Laughing Dog India Pale Ale - Laughing Dog Brewing

RonfromJersey

New Jersey

1.95/5  rDev -46.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 1

Slightly hazy yellow orange body, topped by three fingers plus of white foam.

Light hay aroma, followed by hints of sour citrus.

An extra sweet pixie dust beginning. Sour lemon twang at the swallow. Way short in fruit and bitternes for an ipa.

Medium mouthfeel. No drinkability.

Blends together with the pale ale. Avoid both, and the cream.

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2010 05:28:16 | More by RonfromJersey

pwoods

Ohio

3.25/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12oz. brown bottle, xmas present, poured into an imperial pint.

A: Pours a grapefruit skin tinted amber. About a finger or so worth of bone colored head with decent retention and lacing.

S: Some light American hopping, citrus, pine. Some lightly sweet malts. Pretty subtle overall. There's an odd Elmer's glue like aroma...

T/M: Decent bitterness level. More of the nondescript American hopping and lightly sweet malts. Not much biscuit or cereal grains or really anything from the malts. There's still that odd Elmer's glue thing going on as well as an alcohol flavor coming out in the back after the swallow. Body is medium or so with good carbonation.

D: Drinks easy enough but has some odd flavors and aromas.

Serving type: bottle

12-27-2009 02:01:35 | More by pwoods

Monkeyknife

Missouri

3.5/5  rDev -3.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Poured from the bottle a clear fizzy gold color with two fingers of bright white head.

Faint aroma of caramel malts and sweet butter.

The taste was buttery with firm caramel malts and a bitter hop finish.

Lighter bodied and moderately carbonated.

An average IPA from Laughing Dog lacking any personality to make it memorable.

Serving type: bottle

12-20-2009 17:44:40 | More by Monkeyknife

beerthulhu

New Jersey

3.25/5  rDev -10.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

A: Poured a dull brass coloring with a quickly rising 3+ finger ivory bone colored head that rose 1-2 fingers above the glass rim forming a conical dome shape. Retention was spectacular, hardly budging even after several minutes, while clarity was fairly clear, but not enough so to visible read text through. The lacing provided thin, foamy lacings of concentric circles down the glass while visible effervesce was composed of several stray carbonation bubbles rising at any given moment at a moderate rate. After nearly 5 minutes a thick, frumpy covering still existed covering the drink starting things off well enough.

S: The aroma was sweet pine and citrus of light-medium proportions. Sweet caramelized grains and a fresh burst of orangey citrus similar to their pale was detected on the closing, again more sweet then bitter.

T: There appeared to be a good deal of bitterness here, dried pine and dried citrus of medium-strong proportions, the problem lied mostly that the malting was severely under-represented here and came off thin and watery. The hopping was bitter with citrusy flowery and wet grapefruit against watery toasted grain backing that did little to balance nor add substance. A fresh grassiness and a dose of grapefruit peels is observed on a quickly closing and short fade. Overall not bad, but certainly not good.

M: light and watery, another low point in an otherwise mediocre experience. Much like their pale this lacked a good hop bite and a crispness that just gave this a watery feel.

D: Only slightly better then average drinkability here, and that's if your in a pinch. Brief flashes of citrus hops are most likely only accented by a weak and watery palate. Wouldn't seek this out or recommend.

Serving type: bottle

12-07-2009 23:18:42 | More by beerthulhu

Gavage

New Jersey

3.68/5  rDev +1.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: orange in color with a big two finger head that lasted a while. Moderate lace paints the glass.

Smell: soft pine, grapefruit, and hop bitterness is pleasant on the nose.

Taste: a lightly bready malt base with caramel, light pine, mild grapefruit, some orange tones, and a hearty bitterness.

Mouthfeel: medium bodied. Lightly crisp to start, a bit smoother and a bit dry at the finish. Aftertaste is relatively short here.

Drinkability: decent IPA that was easy to quaff. Worth giving this one a try.

Serving type: bottle

10-14-2009 12:59:37 | More by Gavage

dsa7783

New Jersey

4/5  rDev +10.5%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Single, twelve-ounce bottle purchased from Buy Rite on Oak Tree in South Plainfield...
Sturdy pour yielded a moderate-sized foamy and frothy head that gradually dissipated around the top of the serving glass...
Hop-laden aroma and flavor yielded an ideal session beer and slightly astringent IPA that slowly put forth a more inviting flavor after the first initial sips...
Good stuff... Easily drinkable... Recommended...

