Flying Fish Abbey Dubbel

Reviewed By: Rick S.
Style: Dubbel
State/Country: New Jersey
ABV: 7%
Serving Type: 12oz Bottle

Look: 8.5
Reddish brown color, clear, with a thin tan head and decent lacing.

Smell: 8.5
Mild aroma consisting of cherries, dark fruit, brown sugar, and spice

Taste: 9
Taste is much more pronounced than the aroma!  Very complex as well. Lots of spice with some hops up front. followed by a malt, cherry, raisin, and finishing with malt and a mild nutty flavor.

Mouthfeel: 9
Medium body and carbonation, and a dry finish

Drinkability: 9
Dangerously easy to drink!

Overall Score: 8.8

Value: 10+
Cost/12 oz serving: $1.42

Overall Impression:
I LOVE this beer!  While it may not rival the best Dubbels brewed in Belgium, and it may not even be the best Dubbel brewed in America, it IS unquestionably the best one pound for pound...or should I say for the money.  To my knowledge, there is no other Dubbel anywhere near this level of quality on the market priced at only $7.99/six pack.  And price aside, it more than holds its own in this category.  Having said all of that, Belgian Abbey Dubbel is easily the best "year-round" offering from Flying Fish in my opinion!

Flying Fish ESB Ale

Reviewed By: Rick S.
Style: Extra Special Bitter
State/Country: New Jersey
ABV: 5.5%
Serving Type: 12oz Bottle

Look: 8
Medium amber color, clear, with a foamy off-white head and decent lacing

Smell: 8
Sweet malt, caramel, subtle fruit, and earthy hops

Taste: 8.5
Caramel and complex malt flavors, balanced nicely by earthy hops


Mouthfeel: 8
Medium body and carbonation, and a creamy finish

Drinkability: 8.5
Very Smooth!

Overall Score: 8.2

Value: 9.5
Cost/12 oz serving: $1.42

Overall Impression:
I think part of the reason this beer does not receive as much credit as it deserves has to do with its classification.  Is it an American Amber Ale, or is it an English-style Extra Special Bitter?  Many of the reviews I have seen regard it as an American Amber, and as such, it has fallen a bit short.  But to me, this is clearly an ESB (the malt, hops and ale strain used are a dead giveaway people), and a good one at that!  This ESB is really easy to drink and it is fantastic with grilled and broiled food, or any type of food where caramelization is happening. 

Iron Fish 8/27/11

Cool Ice Sculpture, by Richard Glodowski, a chef at Iron Hill

IRON FISH, a Black Belgian Imperial IPA, is a collaboration beer from Flying Fish Brewing Company and Iron Hill Brewery in Maple Shade.

This fish was created to be a complete FAD Brew.  A future release is currently being Barrel Aged with Brett and Cherries, thereby covering every EVERY single fad at once.

The beer was excellent, and there was a great turnout at the event despite Hurricane Irene.

Chris LaPierre (Iron Hill), Suzanne Woods, Gene Muller & Casey Hughes (Flying Fish), Mark Edelson (Iron Hill), Kevin Finn, and Curt Decker (Noddinghead)

Flying Fish Farmhouse Summer Ale

Reviewed By: Rick S.
Style: American Blonde Ale
State/Country: New Jersey
ABV: 4.6%
Serving Type: On Tap @ Geraghty's Pub

Look: 8
Light golden color, slight haze, with a foamy white head and decent lacing.

Smell: 8
Sweet malt, grassy and earthy with mild fruit

Taste: 8.5
Light fruit up front, mild funk, with a nice biscuit malt and mild spice in the finish

Mouthfeel: 8
Light body with low carbonation, and a creamy finish

Drinkability: 8
Smooth and refreshing

Overall Score: 8.1

Value: 6 / 9 (bar / 6-pack)
Cost/12 oz serving: $5.00 / $1.60

Overall Impression:
Some people have referred to this is a Belgian Farmhouse Ale, but in my opinion, it lacks the spiciness, intensity, and complexity to qualify as such.  It IS a nice refreshing summer ale, and it is very sessionable,  Yet another solid offering from Flying Fish!

