Laughing Dog Huckleberry Cream Ale - Laughing Dog Brewing

leaddog

Alberta (Canada)

3.78/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Appearance- Pours an amber gold with a half finger of bubbly white head.

Smell- huckleberries, wheat, lemon. It has sweet aromas overall.

Taste- Hit right away with pleasant tart huckleberries and then the wheat comes in to help balance this brew out. There is a slight grassiness at the end.

Mouthfeel- Medium bodied with moderate carbonation.

Overall- Laughing Dog really delivers on the natural huckleberry flavour without making this brew too fruity. This beer could use a little more creaminess to the body to be more reminiscent of a cream ale. Otherwise, a good session beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-16-2013 03:53:32 | More by leaddog

wrightst

Maryland

3.8/5  rDev +13.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

Huckleberry cream pours a nice medium amber, with a cooperative head. The right pour will give you anything from no head to a full white foam. But you don't drink the appearance.

The nose has a distinctive, impossible to miss, fruity character. I don't know from huckleberry, but I suppose this has to be the fruit in question. Something like a blackberry, but not quite.

Once the beer hits your tongue, the fruit flavors become assistants, and not the lead. The beer has all of the good traits of a cream ale, full flavor, full feel, mild hop and distinct barley. This is a beer. The fruit is there, and the sharper your palette, the more obvious it will be - probably even distracting to sharp paletted non-fruit beer people. But I liked it quite a bit. It is not overly sweet. An example of experimentation gone right.

The fruit characters re-emerge in the finish, lingering longer than the barley.

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2013 13:01:06 | More by wrightst

chinchill

South Carolina

3.79/5  rDev +13.5%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Very fresh (March 2013 bottling) 12 oz bottle with a trace of sediment in the bottom. pours a red-orange-amber; clear; small head that soon reduces to a tiny bit of film and a partial ring.

S: Nice fruity smell; natural huckleberry is believable. Sweet but more fruity than like candy. Light baked bread in the background.

Taste: Huckleberries!! Taste rating bumped up for the high quality fruit treatment here. Also features a bready malt base and a touch of hops. .

M: nice smooth feel in this medium bodied ale. Well chosen, moderate level of carbonation.

O: I had this as a light dessert beer and it worked well. Refreshing, with a pleasant, natural fruitiness. Moderately sweet but not cloying or candied.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2013 23:37:01 | More by chinchill

flagmantho

Washington

3.35/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.25

Poured from 12oz bottle into a pint glass.

Appearance: medium golden hue with a haze-free body and a moderate effervescence. head is a thin layer of creamy white foam. It's a bit clean and light for a beer which supposedly contains real huckleberries, I must say. Not bad for a cream ale, though.

Smell: definitely huckleberry, with a light sweetness from the malt underneath. Not bad if you like huckleberries or blueberries in beer, but in general it's not very balanced.

Taste: bready and biscuity malt right up front, with the huckleberry coming in on its heels. Acidity seems a little high, with the finish a bit rough and astringent. Could be much better balanced.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a big carbonation and surprisingly satisfying creaminess. Definitely the best characteristic of this brew. Clearly, the underlying cream ale isn't half bad; it just doesn't seem to go well with the huckleberries.

Overall: a drinkable fruit beer, but not a particularly balanced one. I have a hard time deciding if the huckleberries taste natural; from what I know of Laughing Dog I'm sure they are, but the whole thing just doesn't come together well. I'm sure, though, this beer would be tasty on a hot day at the lake.

Serving type: bottle

03-22-2013 19:59:01 | More by flagmantho

cswhitehorse

Oregon

3.45/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

The Huckleberry Cream Ale poured into the English pint glass with a straw color and half finger foam head. Not much in the way of lacing for this lawnmower beer.

It was aromatic right away with the Huckleberries coming in the nostrils. The was a slight grain smell to the cream ale. The taste was sweet of the huckleberries which lingered on the tongue and roof the mouth. Overall it was a nice beer for a hot summer day but not one that I would consume on a frequent basis.

