Chances are you have wasted hours of your life trying to find your car keys. You know the drill: Anger, cursing, and irritation of the highest order (especially when you discover them in the most obvious place).

The misplaced cell phone is another beast: Anxiety and fear quickly followed by panic. (That’s right. You didn’t need insurance on that fancy new smart phone.)

Similar emotions can be felt when you can’t find Flying Dog beer. But not anymore:

Introducing the new “Find Our Beer” feature on our website*.

Now, whether you are in Plano, Texas or Peabody, Massachusetts, it will only take seconds to locate your favorite Flying Dog brews at the location nearest you. All you need is your zip code.

* Flying Dog Brewery apologizes in advance if making it easier to find our beer results in more lost keys and misplaced cell phones.

Sail off into the sunset with Flying Dog. Every Tuesday in June, Schooner Woodwind Annapolis Sailing Cruises is holding a Flying Dog beer tasting during their Sunset Sail.

Our Woody Creek White Belgian Wit, Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale, and Road Dog Porter will be featured on the Woodwind, a 74-foot schooner custom designed for the Chesapeake Bay. A different Flying Dog mutt will be on deck each week to talk about the different brews and explain the brewing process.

The cruise begins at the Annapolis Marriott Waterfront Hotel and takes passengers past the United States Naval Academy and under the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, as the sun sets along the Annapolis skyline.

For tickets, call Schooner Woodwind at 410-263-7837.

The Dog will be all over town celebrating American Craft Beer Week from Sunday 5/17 through Sunday 5/23. Care to join?

The following events have been scheduled in Maryland, DC, and Northern Virginia:

Sunday, May 16

Mahaffey’s Pub “Pints and Pancakes” in Baltimore, MD

• 10 am
• Featuring a firkin of our limited-edition Coffee Stout and our Summer seasonal Woody Creek White Belgian Wit

Monday, May 17

Victoria Gastro Pub in Columbia, MD

• 6 pm
• Featuring 9 (nine!) Flying Dog beers

Fireworks Pizza in Leesburg, VA

• 5 pm
• Featuring our limited-edition Coffee Stout and Old Ale, Double Dog Double Pale Ale, Woody Creek White Belgian Wit, and Old Scratch Amber Lager on draft, along with Raging Bitch Belgian-Style IPA, Gonzo Imperial Porter, and Road Dog Porter in bottles

Tuesday, May 18

Crystal City Sports Pub in Arlington, VA

• 7 pm
• The official launch of our Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale at Crystal City Sports Pub
• Featuring Flying Dog raffle prizes

Wednesday, May 19

Frisco Grille and Cantina in Columbia, MD

• 7 pm
• Featuring 5 Flying Dog beers in tap, including the limited edition Old Ale and barrel-aged Gonzo Imperial Porter

Birreria Paradiso in Georgetown (Washington, DC)

• 6 pm
• Featuring a signing of the Brewer’s Association’s Declaration of Independence in the name of Flying Dog, the DC beer community, and Birreria Paradiso

Whole Foods tasting in Richmond, VA

• 5 pm
• Featuring Raging Bitch Belgian-Style IPA on draft

Thursday, May 20

Max’s on Broadway in Baltimore, MD

• 5 pm
• Five Flying Dog beers on tap including Horn Dog Barleywine on nitro

Capital Ale House Beer Dinner in downtown Richmond, VA

• 7 pm
• Featuring a five-course meal paired with our limited-edition Coffee Stout, Double Dog Double Pale Ale (on nitro), Raging Bitch Belgian-Style IPA, Woody Creek White Belgian Wit, and limited-edition barrel-aged Gonzo Imperial Porter
• Flying Dog CEO Jim Caruso will be a guest speaker and following dinner will be a screening of “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas”
• Call Capital Ale House Downtown for reservations: 804-780-ALES

Stetson’s in Washington, DC

• 6 pm
• Featuring the launch of our Raging Bitch Belgian-Style IPA on tap
• Join us for a signing of the Brewer’s Association’s Declaration of Independence in the name of Flying Dog, the DC beer community, and Stetson’s

Friday, May 21

Sean Bolan’s in Bel Air, MD

• 5 pm
• Featuring three Flying Dog beers on tap, including our limited-edition Coffee Stout

Metropolitan Coffee and Wine Bar in Federal Hill (Baltimore, MD)

• 5 pm
• Featuring our limited-edition Old Ale and Woody Creek White Belgian Wit

Saturday, May 22

Westover Market in Arlington, VA

• 5 pm
• Featuring Flying Dog brews (including a firkin) in the Bier Garden all day

Bay Ridge Wine and Spirits in Annapolis, MD

• 12 pm

Sunday, May 23

Finnegan’s Beer Brunch in Ashburn, VA

• 3 pm
• Featuring a Woody Creek White “Beermosa” greeter and a five-course brunch paired with Flying Dog beer
• Our Doggie Style Classic Pale Ale and Gonzo Imperial Porter will be on the beer engine all day, along with Old Scratch Amber Lager on tap

The thrill and anticipation of Major League Baseball’s opening day has come and gone, but Flying Dog is here to stay.

Our Snake Dog IPA is on draft at all of the craft beer stations at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore and our In-Heat Wheat Hefeweizen is on draft at Nationals Park in Washington, DC.

Whether your screaming “How ’bout them O’s!” on Eutaw Street or chanting “Let’s go Nats” on the Riverfont, you can now support your local brewery while rooting for the home team.

Quite a few Flying Dog mutts have culinary backgrounds. And when their love for food and beer come together, the result is (usually) pretty damn tasty.

