Flying Dog's Kerberos Tripel

Let me preface this review by saying that I am a bit of a fan of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson. My interest in Thompson's life, like many others, was instigated by my first and several subsequent viewings of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. So when I was browsing through State Line's collection of domestic micro-brews and noticed a few bottles featuring what appeared to be some of Ralph Steadman's art and a quote from Dr. Gonzo himself, it got my attention. "Good people drink good beer." Never have truer words been spoken, I thought. So after perusing their bizarrely canvased collection i decided on a sampler of the four beers in their Canis Major Series.

Kerberos, named for and branded with a picture of the mythical three headed dog that guards the gates of hell, is a traditional, bottle conditioned, Belgian Tripel. I've had quite a few tripels over the last year and a half, and, while not my favorite style, have always found them to be rich and full of flavor.

This tripel pours a cloudy golden color with a modest half a finger off-white head. I'm sure mine was extra cloudy, as i prefer to pour some of the yeast in with most dubs, trips, and quads. The head slowly faded into just a ring of bubbles around the glass, and left no lacing as i drank.

The aroma is powerful. I could smell it from a distance as I poured the glass. It is massively fruity with overtones of citrus. It reminds me of the smell of dried apricots with a less noticeable apple scent as well.

The flavor initially is very similar to the smell. It is sweet and fruity with a mild citric taste like an apricot. The yeast then starts to hit you on the mid-pallet, again, pouring some of the yeast adds this flavor that I enjoy. There is a bit of a spicy flavor here as well, not much, but enough to get my attention.

Kerberos has a great dry mouthfeel, which I absolutely loved. Overall it started feel like I was drinking a dry white wine, especially considering that apricot is a common flavor in white wines. The carbonation was sharp on the tongue. Had this been a less flavorful beer i could see this really distracting from the taste, but as it stands, it didnt effect my opinion of the flavor.

For a beer that was by no means light in flavor or in body, Kerberos is highly drinkable. The intense flavors mask its 8.5%abv perfectly as it's dry finish begs you to keep on sipping it down. A brilliant and devilishly dangerous beer, to say the least. This is a brewery, and a beer that I will be revisiting often.

-This has been Dan saying: "No point in mentioning these bats, I thought. Poor bastard will see them soon enough."