Laughing Dog Dogzilla Black IPA

Brewed by Laughing Dog Brewing
Style: India Pale Ale (IPA)
Ponderay, Idaho USA

Chalky beer. Beautiful frothy-headed pour. 22 oz bottle. Floral aroma very ipa-ish. This is a nice beer, probably not something I’d get again, but I like the style idea. Previous comment concerning lack of accord between citrus and roast is valid here, but similar to sweet and salt, i think this combination can work -- think a hoppy dry stout. It’s doable I would think, just not mastered here.

22oz Bottle: Opaque black w/ a massive biege head that slowly falls away leaving a peaked island in the center of the glass & blotches cling to the sides. Wonderful hoppy aroma (pine) w/ roasted malts equally showing themselves. Flavor is piney hops up front, fading into roasted maltiness w/ a clean citrus hop finish. Seems like an IPA; instead of a sweet malt backbone they went w/ the heavy roast. Pretty good, great aroma.

Brown color with a taller, lasting bone colored head. Citric hops join with darker malts in the aroma. I catch some barnyard funk. Not sure where that is coming from, but I really don’t like it. Sweet toasted grains and plenty of citrus in the flavors. I just don’t get the balance. I have a charred grapefruit from the grill, and I don’t really want to eat it.

Bottle:   Deep roasty brown, garnet hues and accents, moderate to large beige frothy head, nice lacing.   Subtle roasted malt, slight hop and pine.   A little earthy and roasty on the tongue.   The hop bite and pine come in after, towards the finish.   Not as roasty as say the Stone 11th.   Decent, well balanced for what it is.   Almost more earthy than roasty.   Moderate body and mouthfeel.   Finishes clean, lingering roasted malts.   Neither the IPA aspect nor the roasted malts dominate.   In fact, its like a subtle version of the Stone 11th.   Good stuff!

HUGE carbonation explosion of about 3 inches upon pouring. Medium sized bubbles and recedes very slowly. Very sugary candy aroma with some peppermint, spruce, antiseptic and some flowers. Color is a very dark brown. Harsh medicinal bitterness that reminds of rubbing alcohol with a peppermint candycane dissolved in it. Very strange and not all that pleasing. Tangy in the mouth with some chalky dryness. Some pine needles and dark roasted malts. Finishes bitter and medicinal. Not sure if this what they were going for with this brew but I am not a fan.

Draught at Oliver Twist, Stockholm. Pours black with a creamy beige head. Citrus hop aroma. Lots of orange in the taste, but most IPA qualities drowns in a burnt malt taste.

Draught @ Oliver Twist. Fruity IPA aroma. Lots of orange in the taste, but the aggressive malt takes over and make this beer into a one dimensional heavy bitter beer.

The Dan Journal #311. Tasted 10/24/09. 22oz bomber. Filtered with a dark amber brown hue. Bubbled layer of head. Aromas of tart esters and ample berry notes. Medium bodied with a good malt bill. Faint hops and mildly tangy. Citrus yeast and rather bitter. Getting better as it warms, but still decent at best.