Hair of the Dog Blue Dot Imperial IPA

Fall 2008. Bottle from Hi-Time Wine Cellars, who seem to be my online retailer of choice. Pours a copper color with a thick fluffy off-white head. Excellent retention, heavy lacing. Aroma is citrus hops, floral, caramel, overall not all that powerful but nice. This is hardly an in your face hoppy Imperial IPA and actually it’s hard for me to envison it as a Double IPA. This drank sort of like a slightly amped up Pale Ale with a lot of malt showing, caramel, grains (the rye?) malts to compliment the citrusy hops. Crisp bitter hoppy finish. I really like this beer. Not one I’d pick if I feel like a hops onslaught but this is very drinkable, balanced and damn good. Would be a perfect session brew.

Spring 2009 bottling of Blue Dot, bought at the dock sale, ohhh yeeeaaahhh! Poured into my Sam Adams Boston Lager Glass. Appearance - Pours a beautiful coppery orange with light peach hues around the edges. Just an absolutely beautiful looking DIPA. Unfortunately this one is so fresh that it has almost no head, a little was there, but nothing near the Fall 2008 bottle I had a couple months back. Smell - Very citrusy and floral. This smells exactly like a DIPA should (in my eyes). I even pick up some sour apple jolly rancher in there, nice! Mixes nice with the piney nature of this beer. Taste - Lots of hops, but feels lacking because of the lack of carbonation. This really needs carbonation. The hops taste very resiny, very floral. This lacks the hop KICK I love in my DIPAs. Mouthfeel - The resiny taste comes through as a thick mouthfeel too. Again, this needs some carbonation, and carbonation was what I was wanting tonight. Drinkability - I could easily drink this all day and night, and this will surely be a staple beer for me this summer. This is normally an outstanding beer that I can’t say enough good things about. This is just too young and needs carbonation to liven it up to the way I remember it. I will have to review this one again in a month or 2 and see how it’s doing.

Cloudy pale bronze, sloppy white soap sud head. Nose was grapefruit-like. Plump yet possibly with a touch of musty spice. Bitter and dry with medicinal citrus flavors and rindish finish. Clean enough and enjoyable but lacking distinct character.

4/29/2009- Bottle from the brewery- fun visit. A great beer, and the one I was least excited about. Pours cloudy orange amber with some sediment and a small beige head. Smells mostly citrusy- lots of grapefruit and a little orange. Flavor is more dominated by pine. Just enough malt sweetness. Great hop finish. 9/4/2009- Mostly agree with previous review, but noticed lots of bread in the malt profile Then noticed that the bottle says it’s made with rye. Rye bread. That’s it.

Pours a slightly hazy dark gold, almost looks like a scotch whiskey, with a one-finger head that dissipated to a very thin film and left moderate lacing. Strong grassy hops aroma dominates, with the rye malt lurking in the background. Taste seems more piney than grassy, and the malt presence is stronger. Clean, crisp mouthfeel, and the bitter pine notes dominate the aftertaste.

Man this one has been on the want list for some time. Thanks to Mr.Chopin for tracking this one down and sending it. Pours a bit of a light orange with a thin white head. Caramel sweetness and grapefruit peel aroma. Also an intense floral aroma. Massive grapefruit bitterness up front that lasts for a long time. A tinge of bubblegum and green apple working in the background but the grapefruit citrus is what is working the most here. Solid double IPA here.

Bomber poured into a tulip. Massive bubbly head that leaves a sparse fluffy lacing. Dense, burnt-orange in color. Floral, citrus, and light rye aromas on the nose. Sweet flavor, medium body and a fizzy, slightly oily palate. Bitter hop, then full-on rye finish. More refreshing than big flavored.

My rating is a little low because the beer was over-carbonated. That is to say, upon opening the bottle forth began overflowing the rim of the glass. It did not slow down until I decided to throw out the rest of the bottle. It also tasted a little "off". I’m going to chalk it up to a bad beer, and will update my rating next time I buy a bottle.