Laughing Dog The Dogfather Imperial Stout

Brewed by Laughing Dog Brewing
Style: Imperial Stout
Ponderay, Idaho USA

22oz bottle-pours a cascading to shaving cream light brown head and black color. Aroma is sweet chocolate/licorice/molasses-dark malt, roasty, some acidity, dark fruit. Taste is sweet chocolate/licorice/molasses-dark malt, roasty, some acidity, alcohol, dark fruit, hops bite. Full body with good carbonation. Occasional. Cellar temperature is better.

Bomber. Poured deep brown with a creamy, well-retained cap of tan head.. looked rich. The aroma was strong with dark chocolate and black patent maltage accented by earth and almost fruity notes.. warm overall. The flavor had the same heavy malt bill that was laced with vanilla and cracked, dry earth.. spicy and hot on the back, and the transition came out of nowhere. Creamy carbonation on the palate gave a smooth feel until that heat hit on the back.. bitterness was complementary for the most part.. not a great impy stout.

22oz from riversideAK - thanks, Ronnie James! A bold double-reference in the beer’s name, sure. But the brew lives up to it mightily. Nice dank dark brown pour, with tons of visible yeast and a big-ass head. Roasty, imposing, and sure of itself, the nose on this one is pretty complex, with dark chocolate, ripe dark fruits, wood, and harsh coffee. The palate is waxy and smooth, quite enjoyable. And the flavor continues the complexity of the aroma. The still-lively hops tend to accentuate the fruity dimensions of the flavor, but not at the expense of the deep roasted malts and the lingering dry finish. If there’s such a thing as a refreshing imperial stout, this is surely it.

Bottle shared by Jason and opened up for a quick tasting in the room pre-GTMW Friday night:

The beer is nasically opaque with a small tan head and spotty lace. The aroma has notes of tobacco, chocolate, walnut, coffee, cane sugar, anise, and some alcohol vapours. The taste is fruity and sweet with a forefront of chocolate, plum and light pineapple. There is bitter coffee and molasses notes towards the almost ashy smoked wood finish. The mouth feel is lush and lively, good body but a tad ashy as well. Overall a solid offering that if it displayed a tad less coffee would be excellent.

Pours an opaque black with a large, frothy light brown head. Aroma of sweet caramel, molasses and roasty dark malts with a hint of licorice. Starts with an effervescent body giving way to a sticky, sweet, roasty dark chocolate and bitter hoppy flavor before a bittersweet mocha finish. Definitely a palate coater and had pretty good complexity, but could use a little less roasty bitterness.

22 oz bottle, 2008. Dark brown with a thick tan head that slowly settles. Nose is molasses, mocha, raisin and hay. Full body with a creamy mouthfeel and sudsy carb. Taste is coffee, chocolate and orange with a grapefruit peel finish. Good one.

Big thanks to bu11zeye for this bomber, poured into a tulip. Pours a dark, viscous black with a big, bubbly light mocha head that shows extremely good retention but only a little lacing. It’s got some boozy legs clinging to the sides though. The aroma is excellent on this one with lots of complexity, led by the big dark roasted malts. However, the more interesting component is the fruity sweetness that comes out even more as it warms. On top of that is some dark chocolate and roasted coffee with some molasses sweetness to balance things a little bit. The taste is very good as well with the same sweet dark malts and chocolate. It almost tastes like a malted milk ball with some sweet fruits thrown in. Interestingly, I get some citrus hops in the taste that I didn’t pick up in the aroma. The finish is slightly bitter but also more sweet than many RIS’s out there. The mouthfeel is medium bodied with average carbonation. Very good, smooth mouthfeel overall. Overall, this is an excellent beer with a bit of a Belgian twist to it with lots of dark fruit sweetness to balance the big malty base. Extremely enjoyable.

Time to catch up before BCTC. Shared by Goldtwins, I think, at Spuyten Duyvil big beer fest. Black with head and lace. Coffee chocolate bitter port and dark fruit. Nice.