Laughing Dog Devil Dog Imperial IPA

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

Poured copper with a medium off white head. Aroma was strong hops and citrus. Flavor was strong piny hops with some fruity hops floating underneath. Great hop bitterness in this one. A bit of caramel and toffee round this one out. Finished very bitter, nice.

The one beer I missed on the sampler tray because my wife kept drinking the DIPA. (2 glasses after the sampler). Big bottle. Big frothy long lasting head on orange beer. Big delicious citrus hop nose that fills the room as you pour. Doesn’t rip the taste buds off but very very hoppy. Delicious citrus flavour.

On tap @ Bailey’s Taproom (Portland) I’ve been wanting to try a fresher example of this brew since I was informed the bottle I previously rated was old, and I’m glad I found one. Clear light amber or orange-copper color with minimal head that does a good job of lacing. Smells teriffic. Very fruity and sweet smelling with light hints of caramalt and some alcohol. Red grapefruit and tropical fruits dominate, mango, pineapple, peach, hint of menthol - reminds me of strawberry mentos. Sweet malt backbone and juicy hop flavors combine to do a pretty good job at hiding the 10%abv, but its not entirely successful. Not overly bitter for a DIPA. Medium body with moderate carbonation. Great DIPA; glad I gave this one another try.

Bottle from Buckeye boy on 8/30/07 that I accidentally shipped to nolankowal as a bonus, who was kind enough to return it 6 months later on 3/7/08 as a bonus. Woohoo! I’m really excited to try this and get a nice Idaho rating. Pours with little head, but still some carbonation. Very little oxidation. Hops and bitterness may have faded. Lots of great melanoidins. Sweet malty. Amber color. Delicious. Finished whole 22oz bottle.

2007 Bottle - Smells of carmelized sugar malt and floral hops. Alcohol is well hidden, and this has a great hop presence without a bitter finish, which I haven’t found in too many ales. The best part of this ale is the smell, which isn’t a good thing. I’d expect more from an X2 IPA

Had this one in the fridge for over a year. Aroma is lots of pine with a touch of floral hops. Pours a darker copper color with no lasting head or lacing. Flavor is caramel and toffee, but not sweet really. Malts are followed by a decent amount of piney hops, but they seemed to be a bit flat, perhaps due to the age of the beer. Not alot of sweetness, but more balancing malt. A little more barley wineish than IIPA, but not bad.

Clear copper with thick head and nice lacing. Nice citrus hop flavor malty backbone piney hop flavor... Weird metallic aftertaste that i really didn’t care for

22oz bottle purchased at Belmont Station in Portland, OR.

Clear, copper colored beer capped with a thin, wispy head. Nose of grapefruit, some cattiness, some fusel alcohol heat, and just a touch of diacetyl buttery character.

The flavor carries more of the same, but throws in some grainy, bready malt and some fruity esters for good measure. The body is right where it should be; not too heavy, but hefty enough to support the massive amount of hops they tossed in. Subdued carbonation and silky texture create a creamy mouthfeel with just a little pricklyness around the edges caused by the hops finding their way into every nook and cranny of your mouth. The finish is surprising for a beer this hoppy. It leaves some spicy, piney hop resin in the sides of your mouth, but there’s almost no burning hop bitterness in your throat. I guess you could almost call it "smooth" which seems like a strange adjective to use when describing something that’s supposed to be so big and burly.

All in all its a pretty good beer, and I wouldn’t turn one down if it was offered, but it costs about the same as a bottle of Hopsickle, and I think I’d prefer one of those 9 times out of 10.