Laughing Dog AlphaDog Imperial IPA

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

Courtesy of ditmier. Pours clear deep gold with copper hues and off white head. The aroma is pulsing with butterscotch as well as pine and grapefruit hop bitterness. The taste begins with a pleasing mix of citrus grapefruit hop bitterness and some pine hop bitterness too. For moments here and there sweetness and hop flavor show up only to ultimately give way to more grapefruit like citrus notes and pine hop bitterness.

In short: A sugary blonde IPA with a harsh grapefruity bitterness.
How: Bottle 22oz. Consumed fresh a few weeks after purchase.
The look: Partly cloudy dark blonde body topped by a large off-white head with good retention
In long: The strong nose is mostly about grapefruits with dry cedar and pine tree in the back. Taste is sharp and a little harsh, too harsh. Sugary crystal malts, white bread, partially dehydrated grapefruits (and lots of it), burnt dry grass, dry honey turning into sugar, some rubber band, a lot of hops alpha acids, slightly piney. Very bitter and moderately dry finish with a weird white sugar and burnt grass after-taste. Overall this is a very tasty IPA but I found it a bit too abrasive for what it is supposed to be. A good (but not very good) beer and a big disappointment after drinking a bottle of their fantastic Dogzilla a week before. This thing is advertised at 127 IBU. 127 IBU !!! Any more IBU and it would be… well, 128 IBU. Or more.

GABF 2009. Pours clear yellow with a small, fizzy white head, somewhat lasting with good lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (husky grain, hay, straw, meal, cereal), heavy hop (flowers, perfume, grass, pine, resin), average yeast (sweat) with notes of apple, pear, peach, and apricot. Medium bodied, sticky texture, lively carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, light sweetness, heavy acidity and bitterness.

Who knew Idaho had anything other than potatoes? Seriously though, it’s nice to see brews from the more obscure northern mountain/plains states making it to Kansas City! I hadn’t read the label, had no clue of the IBUs, and generally knew nothing about Alpha Dog before I tasted my first sip. Bomber pours an incredibly clear golden amber with a perfect cap of bubbly white head with great lacing. Smells great, with a powerful blast of evergreen boughs and a bit of citrus and malt. The flavor is where the strength of the bitterness shows up. With one sip, I knew this was stronger than Hop Stoopid, but geez...127IBUs? I like a nice hoppy brew, but this one was a little over the top, like drinking a whole grapefruit while chomping on a pine tree. There’s a huge amount of malt in this beer, but the hop bomb is just too overpowering to pair with it. Alcohol at 8% is surprisingly perfect. Strong aftertaste lingers forever, so the flavor and palate are the only pieces holding this back in my opinion.

Pours gold into a snifter. White head recedes to coat surface. Pine and resin aromas. Caustic pine upfront mellowing to a lasting resin finish.

Why all these dogs and beer? It’s really tiresome. But I overlooked that failing with ease. I really haven’t had such a good hop bomb in a long time. This was just tremendous. Sticky, never syrupy, sweet and not cloying. Clean. Citric. And there were a lot of really fun flavors in there--those that actually made my eyes pop when I noticed them. Highly recommended.

Bottle via trade thanks to JohnGalt1. Cloudy golden color with a creamy white head and some lacing. Lots of citrus hops on the aroma, orange lemon, with a little sweet pale malt. Flavor is sweet pale malt, slight apple notes, and rough citrus hops as well as some pine/resin. Palate is just slightly astringent with alcohol detectable and medium-full body. Good IIPA overall.

A very large off-white head of nice fine and tightly compacted bubbles. Lots of citrusy hops in the aroma with some lemon grass and pineapple. Very fresh and crisp aroma. Color is a hazy orange. Dry and chalky palate that has very little sweetness to it. Some light malts but predominantly strong bitter hops. Some peanut skins, toasted malts, resonous pine sap and juniper. Light alcohol presence. Finishes bitter and grainy. A pretty good and strong IIPA. I woul have liked ot see a bit more malt to offset the strong hops presence.