Flying Fish Turns 15

August 1996 doesn't seem that long ago, but what a different world:  Google was still two years from existence.  Spam was more of a curiosity that a daily headache.  The US government was heading toward a budget surplus.  Our web site looked like this.

And on the 10th of that month, Flying Fish brewed its first batch.  Fifteen years and 5,450 batches later we're going strong and on the cusp of a major expansion (more on that in the next issue).

We just wanted to take this opportunity to thank all of you folks who have made that possible--consumers, retailers and distributors.  There's a lot of exciting things going to be happening as we move into a new era, including some new beers and the return of some old favorites.  So stay tuned.

From the Flying Fish Brewing Co website

Triumph Bitter

Reviewed By: Rick S.
Style: Ordinary Bitter (English)
State/Country: New Jersey
ABV: 4.7%
Serving Type: On Hand Pump @ Triumph Brewing Co (Princeton)

Look: 10
Reddish Brown color, very clear, with a foamy tan  head and amazing lacing

Smell: 8
Bready malts and floral English hops


Taste: 9
Malty, fruity and complex from beginning to end. Tons of flavor from a session beer!

Mouthfeel: 9
Medium body with low carbonation due to cask

Drinkability:9
If Suzy-QCB wasn't with me, I would have pounded several!  

Overall Score: 9
Value: 6
Cost/12 oz serving: $5.50

Overall Impression:
I had this right after the Bohemian Pilsner, so that may have affected my judgment, but I loved this beer! Then again, I usually do enjoy this particular beer on cask@ Triumph Princeton. Real Cask Ale done right is always a treat.

Triumph Bohemian Pilsner

Reviewed By: Rick S.
Style: Bohemian Pilsner
State/Country: New Jersey
ABV: 5.4%
Serving Type: On Tap @ Triumph Brewing Co (Princeton)

Look: 8
Light golden color, very clear, with a thin white head and little lacing


Smell: 7
Not much there...but I did detect bready malts and floral hops

Taste: 7
Up Front: Spicy hops, asssertive bitterness giving way to a long grainy finish

Mouthfeel: 8
Medium body with medium-high carbonation

Drinkability: 8
Quaffable! 

Overall Score: 7.6
Value: 3
Cost/12 oz serving: $5.50

Overall Impression:
Yes, I have been on a bit of a Lager binge lately, but this one was just ok. Triumph usually puts out excellent beer in every style, but this one fell just a little bit short. Still worth trying tho, especially if you love Pilsners.

Flying Fish Extra Pale Ale

Reviewed By: Rick S.
Style: American Pale Ale
State/Country: New Jersey
ABV: 4.8%
Serving Type: 12 oz. Bottle

Look: 9
Straw color, clear, with a foamy white head and nice lacing

Smell: 8.5
Sweet malt, citrus

Taste: 8.5
Sweet malt balanced out by the mild spicy citrus hops, with a pleasant bready/biscuit malt finish. Yum!

Mouthfeel: 8.5
Light body with medium carbonation

Drinkability: 9.5
Slightly sweet, yet uber-refreshing

Overall Score: 8.8

Value: 10
Cost/12 oz serving: $1.42

Overall Impression:
This has been a long time summer favorite of mine.  Even though countless new beers with intense flavors line the shelves, I always seem to go back to this one.  This time of year I clearly prefer a nice balanced American Pale to the West Coast versions, which tend to be aggressively hopped, some times overly so.  Put me down for at least 2-3 cases of XPA throughout the summer.

Food Pairing:
Few people eat wings as often as I do, particularly Infernally Hot wings that would make mere mortals scream in agony, and this beer goes perfect with them!  XPA is sweet enough to tame the intense heat while blending with the mild sweetness of the sauce and the caramelized skin from baking the wings as opposed to deep frying them.  The hops and the medium carbonation combined do a nice job lifting the fat and oils from the palate, allowing me to enjoy every wing to the fullest.  I also do a ton grilling and Real BBQ during the summer, so it is no surprise that I love this beer so much.

