United Nations of Beer

Flying Dog Brewery

by Lucia Novara
(Beer Delegate, CO, USA)

Flying Dog Brewery
Denver, CO, USA

Ah, where to begin describing the Flying Dog Brewery? Should I call it "The Temple of Hops"? "The Irreverent House of Beery Wonder"? "The Intersection of Art and Alcohol By Volume"? It is definitely all of the above and also gets my vote for Best Brewery in Denver. So far, anyway.

I love a good origin story and the Dog has a pretty great one. Founders George Stranahan and Richard McIntyre were on an amateur trek up K2 with a sherpa, a donkey and a suitcase full of contraband.

Like all good legends, there are many versions of what happened next, but the one I like best says a giant airborne creature that looked like a flying hound tore through their campsite and scattered all sherpas, donkeys and contraband down the mountain.

The other (more believable, less cool) version says they were in at a Pakistani hotel on the trek and saw a painting that captured a dog in mid-stride so it looked like it was flying. They had the thought that the dog was flying because no one had told that particular dog he couldn't fly.

Just like no one told two ranchers who had never climbed a mountain that they couldn't climb K2, so they decided they could. And if they wanted to open a brewery, well no one said that was impossible either.

Cut to 1990 and you will find the Flying Dog Brewery in Aspen, Colorado. Stranahan was buddies with Hunter S. Thompson who, for those of you who don't know, was a journalist, author, gun enthusiast and possibly the man who hated Richard Milhous Nixon more than anyone else.

He was an amazing writer who developed a completely new genre and also really liked to shoot things. His spirit helped develop the Dog Philosophy, which is basically "purposeful, provocative irreverence". How can you not get behind a sentiment like that?

Anyway, in 1996 Flying Dog moved to Denver and I had the pleasure of taking a tour of the facilities and sampling the wares. First up was The Pack, the six beers that are always available from Flying Dog.

Links to my Flying Dog brewery beer reviews:

Flying Dog Classic Pale Ale

In-Heat Wheat Hefeweizen -- I pretty much sold my soul to the Brewmaster of this beer, so check out the link to hear exactly why this is my favorite American Hefe. If you're not inclined to do any more clicking, suffice to say it rocks like Poison in 1989.

Road Dog Scottish Porter

Tire Bite Golden Ale

Snake Dog IPA

Heller Hound Maibock

All of these brews have been carefully crafted with special care, love and irreverence, but if you want to get drunk with an even MORE specialized beer, there is the Flying Dog Specialty Beers range, aka the Canis Major Series, aka the Good Shit.

Gonzo Imperial Porter

Horn Dog Barley wine

Double Dog Double Pale

I didn't get a chance to try the Old Scratch Amber Lager, but word on the street is that it's more malty than hoppy, good for drinking in the sun and is brewed at medium temperatures, to bring out both the ale and lager features.

I would venture to say none of the employees at Flying Dog are good candidates for the Boy Scouts, but they do some pretty good deeds in the course of getting these brews together.

The mix packs are assembled by the good folks at the Developmental Disabilities Resource Centers and for you tree-huggers and forest finger-bangers out there, they also employ a variety of technologies to reduce water and chemical use. But the best reason to pick up a sixer of Flying Dog is because it is some of the best brew this side of the Mississippi.