Laughing Dog AlphaDog Imperial IPA

Brewed by Laughing Dog Brewing
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Ponderay, Idaho USA

Poured a clear light amber color with a small white head. Sweet malt starts the aroma with light notes of oxidation. Citrus and sweaty hop aroma. Some earthiness as well. The flavor was fairly hoppy with citrus and pine and a light sweet malt base. Long finish with a meidum body.

Tap @ OBF... Poured orange with an off-white head. Nice hop and resinous aroma. Foamy, thick palate which complemented the awesome bitterness of the hops. Earthy, citrus fruits and caramel-like grains.

Rating #1500 Bottle pours a hazy light orange/amber with a large fluffy off-white head even though I sneaked it a bit in to the glass. Nice citrusy aroma but not the up front grapefruit west coast IPA type. A little papery and of wet cardboard. Flavor is all about the bitterness. Big, in-your-face hop IBU. It seems to give up a little of the top notch fresh flavor for the power of thre Alpha (dog) Acid. A bit too much for me. Very strong, very long bitter trailer. Feel is a bit light for how big it is. I maybe would have liked .5% less AU in exchange for a little more residual sweetness to balance this a bit more. Moderate carbonation and did I mention bitter?

500 mL bottle from Beer Run in Charlottesville, VA. Pours a slightly hazy copper color with a medium head. Good head retention and lacing. Fruity hops in the aroma with candied citrus, peach and other fruit notes, alongside caramel malty notes. Taste is earthy, grassy slight bitter hops with a citrus twinge in the finish, followed by sweet toffeeish malt notes. The bitterness is fairly strong throughout and lingers on the tongue. Well done... very nice beer.

22 oz. bottle from Grape & Gourmet. Pours dark orange with a fluffy white head. Nice, clean citrusy hop aroma; also note grass and pine. Very good bitter hop flavor. This one is very grapefruity. I do taste something else along with the bitterness that I’m not completely digging. I can’t quite put my finger on it. This one is good but I’ve had Devil Dog and it is much better.

Bottle… Mostly clear yellow ale with an orange tint and a mid-sized, frothy, off-white head. Good retention. The aroma is of intense, fresh lupulin; mainly of the grapefruit variety with a tinge of pine. Full-bodied and very creamy with tingly carbonation. If I were a total hophead, and I’m not, this is a beer that I would be totally gaga over. Hop-wise, this beer’s not fuckin’ around. The bitterness in here is Big-Time – Broadway – Vegas, baby! Even at room temperature, there is absolutely no discernable sweetness to squeeze past the bitter-as-hell hop oils that surround, coat and fry my palate. Just a hint of acidity. Lengthy, mouth numbingly bitter finish. Bottle courtesy of scraff!

22 oz. Lightly hazy and golden-amber with a long-lasting quarter inch of creamy foam. Big floral, pineapple and grapefruit nose is nice. Flavor starts the same but is quickly overtaken by just a tad too much resin. The other flavors peek through a bit, but just a little more malt (or less resiny hop) for balance would be really nice in this one. Later some earthy tea leaf, orange and wood notes appear to make this more than a one-note blast of hops. Near-medium body is soft and smoothly drinkable, and of course hop-dry on the finish. All in all, this is a quality hophead beer, which is what it set out to be.

Pours an amber orange with a thin white head. Nose is piney hops. Hops come through as piney and floral. There is a bit of citrus in the finish, and the mouthfeel is rich and a bit oily. Pretty good beer.