Saturday, April 28, 2012

Laughing Dog Devil Dog Imperial IPA


Laughing Dog Devil Dog Imperial India Pale Ale. Diabolus Canis Imperiiosus IPA. Tell us more, won't you? "the Devil Dog will chew you up and leave you whimpering for more. At 98 IBUs and with 7 pounds of hops to the barrel it is an all out assault on the senses. Devil Dog started as a labor of love, but quickly took on a life of it's own--leaving us drooling like Pavlov's dog at the mere mention of it's name. Triple dry hopped for that over the top hop flavor, more than one of these bad boys will cause you to howl at passing strangers, chew up you r toys and anything else you can get your sharp little teeth on."  And that is all for dog jokes. Please?
Thing is, though, I'm looking at that dog, he ain't so bad, …pretty adorable, actually.
More: Hops: Columbus, Northern Brewer, Ahtanum, Cascade and simcoe.

Malt: Pale, Carmel (sic), and Munich.

Bottled and Brewed by Laughing Dog Brewing, Ponderay, Idaho.

Let's just drink it, okay? 

Clouded, opaque, dark amber coloring, large, full flowering, snowy white head, lace leaving, I'd guess, if it would ever quit.

Aroma: boom boom boom! Thick, rich, resiny, phony, and wonderful. Just my stuff. Deep dark fruitiness, cognac and leather, and a hell of a lot more going on.

Taste: along comes chocolate. Plentiful hop bitterness overwhelmed by dark malt deliciousness. Very chocolatey. Fairly swallows over any fear of being overly bitter. In fact, I've never had an "Imperial IPA" as malty or sweet or chocolatey as this. Plenty malty, utterly overtaking what you expect to get from a hoppy ale. Is that what I like in an Imperial IPA? Ehhh, not so much. 
After all those damned idiotic dog jokes, I wasn't sure what to expect, but it's not delivering. The devil dog did not chew me up and I am not whimpering at all. Sigh…there's little integration, not much balance, no harmony, just a mess, and unlikable, too.

It's kind of a murky mess, and it's not hitting the right buttons with me. Alas. Not loving this. not even liking it.

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