy characteristics that regular Gonzo excelled in.

So, now, we've come to this. 3 days late of the 7th anniversary of the passing of the last true American hero. And what do we have to show for this? The American economy has tanked, the young man ain't got nothing in the world these days. I seem to be trailing off and writing part of my 'hobby writing' saga American Dream. I'll try and digress from this.

The pour is exactly as expected, dark as a starless night, with a coffee colored head. The aroma, however, is not as expected. There are deep tones of alcohol notes to offset the coffee and chocolate notes, with some slight almost vanilla and woody tones. The taste is... Sweet Jesus... This ages fantastically. Picture, if you will, the smoothest, best sex you've ever had, and intensify it, to where your ancestors will rise from the grave to have a cigarette and say 'Damn, that was good.' There are rich chocolate and coffee flavors that meld perfectly with notes from the whiskey barrels. Now, something that I just learned tonight if Gonzo is aged in Stranahan Whiskey barrels. This is fitting, as George Stranahan was Hunter S Thompson's neighbor and good friend. Apparently (for those who did not know), Stranahan also founded Flying Dog.  The mouthfeel is thick, slightly creamy, with a roasty note toward the back end.

This is getting harder to find, as it's last year's release. I feel like I should purchase a few more bottles and cellar them, breaking them out during special occasions that involve said special beer. Much like a wine aficionado breaks out a hundred dollar bottle of chateau du fancy-wine sounding name, I will bust out amazing beer. And why, you ask, because, in the words of Hunter S. Thompson, "If something's worth doing, it's worth doing right."

The aging on this gave this time to meld together, although it did lose the hoppiness of the brew. The whiskey barrels replaced, in my opinion, where the hops left off.

5/5 Caps

-Nathan

As a mother, I learn new levels of patience daily. Cellaring beer has really not yet made it onto my patience radar, particularly after dealing with a rambunctious five-year-old, but after this, it definitely should. Really, there are some mornings when I wonder how I made it through my coffee without spiking it. After this, it makes me want to... it's nearly the perfect morning brew. And at 9.5%, it'd certainly power me through whatever Morning can throw at me.

I remember when we first cracked the first bottle of Barrel-Aged Gonzo, not being as fanatic about it as I am about regular Gonzo. It lost the hoppiness, and that, to me, is tantamount to a cardinal sin, at least with this beer. Let me state, however, that the additional aging of this has only melded the flavors. This has the same roasty, toasty nose, that perfect balance of coffee and chocolate, mellowed by the whiskey and wood aging which lend a hint of vanilla and, well, whiskey to the aroma. Yes, it has lost most of the hop notes, but they creep back in at the very tail end of the flavor for me. It's a little more rich than the regular Gonzo, like shopping at Saks Fifth Avenue when you're accustomed to Macy's. The layers of flavor that were added by the whiskey barrels really add deep tones.

4.95/5 caps

-Jennie