Laughing Dog AlphaDog Imperial IPA

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

22 oz. bottle from Full Throttle Bottles. Fluffy head with a nice haze/orange body. This IPA looks pretty damn good, but I didn’t realize it was an imperial/double before I had it. Sweet fruits and citrus hops aroma come through rather easily. Slight malt backing, but the hops play a very nice role. The sweet citrus fruits and citrus hop flavor don’t come through as much as they don in the aroma. This is a very smooth beer. The bitter flavor, just in general, does not allow the citrus flavors and aromas to come through. A solid double IPA, but could use a tweek on the flavor.

Hazy orange with thin white head. Aroma is grapefruit and tangerine with a nice malty note, that borders on buttery. Taste is the same with an emphasis on grapefruity hops and ends in a resinous bitterness with sweet malt, and tangerine zest into the finish.

Bottle:   Amber in color, somewhat bright, hues of cinnamon and honey, large frothy white head, nice lacing, vibrant carbonation.   Sweet malty nose, citrusy, hops, with minor earthen soil.   Sweet yet a soft citrus bitterness, decent malt base, bigger than most IIPAs but not quite as thick as I prefer.   Otherwise has a slight earthy aspect.   Clean, warming.   Body and mouthfeel are moderate.   Could stand to be a bit thicker.   As is it feels like a 1½ IPA.   A little astringent on the backside, slight fusel alcohol but its not too heavy.   Definitely feel the warmth on this one.   Lingering citrus rind and soft earthen malts.   Fairly good stuff.

bottle sent to me by ditmier, thanks Eric for the brews and shared with Shawn: Slightly hazy amber hue with a frothy head and spotty lace. The aroma has notes of resiny, herbal, grassy and dank hops. A hint of butterscotch and pale grains, earthy yeast esters. The taste has moderate herbal and piney hops, mild biscuity malts, spicy and astringent finish. The mouth feel is lively and biting, dry chalky and metallic finish. Not bad but lacks depth, a bit one note.

Appearance: Pours out a hazed, dim, darkened yellow body with a frothy, bubbly, white head. Smell: Zesty aroma of grated lemon and grapefruit peels all the way down to the bitter pith with some additional spicy, piney notes to it. Very vague malt hints that, along with the yellow hue, imply this’ll be a light malt, hop-forward brew. Let me strap in for an onslaught of IBU’s. Taste: We quickly pass by the meager, slackened maltiness with mild tastes of pale malt with light toasty hints and launches straight into the staunchly bitter load of hops. Cutting tastes of lemon and grapefruit along with a dose of pine assault the tongue and lay upon it a strong bitterness. Touch of warming alcohol, but mainly this beer is a big load of bitterness from beginning through to the finish and beyond. Mouthfeel: Medium-plus body. Medium-plus carbonation. Drinkability: Whew. Well, this is definitely one for the hopheads out there, as the brewery seems to have kept the malts fairly light to ensue the drinker doesn’t miss one iota of hoppy bitterness.

22 oz. brown bomber. No freshness date seen. Poured out the standard copper color, with a sticky tan head. Left a curtain down the sides of the glass. Aromas are standard pretty much. Some piney & grapefruit hops, sourdough bread, not much else. Thin body & mouthfeel. Too thin for the style. OK enough to try once.

Thanks Hayduke! This beer, by appearance, could be a pale lager. It does have a large white fluffy head that never seems to diminish, though. A thick but lacing remains. It also seemed to get more cloudy as it warmed. Aroma is tart citrus with pine and caramel. Flavor is largely the same with a big bitterness. That bitterness also grows as the beer warms and comes close to dominating. This is a nice beer but seems to be more of a high alcohol IPA than an impy.