04/29/2014
Alpha Dog Imperial IPA
Laughing Dog Brewing 8.5%
Pours bright honey color, citrus and hoppy on the nose. Not much head.
Tastes kind of malty at first, a surprise for the color and aromas. This gives way to some pleasant citrus and hop flavor, though neither are overpowering. You wouldn’t guess this is billed as an Imperial IPA until you read the 8.5% label.
1. Hops – 6.5 Whether they’re underpowered or just well balanced, I would expect a bigger presence from an IIPA
2. Malts – 5 There is actually a good showing here. People that dont like super bitter would actually be into this.
3. carbonation – 5.5 Somewhat bubbly, but still very pleasant.
4. Character – 6 There’s nothing here that really sets it apart from anything else. It doesn’t have any wow factor, anything wrong with it, it’s just… inoffensive in a market that thrives on being unique.
5. Palate – 7.5 Here’s the shocker. Because it’s not too much of anything, it really isn’t bad. It’s just not very good at any one thing.
Overall – 7.5 This is the Subaru of beers. They drive okay, they look alright, they’re not the slowest, but they don’t exceed at one thing, except being a jack of all trades. This will moderately appease IPA fans, while maybe converting some folks who like malty stuff. But this doesn’t make the short list.