This beer was given to me by Amanti Vino to review and to be quite frank, it probably isn’t a beer I would have picked up to begin with. But, with that said I go in with an open mind hoping for the best. It is actually a pretty stupid reason why I wouldn’t have purchased this beer, the label is a bit cheesy. 
What happens when Captain Lawrence brings in one of their biggest supporters who happens to also be a high end food market? You get a Abbey Ale made with Imported Italian Chestnut Honey and Jam. I’m not even sure what “Italian Chestnut honey and jam” is, but it peaked my interest. As a big supporter (or at least I try) of local breweries, I drove up to Captain Lawrence on Birra DeCicco’s release day to snag a couple bottles of this intriguing brew with Lee from Hoptopia.
This beer will be a first for me; the first time I’ve reviewed the same beer twice. My first Mikkeller Beer Geek Breakfast review was in April of 2009, almost a year later and I want to see if it is just as good, better, or worse as it was last year. I love my coffee and I can very particular about it beer. I don’t like the astringency I find in a lot of coffee beers, but a well done coffee stout can be heaven for me.
Having known a few Celiacs, the one thing they ask me: “Are there any good beers out there for us?” There are a lot of people allergic to Wheat and Barley making beer unpleasant to a life threatening drink. Lately I have seen a few Gluten free beers come to market, most barely able to live up to the flavor profile of a generic macro adjunct lager. When I saw Green’s Gluten Free Triple Blonde Ale, I though this one may have some possibility, a 8.5% abv bottle refermented Triple Blonde Ale.
This beer just landed in my lap, many times with beer trades, the traders will throw in “extras”. Extras could be anything, but many times they are local craft beers. In one of my recent beer trades, a bottle of Real Ale Phoenixx Double ESB appeared in my box of Flying Dog Dogschwarz double black lager. Not knowing anything about the beer except for an unsolicited thumbs up for the brew, I’m excited to try this local Texas beer.
This is a beer I’ve been looking for a long time and when I was offered it during a beer trade, I jumped on it. Each Year Flying Dog puts out a new beer in their Wild Dog Series, several years ago they barrel aged some of their Horn Dog English style Barleywine in Oak Whiskey Barrels. You may be asking why am I reviewing this beer instead of saving/cellaring it further. I asked Matt Brophey, Head Brewer of Flying Dog, should I drink it now or cellar, he eluded to drinking it now since it was already several years old. He also said it had a lot of vanilla when it was originally packaged, so that is something I’ll be looking for.
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