Without intent, I have collected well over 1,000 beer bottles since the early 70s. When something finally had to be done about the cheap paneling in this old modular, I had a choice. Tear down the walls while, oh, so carefully, replacing the often rotted 1X3s. Or: cover them with… The Bottle Collection.
Written by Ken Carman
Wild Dog Brewery
4607 Wedgewood Blvd.
Frederick, Maryland, 21703
United States
http://flyingdogales.com/
Flying Dog was founded in 1990 by George Stranahan.
I do remember this being nice and smooth, and the 9abv being so background you didn’t know until it hit you. The color: pale, somewhat amber with ample body: but surprisingly not as much as one would expect to cover a 9abv beer that doesn’t seem 9%. Often a brewer will hide that abv behind heavier malt sense, or hops, this didn’t seem to have either. And: excellent tiny rock head that faded fast.
Here’s some more history and facts…
Flying Dog was the first brewery to open in Aspen, Colorado in 100 years, but now they are in Frederick, Maryland. Then they opened a brewery in Denver. The last bottle rolled off that line in 2008, after they bought Wild Goose in Frederick, Maryland where they have a 100,000 barrel a year capacity. Flying Dog divested themselves of Wild Goose in 2010.
The CEO now is Jim Caruso and they are most noted, other than for their beer, for the artwork on their labels done by Ralph Steadman, who illustrated the works of Hunter S. Thompson. According to another page on Wiki, however, George still owns Flying Dog and, for a while, owned a distillery which still sells Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey, named after the former owner.
George was the heir to the Champion Spark Plug fortune and has many ventures, including a photography business. Here’s more on George.