The other day I walked into a local beer store and saw a four-pack (not all beer comes in six-packs) of a beer with one of the strangest looking labels that I’ve ever seen. I really don’t need to describe it to you. After all, you’re looking at it above. See what I mean? It is pretty weird, isn’t it? I told you so.

The beer with this really strange label is Flying Dog’s Gonzo Imperial Porter. You can’t see what the skull is saying, but I can (on my bottle). He’s saying, “OK, Let’s party”. That’s Gonzo saying that; Gonzo is (or more properly was) Hunter S. Thompson, an author famous for “Gonzo journalism”.

Hunter is now truly gonzo, hence the skull. He committed suicide not long ago at the age of 67. Flying Dog has had a longstanding admiration for the author. As a tribute, they have produced this over the top brew, which they say is a This is a turbo charged version of the Road Dog. And Hunter deserves a beer tribute. He coined the phrase “Good people drink good beer.”

Road Dog Scottish Porter is a controversial beer in and of itself, and you can click on the link to see why. It’s a good beer I think, but souped up into an Imperial Porter it’s even better.

But this isn’t an Imperial Porter in the sense of a Baltic porter. The hops here are far too dominant and far too American for that. This is more of an Imperial Porter in the sense that it’s a huge, over the top brew. Imperial stouts were the original harbingers of this trend, and now we Americans have started creating Imperial Pilsners and Imperial IPAs in much the same vein. That’s the kind of Imperial Porter I find this to be.

As soon as I pop the cap off a bottle of Gonzo Imperial Porter I get a big whiff of piney Cascade hops. The beer is made with both Cascades and Millenniums. They’re apparent in the nose along with a bit of chocolate.

The beer pours a dark black color with a light tan head formation. The palate is full of licorice, prune, and chocolate, and in that respect is consistent with a Baltic porter. There’s a full rich mouthfeel, too.

I don’t get a lot of similarity with Road Dog, which I think is more of a Scottish ale than a porter anyway. In the finish, I get more of the chocolate and licorice along with some grassy, minty, piney hops that leave a decidedly bitter finish. There’s some alcohol warmth, too. There should be, since Gonzo has a strong 9.5% by volume alcohol content.

I really love the way the hops combine with the chocolate and licorice notes in the finish. This is a really big beer, and a great tribute to a man who lived life large. At $8 for four bottles, this isn’t a cheap beer, but it is a bargain. Limited in production, I suggest you buy it if you see it. And join me in a final toast to Hunter S. Thompson…

Update 7/28/2022: I have not seen Flying Dog beers in Goergia for quite some time, but I did score a few from Half Time Beverage recently. Of course, Gonzo Imperial Porter went right into my cart.

Flying Dog says:

Bold and forceful, like the man it was brewed to honor – Dr. Hunter S. Thompson, Gonzo offers complex layers of roasted chocolate, coffee, brown sugar, and vanilla malt flavors balanced with a one-of-a-kind hop bite that hits you like a homemade firecracker.

And my bottle says:

"Gonzo is the essence of irony. You dare not take it seriously. You have to laugh. Nobody I have read knows what GONZO is, was, or ever could be, not even Hunter, and if he doesn't know what it is, I do. I am the only one who does. GOnzo makes you feel GOod rather than BAd [which is BAnzo]"...-Ralph STEADman

Ingredients from the website:

MALTS: CARAMEL, BLACK, CHOCOLATE
HOPS: NORTHERN BREWER, CASCADE
YEAST: AMERICAN ALE AND ENGLISH ALE
SPECIAL FERMENTED WITH TWO DIFFERENT YEAST STRAINS

Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter has an alcohol content of 10% by volume with 85 IBUs. I got a bottle for $4.49 from Half Time, and Total Wine sells it for $15.99, now in six-packs. On my bottle label, the words FOR OPTIMAL FRESHNESS ENJOY BY: do not have a date beneath them, rather VINTAGE 22 C is listed. I take that to mean this is from the third batch made in 2022, which means I am drinking this rather young.

My current bottle of Flying Dog Gonzo Imperial Porter pours to a jet-black color with a thick creamy tan head and a nose of chocolate and dark fruit. Taking a sip, the beer is big and roasty, fudgy chocolaty, a tad raisiny (but only a tad), and warming with alcohol on the finish. Chicory and grassy herbal hops at the last. It is a bit different than my tasting notes recall it, and I am taking off a half star overall. Still, this is a fine and delcious brew, and I wish I had more regular access to it.