Serving type: bottle

03-09-2013 23:46:53 | More by cswhitehorse

cyclonece09

Maryland

3.65/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a 14 oz "pint" glass. Pours a nice semi-translucent straw with lots of visible carbonation with a very nice white head that leaves very nice lacing. The huckleberry really dominates the smell profile, but there is a slight grain profile. Tastes real fruity but with a good grain backbone. It is very sweet and balanced. Beer is carbonated just right and for its light body goes down real smooth. Overall, a very good beer.

Serving type: bottle

01-26-2013 05:14:13 | More by cyclonece09

Scotchboy

Idaho

3.4/5  rDev +1.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle split into 8oz tasters. Thanks Austin -

A: Pours pale gold with chill haze an a quickly receding off-white head.

S: Slightly skunky ale aromas, honestly...lightly toasted grains, fruit and berries...fresh tartness, huckleberry syrup on pancakes.

T: Moderate huckleberry here, more middle of the mouth than right at the beginning, light berry notes of huckleberry and blackberry on the finish. Hints of honey. Its mostly a run-of-the-mill ale with some fruit flavors. The sweetness is light-to-moderate.

MF: Higher carbonation with a lighter body and a bit of tart sweetness.

O: Not great, barely above average for craft beer in my opinion. A beer that will hit the spot on some occasions for certain people, definitely, but nothing special.

Serving type: bottle

10-23-2012 15:05:06 | More by Scotchboy

beertunes

Washington

3.83/5  rDev +14.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured into 10oz goblet. Poured a cloudy yellow color with just a thin ring of white head that had OK retention and no lacing.

A sweet, berry scent dominated the front of the nose, but upon a deeper sniff the solid base grains showed through to provide a good platform. The taste was very good, a solid base brew that was nicely complemented by the the slightly sweet, slightly tangy berries. The beer had a nice earthy presence.

The body was the typical medium-full of the style, with a pleasant smoothness and a surprisingly dry finish, given the sweetness of the berries. Drinkability was very good, I could easily drink these all day long during the warm weather. Overall, a very good brew. A must try if you see it and probably worth some effort to try if you like these types of brews.

Serving type: bottle

10-08-2012 22:00:23 | More by beertunes

mralphabet

Virginia

3.35/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

12 oz bottle poured into a pint glass.

A: Poured a clear straw yellow color with a big head that settles to a ring with tons of lacing from start to finish.

S: The huckleberries come on very strong, nice mix of sweet and tart with a touch toasted muffin floating around.

T: Pretty sweet from start to finish.... The huckleberries are very syrupy.... There is a light cream ale floating underneath the whole huckleberry thing. Finish is very clean with just a touch of fruit in the aftertaste.

M: Light bodied with lots of carbonation.

D: Not bad... It is fruity but not overly fruity, the cream ale is in play but just underneath everything else. Good summer beer to try.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2012 02:03:45 | More by mralphabet

ChainGangGuy

Georgia

3.43/5  rDev +2.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 ounce bottle - $1.99 at Total Wine & More in Kennesaw, Georgia.

Appearance: Pours out a lightly hazed, light yellow body with tons of carbonation spewing forth a tall, airy head fed by continued streams of effervescence.

Smell: Tart, tangy fruitiness overtop mild base malts (with some sweetish hints about it) and even milder hops.

Taste: Mild maltiness (just barely bready) given a liberal dusting of powdered sugar for a fair degree of sweetness. It's fruity and lightly tart, as one might imagine, with a flavor reminiscent of blueberries but a bit different and more distinctive. Mild hop character and bitterness. Berryish, sweet finish with a lingering hint of blue-colored cotton candy.

Mouthfeel: Medium-thin body. Medium-high, fizzy carbonation for a lively mouthfeel.