Serving type: bottle

09-21-2009 06:06:36 | More by dsa7783

ColForbinBC

New Jersey

3.9/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12oz bottle poured into a pint

Pours a bright orange with a foamy off-what head that rose to fill the pint glass. Raindrops began to form in the thick cap as it receded and left sticky lacing along the sides.

Bright hop character of citrus and flowers and a touch of pine sap. There is a decent amount of toasted malt in the aroma which does detract from the hops, but not too much.

So far so good. The hops shine through even brighter on the palate. Pine needles and grapefruit up front with flowers and a touch of caramel before a moderate punch of bitterness.

The carbonation is just right for this beer. Medium to full body, smooth and creamy with just the right amount of pine resin and bitterness in the finish.

This is a very good go to IPA to keep in your fridge. Not great, but very good. I could see myself having a few of these in a sitting. The flavor profile is strong and might slow you down, but that is not a bad thing. A pleasant surprise.

Serving type: bottle

09-09-2009 20:43:06 | More by ColForbinBC

Magpie14

Michigan

3.6/5  rDev -0.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: dingy cream colored foamed top that left speckled ring upon ring of lace in the upper 1/3 of the glass. The body pushes various orange and golds with a slight burnt tangerine. Lacing gets a half point boost

S: good fumes of earthy pine and spiced grapefruity hops. The nose also puts forth enough caramel toasted malts too boot, maybe a little too much

T: I find this beer tasty. For an IPA it reminds me of an english style or type as the malts are somewhat forceful. The malt flavors are drenched with buttery caramel notes with some sticky toasted toffee blobs. The hops still maintain a snapping presence with ripe citrus notes and fresh pine. A few more gulps let the hops shine a little more.
I feel that the malts come across pretty sugary and quell the hops in the long run

M: this is a tight category. The beer houses an easy feel and medium based body. I would say that it is a little on the heavy side for a IPA, I like

D: I would get this again. This has some features and has a good malty hunkering too it. Some hop resin is even left on the tongue after a few big gulps. All in all, not a bad brew

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2009 22:04:24 | More by Magpie14

Seanibus

California

3.53/5  rDev -2.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

This is a sticky, tropical flavored IPA. Not my style, perhaps, but worth trying.

Pours slightly hazy golden with a light head. The aroma is sweet and blowzy, like overripe pineapple. The flavor is sweet and sticky and overripe with pineapple and apple and mango. The mouthfeel is sticky and slightly syrupy, but it leaves a lovely sharp bitterness high on the back of the mouth

Serving type: on-tap

04-21-2009 17:24:34 | More by Seanibus

mday

Delaware

3.83/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a pint glass.

A :: Pours a hazy honey with orange hues. Aggressive head poured thick, creamy and quite huge then fell to a very creamy 1/4-inch head that stayed for a while. Tons of lace left behind.
S :: Light citrus with hops in the background. Also find it sweet and malty.
T :: Very hoppy and slightly sweet malt. The finish is quite bitter and a bit spicy/peppery that lasts a long time.
M :: Smooth and not quite as dry as other IPAs I have had recently. Low amount of carbonation. Clean and smooth overall.
D :: Yeah, I could drink a few of these. It is quite nice and a good offering from the brewery.

Serving type: bottle

04-05-2009 20:18:42 | More by mday

mikereaser

Pennsylvania

3.95/5  rDev +9.1%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A - pours a murky copper color with 1/4 inch of foam

S - sweet citrus aroma of oranges and sweet malts

T - taste is oranges & lemon and other citrus fruits with a piney hop finish

M/D - nicely balanced IPA, the hops aren't too overpowering and could be enjoyed by everyone. I'll definitely pick up another.

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2009 17:36:20 | More by mikereaser

Beernoisseur

Utah

3.93/5  rDev +8.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This is a pleasant little beer. It looks great off the pour from a bottle to my pilsner glass. It's a bright orangey amber. Very nice. Gorgeous, fine lacing.

This beer smells, to me, like a diminutive version of a DIPA, it's not an explosion of hops (which I prefer), and there is a lot of malty sweetness. It reminds me of a scaled back version of a DFH 90. It's a pretty close call in the tug of war between the carmel malts and the citrus rind/pine on the hops.

