The countdown has begun for December 25 and here at Volume by Alcohol we decided to spread the cheer in a more adult fashion, a Beer Advent Calendar. Every day we will count down to December 25 with one unique beer, since we’ll be enjoying these brews on the actual date of the calendar we will post about them on the following day. These will not be extensive beer reviews but more of a snap-shot. Hopefully you will find these helpful and can locate some of the beers we will be discussing at your local bottle shop or pub!

Day 3: Flying Dog’s Raging Bitch| ABV: 8.3% | Style: Belgian-style IPA

Beer Advent Day 3- Flying Dog’s Raging Bitch – Photo credit: Lindsey Scully

Flying Dog is well-known for their beer labels (made by artist Ralph Steadman) and their suggestive beer names like: Raging Bitch, Pearl Necklace, and Doggie Style. Raging Bitch is their Belgian-style IPA and is the one we opened up on Day 3 of our Beer Advent Calendar.

It was very effervescent and poured a honey hue with a white head. While the head was very foamy at first pour it died down quite a bit after a few minutes. The aroma of the beer has an alcoholic kick to it, Raging Bitch also gives off cloves, pine, and citrus in the nose. It has some definite Belgian smells to it.

The beer has a particular sweetness to it, similar to honey almost, that comes from the malts (Caramel 60L per Flying Dog’s website). Like most Belgian-style ales, this beer has a high banana and clove taste to it. Once you take a sip you get the sweetness then are hit with the earthy hop flavor, full of pine and resin. The only thing lacking in this beer was the carbonation, while it was very bubbly when poured it mellowed out and has no bite to it while drinking which we think could have added a little something.