Raging Bitch

Brewery: Flying Dog Brewery

Supplier: Beers of Europe

This is one of Flying Dog's core beers. The 3 types of hop they use are all American (in fact I believe they are all from Washington state); Warrior, Columbus, and Amarillo. The yeast they use is they call El Diablo and this is a Belgian or Belgian-like yeast. I served this chilled.

Appearance: A rusty gold colour, verging on the side of an amber ale. Bubbles are good and there is a thick, long lasting off-white head.

Aroma: Initially you get citrusy sweet hop resin but this leads into a underlying funky, tart smell that is present in some farmhouse ales.

Flavour: Very fresh at first leading onto a quick hoppy taste before ending with a very phenolic boozy, almost Grappa like, taste at the back. After some time the hops open up and makes the beer more pleasant, probably due to it warming up a little. 

Body: Decent light body with a solid mouth feel. 

Aftertaste: The aftertaste is also boozy, but with some very distinct dried orange notes to it, a bit of pepper and is very harsh. This is mixed with a nice hoppy bitterness at first but this becomes an unpleasant dryness later on.

Overall: Therefore this gets a rating of 6, it's a nice beer but something just doesn't flow right with the flavors. I would suggest that you serve this at room temperature.

Price Range: £3.19 for a 355ml bottle, it's an OK price for a beer that I think other people might enjoy more than me. I personally wouldn't get it again but I wouldn't discourage others to try it.

Food Pairings: Gingerbread, admittedly I saw ginger as a food pairing on their website and I agree with them on that (not so much for the other food they had in mind but that's just me). I think the the sweetness and the spiciness from both will complement each other well.