Hair of the Dog Blue Dot Imperial IPA

Brewed by Hair of the Dog Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Portland, Oregon USA

Thanks to BMan1113VR for the bomber. Pours a hazy dark orange copper with a thick foamy head. Big resiny citrus, soapy, earthy hop aroma. Powerful stuff. The taste doesn’t let up. Resiny thick bitter citrus hop taste with a nice malty body. Finishes with just a touch of bitterness. Good brew.

From BMan1113VR via trade. The pour was slightly hazy and light copper in color. A dense white head formed and produced sticky rings of lacing. The aroma was a nice blast of grapefruit hops with pine, pineapple and then softer caramel malts. The flavor was a well balanced combination of citrus and pine hops against a nice caramel malt backbone. Medium bodied mouthfeel, succinct finish. Very nice.

I love imperial IPAs and Hair of the Dog (both the brewery and the act of drinking to cure a hangover), but this fell just a little short in a couple ways. It pours a cloudy golden color with an off-white head, very opaque. Aroma is basically all West coast hops, but not quite as strong as some of the SoCal offerings (Stone, Green Flash, etc). The hop combo is good but not great and it lacks a little bit of the balancing malty sweetness that great beers in this style usually have. Nice smooth palate though. Substantial sediment remains after.

Fall 2008 Bomber via trade with stefanje. Pours a light amber with white frothy head. Nose is slightly yeasty/spicy (probably the rye), grapefruit and pine and light doughy sweet notes. Taste has distinct rye beer qualities of a slippery body that feels a touch thin, nice spiciness that almost overshadows the hops. Clean and crisp bitterness. As far as IIPAs go, this isn’t top tier, but throw in the rye aspect and you get a very interesting beer. Pretty cool beer and definitely glad I got to try it. Nice.

Cloudy dirty yellow, thick rocky head of eternal retention that leaves thick creamy lace. Sweet biscuity malt and perfumey fruity hops (passionfruit and lychee come to mind). Creamy, heavy, malty, with abundant deliciously fruity hops. If there is cascade in here, it takes a backseat to some other varieties for a change. Beautifully done.

Hazy orange goldenrod color with a healthy beige head. Nice lacing. Aroma is heavy on the fresh pineapple, with some notes of stone fruits and pale malt. Flavor is oily hops, grapefruit, underripe pineapple, pine. Can’t really tell there’s rye in it. Slight astringency, nothing major. Good long bitterness. Very drinkable.

Bomber at O’Briens. Poured hazy/oily orange-gold with a frothy and creamy white head. Good lacing. Soapy pine aroma, fresh-cut lemongrass, and the smell of wet wood. Passionfruit and mango in terms of hoppiness in the nose. Bitter, sharp hop bite in the taste. Lots of melon and mango with a pepper snap. Soapy up front with the resin, with the flavor of earthy and wet hops. More malt and sweetness as the beer progressed. Easily drinkable with a hearty mouthfeel. Far different from most West Coast IIPA’s, more bitterness reminiscent of an English IPA, but mixed well with the citrus hops.

22 oz. pours golden with HUGE head. aroma is light pineapple and sweet. mouthful is very fizzy with some big bitter hops attacking the pallet. very in your face but smth is not great about it.