Brewer and cellarman Larry Pomerantz recently developed his own take on fish and chips, inspired by our 20th anniversary Raging Bitch:

Bitch and Chips

Serves 13 (6 oz. portions)

Ingredients:

• 6 cups flour
• 3 tablespoons baking powder
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning
• 36 oz (3 bottles) Flying Dog’s Raging Bitch Belgian-Style IPA
• 5 pounds firm-fleshed whitefish (tilapia, pollock, haddock, or cod), cut into 1-ounce strips
• Cornstarch, for dredging

Directions for Bitch Batter and Fish:

1. In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cayenne pepper, and Old Bay seasoning.
2. Whisk in the beer until the batter is completely smooth and free of any lumps.
3. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. (Note: The batter can be made up to 1 hour ahead of time.)
4. Heat oil in deep frier or pan to 350 degrees.
5. Lightly dredge fish strips in cornstarch.
6. Working in small batches, dip the fish into batter and immerse into hot oil.
7. When the batter is set, turn the pieces of fish over and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes.
8. Drain the fish.
9. Serve with malt vinegar.

Directions for Homemade French Fries:

1. Use a mandolin slicer with a wide blade, slice the potatoes with the skin on.
2. Place in a large bowl with cold water.
3. Heat fryer to 320 degrees.
4. Drain potatoes thoroughly, removing any excess water.
5. When oil reaches 320 degrees, submerge the potatoes in the oil.
6. Working in small batches, fry for 2 to 3 minutes until they are pale and floppy.
7. Remove from oil, drain, and cool to room temperature.
8. Increase the temperature of the oil to 375 degrees.
9. Re-immerse fries and cook until crisp and golden brown, about 2 to 3 minutes.
10. Remove and drain on roasting rack.
11. Season with kosher salt.

According to Larry, all must be served with plenty of Raging Bitch.

For those of you who follow Flying Dog on Twitter, you know that last Friday was a very busy day.

The Food Network visited our brewery to film an episode of “Unwrapped,” featuring Snake Dog IPA - our resident hop monster that slaps you in the face with flavor.

Following the premise of the show, the crew walked through the entire process of brewing Snake Dog: from welcoming the malt to our brewery to waving goodbye to the bottles and kegs. Leading the way was Matt Brophy, senior VP of brewing operations, with a little help from Jim Lutz, VP of sales.

Here’s a glimpse behind the scenes:

Details on the episode are still under wraps (we couldn’t resist). What we do know is that it will air anywhere between 3 months to 1 year from now. We’ll let you know when we start rolling out the red carpet for Brophy and Lutz.

For those of you who don’t follow us on Twitter, start. Then you can hear about sweet breaking news, like when Marc Summers is going to holler at some Snake Dog.

Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar had an itch that could only be relieved with Flying Dog’s Old Scratch Amber Lager, which is their January Beer of the Month.

Maryland locations will feature $4.50 tall (23 oz.) drafts of Old Scratch for the entire month of January.

Various Flying Dog distributors are holding events (listed below) at each location throughout the month. The first 48 attendees drinking Old Scratch will receive a free Flying Dog pint glass.

Bowie

• Saturday, January 16 from 4 to 6 pm

College Park

• Saturday, January 16 from 4 to 6 pm
• Tuesday, January 26 from 7 to 9 pm

Hagerstown

• Thursday, January 28 from 7 to 9 pm 

Rockville and Urbana

• Thursday, January 21 from 7 to 9 pm

Westminster

• Tuesday, January 26 from 7 to 9 pm

White Marsh

• Saturday, January 16 from 4 to 6 pm
• Wednesday, January 27 from 7 to 9 pm

 

We had a great time at the Beer Wars pre and post party at the Flying Saucer in Charlotte, NC.

Big thanks to:

Brad Johnston of Tryon Distributing (pictured below, enjoying a Garde Dog and yucking it up with our Rich Graham).

Chris Angel and Darrin Pikarski.  Darrin is the guy on the left with his fist in the air and Chris is in the middle who was holding some 7oz Kerberos Tripels to smuggle into the movie theater.  Both of these guys played a huge role in making Charlotte’s Beer Wars Party one of the biggest in the country.  Darrin is also the President of the Charlotte Beer Club.  If you live in Charlotte and like good beer, get in touch with this guy.  He has connections.

It’s the time of year when words like “brackets”, “Cinderella” and “office pool” (hello, Rick Neuheisel) sneak into almost everyone’s vernacular.  Time to fill out your brackets and predict who will take it all.

Well, we like talking about beer more than trying to figure out if Cleveland State has any chance against Wake Forest, so we’ve put together our own bracket to figure out what Flying Dog beer is the best.  And you thought it was tough to predict those pesky 8/9 match-ups?!

To start off, we have a couple “play in” match-ups:

Snake Dog IPA vs. Road Dog Porter and In-Heat Wheat vs. Tire Bite Golden Ale. Click on the links to vote and on the image below for the full bracket.  Voting on the first round will go on through Thursday at 11:43 EST

And why did we call it Beer Radness?  Well, we couldn’t say March ***ness because CBS tends to get a little weird when people use their catch phrasses without permission.  And there is already another “beer madness”.  Plus, all of our beers are “rad” … and it rhymes with the other, more well-known phrase.  So there.

The Flying Dog crew wants to invite everyone in Colorado to come drink some beers with us! We are hosting a “Tweet-Up” at the Blake Street Tavern on Tuesday, January 13th from 6-8! This is a great opportunity to drink some Flying Dog beers you may not have had a chance to try or your all time favorite brew for FREE! Blake Street Tavern carries all of our “pack” brews on draft and all of our Canis Major beers in bottles. We will be buying the People’s Republic of Flying Dog brews and appetizers and you get a free pint glass if you say a secret code. Check out our twitter page for that code!

See you on Tuesday! Cheers!