The flavor matches the aroma (not surprisingly). A very well balanced beer with an element of toastyness. the hops are big and assertive on the bitterness front. Bitter first, then sweeter, then a very dry bitter finish that lingers. A lemony citrus quality introduces itself near the end.

Mouthfeel is great, and so is the drinkability. I really enjoy this beer.

Serving type: bottle

03-10-2009 01:39:28 | More by Beernoisseur

erikm25

Washington

3.43/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: Pours a minimally hazy honey orange coloring. Burnt copper hues but still leaning more on the gold side. The head is off white and pillows up nicely. Strong retention and spotty lacing.

S: Interesting aroma and balances nicely between a sharpened citrus and sweet maltiness. Has some herbs and hints of bitterness. Slight floralness. I would have expected some more pine and strong hops smell but overall it was decent.

T: This is definitely a little different from previous IPA's I have tried. There is a sweetness to the beer while at the same time having a lemon citrus bite. I do not know much about wines (at all) but the initial taste made me think of a dry white wine. Slight fruitiness. I enjoyed this more as it warmed up a bit.

M: Solid medium body and carbonation.

D: While not one of my favorite IPA's it is still a quality offering. I used this in a steamed mussels recipe and it worked out very nicely.

Serving type: bottle

01-10-2009 22:57:24 | More by erikm25

Risser09

Pennsylvania

4.4/5  rDev +21.5%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

12oz bottle poured into a mexican tulip - Fridge temp - 2008

Appearance: Slightly hazy golden orange and yellow color with slow moving carbonation going to the surface. A tall 3" cream head has great retention and plenty of lace. Nice.

Smell: Base malt and a mineral hop aroma. Slight pine and grapefruit. Floral rose finish.

Taste: Lots of pine bitterness that is sort of soapy tasting. It's not a bad flavor though. Sweet initially of honey, flowers, followed by pine, lemon and minerals. Pretty good and original.

Mouthfeel: Bitter. Sweet. A light alcohol burn. Medium body and smooth to swallow. Lingering bitterness.

Drinkability: This is a great beer. The taste takes some getting used to , but is quite nice. I would take this one over many of the mainstream IPAs. Try it!

Serving type: bottle

01-06-2009 13:18:02 | More by Risser09

jackorain

Pennsylvania

3.83/5  rDev +5.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from the 12 ounce bottle into my Stone Levitation stemware.

A-Dingy orange and cloudy topped with a tall off-white head from semi-aggressive pour. Head fell slowly leaving thick patchy lace.

S-After an inital citrusy blast, the caramel and biscuit malt take over the aroma. Smeels quite sweet.

T-Citrus hops, followed by earthy and spicy noble hop aromas. I would love to know the hops in this one. There is a very strong malt backbone in the middle but the beverage than finished quite bitter and this bitterness last a while

M-medium body with a very lively carboantion.

D-Drinkability is good, I would not have a problem downing several of these.

Serving type: bottle

12-16-2008 00:53:54 | More by jackorain

beermanbrian

Pennsylvania

3.13/5  rDev -13.5%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

New beer available at Brass Rail so I picked it up for beer club.

Orange color with a cap of a white head that leaves some patchy lace. Smell is faintly citris with a strong backing of biscuity and caramel malt. Not your typical American IPA, leans more toward the earthy English IPA. Malty flavors open up the taste and it finishes bitter. It hovers somewhere between grapefruit and pine with neither one really taking over. Somewhat oily mouth. Overall very balanced but I think that hurts this beer by never letting it kick into full blown IPA range.

Serving type: bottle

11-19-2008 01:47:17 | More by beermanbrian

gibby

Pennsylvania

2.17/5  rDev -40.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Poured bottle into a nice tulip glass, 1 finger head which quickly disappeared. The beer looked great but it had an odd smell to it. I am a huge IPA fan so I was hoping to smell some massive hops when I cracked the top but it just was not there. The taste was ok, nothing special, little thin on the mouth feel. I was disappointed with this brew b/c I read some good reviews on here. Picked this six pack up at TJ's in paoli, I need to stop by there more often, great selection of bottles and drafts. I will give a plug to the laughing dog devil dog IIPA, great brew. Hopefully some bombers head this way soon.

Serving type: bottle

11-06-2008 02:37:54 | More by gibby

joe1510

Illinois

3.98/5  rDev +9.9%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

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!