Boaks Monster Mash Imperial Stout

Reviewed By: Herr Mike
Style: Russian Imperial Stout
State/Country: New Jersey
ABV: 10%
Serving Type: 12 oz Bottle


Look: 9
Dark coffee color, no head, very light lacing

Smell: 7.5
Very subtle smell, chocolate, malt, coffee

Taste: 8.5
Up Front: chocolate, coffee, vanilla, slight smoke. Finish: burnt toast, chocolate, slight alcohol at end

Mouthfeel: 8
Slightly sticky and dry

Drinkability: 8
This needs to be sipped like a cognac. One and done for me!

Overall Score: 8.2

Value: 8
Cost/12 oz serving: $2.67

Overall Impression:
Not my favorite R.I.S. It did taste better than the last one I had (maybe due to some cellaring) as the beer warms, more notes come through. I met Brian Boaks at the Philly Winter Beer Fest and he told me that the beer was aged a year before distribution.

Flying Fish Exit 4

Reviewed By: Herr Rick
Style: Tripel
State/Country: New Jersey
ABV: 9.5%
Serving Type: 12 oz Bottle

Look: 9
Dark golden color, not much head , light lacing

Smell: 9
Banana, apple, cloves, bubble gum

Taste: 9.5
Up Front: Grape, apple, banana, spice.  Finish: Fruity with a hoppy alcohol kick

Mouthfeel: 9
Light, clean and dry

Drinkability: 8.5
This beer kicks it with the 9.5 ABV.  I could do another 1 or 2, but mortalz should proceed with caution!

Overall Score: 9

Value: 8.5
Cost/12 oz serving: $2.14

Overall Impression:
True to American form, this tasty brew is more hoppy than ones coming from Belgium, but it's from Brew Jersey, so get over it!  I feel this is the best offering from Flying Fish to date, and I am looking forward upcoming Exit Series releases.  This baby is bottle conditioned (get it?), so it can get better with age!

Triumph Barrel Aged Scotch Ale

Reviewed By: Herr Rick and Herr Mike
Style: Scotch Ale (Barrel Aged)
State/Country: New Jersey
ABV: 9.7%
Serving Type: On Cask @ Triumph Brewing Co - Princeton

Look: 9
Dark amber color, medium head with good retention and decent lacing

Smell: 9.5
Bourbon, sweet malt, and mild smoke from the peated malt

Taste: 9.5
Up Front: Bourbon, booze. Finish: Sweet malt, faint smoke, lingering sweetness

Mouthfeel: 9
Medium body, creamy, with mild carbonation

Drinkability: 9
If you like Bourbon, it's very easy to drink

Overall Score: 9.2

Value: 8.5
Cost/12 oz serving: $5.50

Overall Impression:
This special brew was Triumph's First Wednesday offering for March 2010. I always loved their Scotch Ale, and the barrel aging made it even better. On par with Founder's Backwoods Bastard

Triumph Roggenbock

Reviewed By: Herr Rick and Herr Mike
Style: Roggenbier (Rye, Bock)
State/Country: New Jersey
ABV: 6.8%
Serving Type: On Tap @ Triumph Brewing Co - Princeton

Look: 9
Dark mahogany color, creamy brown head with good lacing

Smell: 8.5
Molasses, pumpernickel bread, caraway

Taste: 9
Up Front: Caraway blast! Sweet malt. Finish: Nice and sweet with a little spice

Mouthfeel: 9
Full body, creamy, with mild carbonation

Drinkability: 8.5
Very smooth and easy to drink

Overall Score: 8.8

Value: 8
Cost/12 oz serving: $5.50

Overall Impression:
The caraway is very pronounced up front, but the sweetness and creaminess of the beer work well together with it. We really liked this beer. The problem is, we were there for the Barrel Aged Scotch Ale, and I think we forced ourselves to to pound this down, which was very hard to do because of the strong flavors. The other thing I like about it is the caraway did not repeat on me.