Overall: It's alright for a fruit beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-12-2012 23:20:46 | More by ChainGangGuy

superspak

Michigan

3.78/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 ounce bottle into pint glass, bottled 6/5/2012. Pours lightly hazy golden amber color with a fairly dense 1-2 finger white head with good retention, that reduces to a small cap that lingers. Good spotty lacing clings down the glass. Aromas of big tart huckleberries, berry skin, bread, straw, earth, and light herbal spiciness. Very nice aromas with big fruitiness that smells very pleasant, and quite balanced. Taste of biscuit, huckleberry, toast, herbal, earth, grassiness, and light spiciness. Slight fruity tartness on the finish; with lingering notes of huckleberry, grass, herbal, biscuit, and earthy spices on the finish for a short bit. Quite dry on the finish as expected. Taste has good flavor balance; but is a bit weak and there is not as much berry flavors as the aromas suggested. Very authentic tasting fruit flavor; no cloying sweetness. Medium carbonation and body; with a lightly creamy and very crisp mouthfeel that is nice. Alcohol is well hidden with pretty much no warming noticed after the finish. Overall this is a very good cream ale. Good amount of flavor and balance; very refreshing and smooth to drink.

Serving type: bottle

08-10-2012 04:07:33 | More by superspak

kojevergas

California

2.95/5  rDev -11.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

12 fl oz brown glass bottle with standard pressure cap served into a nonical Guinness pint glass in me gaff in low altitude Los Angeles, California. Reviewed live. Expectations are above average. Bottled 03/27/2012.

Served straight from the refrigerator. Side-poured with standard vigor as no carbonation issues are anticipated.

A: Pours a 1.5 finger beige colour head of fair cream and thickness, and good retention. Colour is a semitransparent pale copper-yellow. No yeast particles are visible. No bubble show.

Sm: Sour yeast/bacteria, berry, cream, and clean malts. An intriguing aroma for a cream ale. Fairly strong. I'm excited to try it.

T: Yeasty, with candy/sweets notes throughout. Berry certainly comes through. I'm reminded of a Halloween candy I can't quite remember. Nicely tart. Clean malts lend it body and provide the backbone. It isn't quite as creamy as say, Kilkenny, but it does alright for itself. Imbalanced. Not real complex or subtle, but it does experiment with the style - which I like. I just don't know that I find the flavour appealing. The tart finish is lovely.

Mf: Smooth and wet. A bit too thin and lacking sufficient body. Not as creamy as it needs to be. A touch overcarbonated. Perhaps a bit watery as well.

Dr: It's drinkable, but the taste isn't particularly great. It might be a niche appeal, so try it - just don't expect much. Decently priced for what it is, I guess.

C

Serving type: bottle

07-27-2012 01:14:06 | More by kojevergas

nick76

Florida

2.95/5  rDev -11.7%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3.5

The appearance is golden with a nice foamy head and a super light haze. The aroma is dirty with fruit, dust, mop water, grass and yeast. The taste is like the aroma. The palate is thin. Overall it's not great but an interesting beer to try once but not great beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2012 19:33:20 | More by nick76

shand

Florida

3.65/5  rDev +9.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 12oz bottle into a Sam Adams perfect pint.

This beer is a slightly hazy light golden color with a finger of head. The aroma is very fruity with what I'm assuming is huckleberry (I've never actually had huckleberry). It's sweet and slightly tart. The taste is just as expected, it's very sweet and fruity at first, then finishes with a bit of tartness. The initial sweetness might be a bit overbearing, and I think a little too much of the base cream ale might be contributing to that. Otherwise, it's a solid fruit beer. The mouthfeel is light and crisp, and the drinkability is good.

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2012 21:41:30 | More by shand

Cyberkedi

Georgia

3.3/5  rDev -1.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Malty aroma has a strong, sweet overtone of - must be huckleberry. It pours a rather typical clear yellow with a fluffy white head, not inspiring, but one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Better a good-tasting beer that doesn’t look so hot, than a great-looking beer that disappoints the taste buds. Flavor is malty and fruity, again with a sweet and slightly tangy huckleberry flavor dominating. The tartness nicely balances the sweetness. I get a hint of hops as well. Texture has average body and plenty of fizz. A distinctive beer, worth trying if you like something different and especially if you like fruit beers.

