I spotted a new brewery on the shelves at Red X, Laughing Dog out of Ponderay, ID. There were three beers offered, CSB - an ESB style, Alpha Dog Impeerial IPA, and Dogzilla Black IPA. All were about $5, which makes it a nice impulse buy. I grabbed the Dogzilla since it had a parody of Blue Oyster Cult's Godzilla on the label.22 oz bottle, poured into a standard shaker pint. Starts off with a massive light tan head. Even a gentle pour pulls a huge mountain of foam. It recedes from the outer edge in, so at times there is a little island of foam in the center. Tons of sticky lace. Color is not pure black, but more of a dark, dark brown. Some red shows through when held to the light.
Smell is mild. The bitterness from the dark roasted malts and the bitterness from the hops stand out. Taste comes off as a super hoppy porter rather than an IPA. Coffee flavors compete with alpha hops. Blends together nicely.
Mouthfeel has a slickness to it with a fluffy texture. This one is hard to categorize. It's not following rules. It has a lot in common with Boulevard's Bully! Porter. That's another beer that doesn't follow rules.
I had this recently and quite like it. They make some pretty good beer (their ESB is also quite nice). I'd say it's phenomenally hoppier than Bully! Porter, but the roastiness of the malt does come through like it does in a porter. Dogzilla is a solid hop-forward IPA with great hop aroma & flavor. If you like the IPAs with a lot of malt sweetness (cough Arcadia cough), I'd recommend something else. This one is very hoppy with roasted malt instead of sweetness. mm!
ReplyDeleteI guess you could call this style a mutt. I am definitely grabbing the other two styles i saw
ReplyDeleteI might check that out if you're comparing it to Bully! Porter. It will give me a refreshing change of pace from buying Bully! Porter, which I buy far more often than any other beer. I never, literally never, am without some Bully! Porter in my fridge.
ReplyDeleteI saw this at Hy-Vee on Thursday. Looks like an addition to my must try list.
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