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12oz Bottle

Laughing Dog's IPA was thrown in as one of the couple generous extras from JohnGalt1, thanks Toby! The body of this beer is the color of strong sun tea, some faint rust highlights show through and the body becomes sunset orange when backlit. There's a touch of haziness throughout the body. A standard pour brought about a one-plus finger fizzy, dishwater head that fizzled out to a thin skimming and small collar. A few patches of thin lace are splashed here and there.

Candied grapefruit peel starts things off along with other mild citrus: lemon, orange, and lime in that order. A lightly sugary alcohol punch rides through quickly and there is an enjoyable undercurrent of rich maltiness in the form of sugar cookies and caramel. The quick booziness seems to bring out some pine resin qualities, although not very many. Although the nose is hop driven the maltiness isn't far behind and the overall smell leans toward the sweet candy-like IPAs.

The flavor follows stride with the aroma. Candied citrus rinds lead the way front to back and leave behind some sweetness. They're most potent right up front but fade enough to, almost, let the caramel and cookie maltiness to catch up. The mellow booziness helps bring the hops to the front and adds some dryness to the finish that adds some bitterness to the mix. I prefer my IPAs to be heavily hoppy and although this one is pretty well balanced I do enjoy the flavors Laughing Dog managed to pull out of the hops used.

I'm surprised at the amount of carbonation in this IPA. It's right on the fence between just right and overly aggressive. The more I drink the more I think it's right where it should be, prickly on the tongue, accentuating the mild bitterness. The body is moderate but the snappy carbonation keeps it moving.

The balance helps the drinkability. As a matter of fact the beer is already gone as I write this. It was hard to keep it in the glass. The mild malty sweetness and candy like flavors from the hop profile kept me drinking.

This is a solid, enjoyable IPA from Laughing Dog. It doesn't stand out as a great IPA but would be in my fridge often if available in the area. This is a more sessionable IPA then the big hop bombs I enjoy so much. Thanks again Toby!

Reviewed: 9/23/08

Served In: Pint Glass