Serving type: bottle

05-25-2012 01:31:06 | More by Cyberkedi

Halcyondays

California

3.48/5  rDev +4.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

12 oz. bottle, cute label quite 90's Northwest,

A: Pours a clear gold with a small white head, very minor lace. Nice head retention.

S: Very fruity, jammy dominated by the huckleberries, pleasant and much more pungent than I expected.

T: Huckleberry flavour especially on the back end. Light sourdough bready malt. That's it. Not a particulary robust or even fruity flavour, the base beer is quite light, but I guess that's to be expected from a cream ale.

M: Light-bodied, with a crisp carbonation. Maybe a light too biting. Fairly clean finish.

O: Definitely a unique idea, but nothing to separate it in the end from a lot of the mediocre fruit beers out there.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2012 01:42:13 | More by Halcyondays

avalon07

South Carolina

3.63/5  rDev +8.7%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A: Poured from a bottle to a pint glass. Had a golden yellow color and a clear consistency. There was an inch of foamy head that quickly dissipated. Not much lacing.

S: A big, fruity aroma - incredibly sweet-smelling - with traces of malt.

T: Tasted mainly of the advertised huckleberries, with some malt and cream in the finish. As it happens with some fruit beers, the flavor doesn't quite live up the expectation provided by the aroma. Still, a decent enough taste.

M: A good amount of carbonation with a crisp finish. Light-bodied.

O: This beer is uneven in spots, but is still enjoyable. A drinkable brew.

Serving type: bottle

05-07-2012 12:06:13 | More by avalon07

Proteus93

Virginia

3.5/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

A: A pleasant harvest-gold hue... nice, crisp, and clear. A stark, white, and fizzy half-finger of head tops it off, holds on for a little while, adn then recedes away to just a thin collar of lace.

S, T, M, D: It certainly smells fruity, though I almost detect a scent more like raspberry. Not being all that familiar with huckleberries, this is most likely just my ignorance. The flavor profile is much the same... a fruity, sweet brew. It's quite smooth and easy to drink, and perhaps not spectacular, but certainly enjoyable. There's no stickiness and the balance is quite nice. I might find the flavor a touch sweet, but it's forgivable. I could see myself picking up a couple of these for the first weeks of summer, as long as they are around.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2012 23:45:19 | More by Proteus93

Immortale25

Florida

3.38/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25

Poured into a Green Flash cask-style glass. Label says 3/21/12 meaning when it was bottled I'm sure.

A- Pours a light amber color with a 1/4 inch head that soon flitters away to a thin ring around the edge of the glass and a small patch of surface foam. Decent lacing.

S- Fruity aroma reminiscent of raspberry, blueberry and huckleberry respectively. There's something off about it though, as there seems to be an abundance of sulfur.

T- The huckleberry maintains its presence without becoming extreme. Grainy malt and minimal hop bitterness. Sulfur isn't as much of a problem as in the aroma.

M- Not creamy as the label implies, just standard. Medium carbonation with a light-ish body.

O- OK for what it is: a sessionable, fruity cream ale. Not bad, just not very exciting.

Serving type: bottle

05-05-2012 00:19:21 | More by Immortale25

biboergosum

Alberta (Canada)

3.38/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

12oz bottle, from a recent trek through southern Idaho. Hottest day so far this summer, so it's fruit beer time!

This beer pours a clear medium golden hue, with one finger of creamy, foamy white head, which leaves but a few specks of lace around the glass as it evenly settles. There seems to be a fair bit of very small particulate suspension as well. It smells of donut-topping sweet huckleberry fruit, and creamy malt - very reminiscent of the huckleberry ice cream I had somewhere on that trip. The taste is mild pale malt, and some strange tart citrus/huckleberry fruitiness, that devolves into a more green vegetal fruit essence, joining with the earthy hops to dry this sucker right out. The carbonation is average, the body medium-light in weight, a little edgier than desirable for true smoothness, but decent enough in that respect. It finishes off-dry, barely, the weak malt overrun by that under ripe fruitiness.