Serving type: bottle

09-23-2008 23:05:59 | More by joe1510

NJpadreFan

New Jersey

4.25/5  rDev +17.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Laughing Dog- IPA

On tap at Isaac Newton's- Newtown, PA

A- Deep reddish orange with a huge frothy head. Good solid lacing.
S- Deep oily pine hops, varnish alcohol, and a good thick sugary malt base.
T- Good thick caramel malt starts this 1 off. it quickly opens into a big grapefruit rind/ fresh green pine hops body. Slight alcohol present.
M- Thick and malty up front with sweet bitter hops carrying this one through.

Overall- Man, this was a damn good IPA on tap! The flavors were big and bold! If this is how Idaho rolls then send more to the North East!

Serving type: on-tap

09-16-2008 20:34:41 | More by NJpadreFan

thekevlarkid

Maryland

3.63/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

While passing through Boise I sampled this one with a friend. Off the tap it poured a deep orange color with a pillowy off-white head. Nice clarity in the liquid. Decent retention and sticky lacing. The nose was typical (which is not a bad thing) for the style, citrus hops and floral hops along with toasted malt. The flavors were mostly hops at first, pine, orange peel and some resin with the roasted/toasted malt balance afterwards. The malt is welcome and well defined for an IPA but the hops still made it just a little sour. Medium body and medium carbonation. Nothing revolutionary but a good beer from a place I'd never even heard of (Ponderay?).

Serving type: on-tap

09-09-2008 20:25:27 | More by thekevlarkid

bmxatv

Pennsylvania

4.7/5  rDev +29.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 5

Is it me or does this beer taste likes it's brewed with hemp? Strong smell of hops that I would easily mistake for pot. It smelled like pot, tasted like pot and when I asked my buddy to try it, he got it to his nose and said, "Dude it smells like herb". Highly drinkable, not to dry of a finish and floral with a very nice balance. This might just be my new favorite IPA.

Serving type: on-tap

08-11-2008 18:24:55 | More by bmxatv

tbeck

Washington

3.65/5  rDev +0.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured a dark orangish-red with a medium off white head, nice laciness. Strong aroma of hops, slight sweetness and citruis. Taste was hoppy and bitter, the balance seemed off. Texture was good. Overall this beer was not bad, but not very enjoyable, the hops seemed overpowering with not much other flavor.

Serving type: bottle

08-01-2008 04:08:28 | More by tbeck

Wasatch

Utah

3.55/5  rDev -1.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Thanks goes out to JohnGalt1 for this brew.

Pours a nice clean/clear golden orange color, very nice carbonation, very nice thick creamy two-finger off-white head, lots and lots of nice thick creamy stick lacing left behind. The nose is malty, with some nice hoppyness, some citrus, and caramel. The taste is malty/hoppy, citrus, but on a soury side, and caramel. Medium body. Drinkable, this is a nice IPA, but for the souryness.

Serving type: bottle

06-19-2008 00:17:28 | More by Wasatch

jakon

Oregon

4.22/5  rDev +16.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

12oz bottle purchased for $9.99/6 on 6-8-8 at Whole Foods Portland.

This beer pours an orange/light garnet hue with a nice burnt orange head.

The aroma reminds me of a smaller American barleywine. Specifically, it's reminiscent of Old Ruffian. Pine, marshmallow, caramel, orange peel, lime and grapefruit all shine through.

Wow, the taste is very nice. This is a very balanced, highly drinkable IPA. It really does remind me of a barleywine, only much smaller. Very big on the malts for an IPA. The bitterness is smooth rather than sharp and biting. Very enjoyable.

Carbonation is on the lower side.

Serving type: bottle

06-10-2008 02:43:46 | More by jakon

tayner

Arizona

3.2/5  rDev -11.6%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

12 oz bottle.

Poured a nice light tan color with a huge pillow-y white head that stayed forever and left some serious sticky lacing all the way down. very nice looking

smell was sweet floral, alot of both. very strange nose that made me not really want to try it.

Taste was more floral hop than the nose let on. I prefer pine/earthy hops, and these were definitely more floral/citrus/pithy hops. The midpalate was saturated with sweet malt that made the back of my tongue sticky and the hops were so oily it did not cut the sweetness.

Medium to heavy carbonation is the only thing that allowed me to finish this beer, otherwise i wouldnt have gotten it down. I think i will pass on this one in the future, not my thing.

Serving type: bottle

03-31-2008 20:03:44 | More by tayner