Rage Not Essential for Flying Dog's Mongrel Belgian

Flying Dog Raging Bitch Belgian-Style IPA
Sampled: Dec. 8, 2010

My love-hate relationship with Flying Dog spans a decade; they produce some decent beers, but occasionally run off the rails. Raging Bitch never lives up to its name, and that's a blessing. Brewed for Flying Dog’s 20th anniversary, this Belgian IPA establishes itself as a hallmark of this emerging style. It presents itself with a creamy, rapidly fading head and a deep copper body.

The nose is intensely florid with hints of spice and a sharper tone of hazelnut occasionally poking through. Raging Bitch finishes dry and rounded, with a little ambient bitterness. The complexity masks the high alcohol content (8.3 percent). A nice vein of rounded grapefruit runs throughout, with a medley of other citrus tones (tangerine,a splinter of peach) to buttress it. Belgian IPA is a relatively new concoction, launched when Belgian brewers began catering to overhopped American tastes by excessively hopping their tripel ales (see Houblon Chouffe for one egregious example). They never tasted like anything but dry-hopped tripels.

Here, American brewers actually demonstrate superior skill in blending Belgian yeast with high hop contents. Between New Belgium’s Belgo and Raging Bitch, the style leans domestic. I'm probably the only one disappointed to see Sam Adams Belgian IPA lost out to Revolutionary Rye for its 2011 American Classics.

Credit Flying Dog’s choice of dry hopping with Amarillo – it imparts the right level of bitterness and contributes to the floral bouquet that never lightens. The Amarillo brings the necessary element of dry citrus without overwhelming the beer's Belgian curves. The addition of Columbus and Warrior hops does not .

Even IPA skeptics should try it -- Raging Bitch has none of that bitter bite, opting for a smoother, cleaner experience. With its bouquet, I can forgive a lot. Raging Bitch handles its time in heat with maturity often lacking from Flying Dog brews.