I had a bunch of this in a previous lifetime in Sandpoint - wasn't wowed then, and am not wowed now. Interesting enough to try, but nothing I'd want to continue putting back on that patio I'm dying to get to today...

Serving type: bottle

08-14-2011 01:03:44 | More by biboergosum

bum732

Maryland

3.78/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

S: Huckleberry, some wheat tartness, quite fruity.

L: Crystal clear golden yellow, white head that dissipates to a dusting.

T: Fruity huckleberry with some creaminess. Some graininess with a mild bitterness. Finishes quite dry with berry element.

M: Medium light mouthfeel, medium carbonation.

Not bad, better than expected, then again, i love huckleberries. Needs a bit more carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

07-19-2011 02:33:08 | More by bum732

alexhahn82

California

3.85/5  rDev +15.3%
look: 3 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

A -- a very slight and mild reddish tone to the color, less than .25 finger head, no "real" lacing if you will.

S -- wow, smells like a candy store (minus any chocolate candy). Sugary almost Fruity Pebbles like smell and or Apple Jack like scent, pleasant yet somewhat intimidating smell (aka WTF can this taste like?)

T/M - Tastes a litte "Soapy" I know that's a weird description but that is how Huckleberry's normally taste to me. Almost like real purple kush. Soapy bitterness and or tongue coating residual textures. Taste is about 10% of the intensity of the smell of the beer.

O - Unknown ABV, I would figuire within the high side of 4% to slightly below 6%. Not too shabby, SPOT on Huckleberry flavor, not so much a cream texture. These guys don't skimp and add Blueberry fillers, this is a legit product!

PP (Price Point) - $1.79 for a 12oz beer, unknown ABV, is an extremely fair deal to me, and if you LOVE Huckleberry's this is the most legitimately tasting Huckleberry product I have ever had (not just beer's, but syrups, flavoring and any other Huckleberry product I have ever had).

Serving type: bottle

07-17-2011 05:36:50 | More by alexhahn82

chumba526

Oregon

3.98/5  rDev +19.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

Appears golden color with a small white head.

It smells tart, slightly berry like, a little earthy and slightly sweet.

It tastes slightly acidic and tart. There is a nice natural earthy berry flavor. There is an ever so mild sweetness from the berry. There is a mild bitterness that helps balance all the flavors together.

The carbonation is moderate high.

The drinkability is quite good. It is light and it goes down easy. There is tartness but the tartness is so mild that the beer goes down quite smooth.

Overall a decent huckleberry ale that is much better than other huckleberry beers I have had.

Serving type: bottle

09-30-2010 02:04:27 | More by chumba526

Zymurgo

Idaho

3.5/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 2.5

A - Great clarity in a gold to copper color. Nice carbonation action in the beer, but a thin head that does not seem to want to stick to the glass.

S - The huckleberry comes through with a fierceness. Slightly earthy undertones of straw and current are muted, but apparent.

T - The beer begins as a slightly fruity, but not overpowering blond with the earthy tone holding the forefront. The huckleberry really comes out in the finish and lingers for some time.

M - I actually expected a somewhat thinner beer than it ended up being. The "cream" in the name came through leaving a rich velvety texture.

D - A great beer to try, but a bit too sweet and fruity to have too many. By the time the glass was getting empty, I was ready for something a little more crisp.

Overall - This is a good fruit beer. I appreciated how it began as beer but finished with the huckleberry at the end. That said, it was still a little to pronounced for my liking. I could gravitate to other fruit styles before going for this one.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2010 21:20:09 | More by Zymurgo

BigBry

Alberta (Canada)

3.55/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

The Laughing Dog Cream Ale with local huckleberries added.
Poured a hazy, yellow color. Off white foam quickly faded away leaving minimal lace.
Smell had lots of sweet berry and fruit. If it is a fruit beer, I want to smell the fruit - and this delivered. Sweet to start, fruit flavor comes through sweet berries and some citris tartness. Light body, lots of carbonation keep it from being to sticky or cloyingly sweet.
A cream ale with fruit added - it is what it is.

Serving type: on-tap

06-05-2010 22:52:44 | More by BigBry