DogZilla Black IPA - Laughing Dog Brewing

brewerang

1.2/5  rDev -64.6%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1

Hands down, this is the worst beer I have ever tasted. I should qualify this statement by admitting that this is my first black IPA and it is possible that I simply don't enjoy the style and/or I had a bad bottle. Regardless, this was a bad experience for me.

This beer is way over-carbonated. I couldn't drink it out of a glass because the enormous head never settled. I had to drink most of it from the bottle. The carbonation hit my mouth like an explosion and was not pleasant. But this wasn't the worst part of the beer. The beer finishes with an awful, medicinal taste that lingers in the mouth. The nauseating taste stayed with me long after I drank the beer. I definitely won't drink this beer again!

Serving type: bottle

08-14-2012 13:11:13 | More by brewerang

superfantastic

Maryland

1.3/5  rDev -61.7%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 2 | overall: 1

I've never had a Black IPA before, and I was anxious to get it in a glass. My excitement, however, dissipated and was replaced by remorse.

A - It looked good enough, a shade or two lighter than your typical stout, with a decent head.

A - Rancid grapefruit, lack of roasted malt aroma I expected

T - Sweet fancy Moses! White wine vinegar followed by pungent citrus. Finished off with fusel alcohol heat.

M - Doesn't matter at this point.

A - This bottle had to be infected. I've read other positive reviews, so this must be an aberration. I will give it another chance and buy a bottle with fingers crossed.

Serving type: bottle

08-03-2010 19:22:44 | More by superfantastic

TheBeerAlmanac

Kentucky

1.3/5  rDev -61.7%
look: 3 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1.5

Bottle poured into a pint glass

A: Pours a cloudy, dark amber color with a spongy head that lays on pretty thick.

S: It smells strange: hops, cinnamon and olives. Yes, olives. Smell it yourself, you’ll believe me then.

T/M: Has a high amount of carbonation with a smoky and salty profile. There are hints of light citrus as well as a bitter finish and…olives. Not the obligatory black olives either, just plain, green olives. I think someone ordered this beer “dirty.”

Is it possible I had a bad bottle? I don’t know, this beer is too weird to be good. If this is the way it’s supposed to taste, I’ll pass next time.

Serving type: bottle

06-21-2011 00:36:35 | More by TheBeerAlmanac

brewbucker

Wisconsin

1.35/5  rDev -60.2%
look: 4 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 2 | overall: 1

Well at least it looked good. Poured black with a large light tan head. Aroma was bad and the taste was even worse. Sour (in a bad way) plastic, mild vomit. I would have not even rated it if I thought this was an isolated case but by looking at some of the other ratings I am sure there is a problem with this beer in general. Down the drain. What a shame.

Serving type: bottle

02-05-2009 02:56:09 | More by brewbucker

meatyard

Pennsylvania

1.35/5  rDev -60.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1

Pours out a clear, dark mahogany with a 2+ finger tan head that slowly falls to a solid cover while leaving large scraps of lacing.
The smell is mostly malt with a very faint hop aroma.

That's where any semblance of drinkable beer ends.

The taste is just awful. I couldn't get it out of my mouth fast enough but it was, at least, fast enough that I didn't have to figure out what it was that I was tasting. I immediately walked downstairs and poured it out. I was afraid that I might spill some on my clothes and ruin them forever. I don't understand how any brewer can bottle this and sell it, don't they ever taste the beer they make. The first time this was reviewed was 8/2/08 so if it has only been brewed the one time then this is 10 months old. I can't think of a better reason why all beer should have the bottling date on it. How could I possibly know that this is 8 months past when I should have bought it, if this is true. I will rate it because I don't know when it was brewed. I would rather drink 10,000 Bud Lights than one of these.

Serving type: bottle

06-19-2009 22:17:39 | More by meatyard

MarshallMan

Kansas

1.35/5  rDev -60.2%
look: 4 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 2 | overall: 1

I'm sure I got a bad bottle of this one and I know I'm not the only one. There was definitely a band-aid thing going on with the bottle I purchased.

Was totally disappointed as I was really looking forward to trying this style.

Hope to find a "clean" bottle in the future so I can do a proper review of the beer and not the infection.

Serving type: bottle

10-26-2010 19:36:57 | More by MarshallMan

breadnerd

Kansas

1.4/5  rDev -58.7%
look: 2 | smell: 1.5 | taste: 1 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 1

To my knowledge, at this time there is still no BJCP guidelines for a "Black IPA". That being said, I have had several examples of the style.
Pour a rich, deep amber, not quite black. Good head retention, some lacing.
Whoa- aroma in this beer is not in it's favor. Diacetyl? Maybe. Something else...
I taste what I smell, and it's not quite right. I get some vegetable flavors, but not corn or overcooked greens. This is more of an overpowering onion/garlic flavor. Not appealing in a beer, at least not to me.
There's some malty sweetness in there, carbonation normal, I just can't get over the flavor of this beer. It's pretty offensive.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2011 21:13:46 | More by breadnerd

loren01

Oregon

1.4/5  rDev -58.7%
look: 1 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 2

A: Pours a brown color into snifter. Huge and I mean wholly crap HUGE head...took me several minutes to let the head disipate so I could drink it, good lacing down the glass.
S: Burnt sugar, slight smoked malt and black malts
T: Astringent and nasty. Tobacco, licorace, herbal hop flavor
M: Way too much carbonation here...I think Ive had the same problem from this brewery before
O: Not impressed, by far the worst black IPA ive ever had...the color is not even black and carbonation is about 10 times what it should be not to mention it tastes bad.

Serving type: bottle

05-25-2011 03:33:59 | More by loren01

dk009

Washington

1.45/5  rDev -57.2%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 3 | overall: 1

I wont go through the details but if you are looking for an IPA do not drink this beer. It may sound novel, but Black IPA is a retarded name for this, its not an IPA whatsoever. No hop flavor in the taste, not even close. Im pissed I paid 4.30 for this. Ridiculous. Look elsewhere fellow hopheads, please.

Serving type: bottle

12-14-2008 05:20:23 | More by dk009

brewdlyhooked13

Ohio

1.48/5  rDev -56.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1

Appearance - back to back gushers, what gives? Started to uncap and saw a rush of foam up the neck. Finished uncapping over the sink. A minor mess, but another overly active bottle tonight. Pours a nice mahogany with two to three fingers of light mocha head. very stiff and slow to fall.

Aroma - a nice start of citrus and some pine, but then an unmistakeable odor of Orval-like funk. If I were a fan of Orval, this would be an exciting development. As it is, I'm a little bummed.

Taste - no malt presence that I can pick up. A brief hint of citrus, then the overwhelming flood of bitter, sour, acrid, pungent infection. Full on, actually it's maybe the worst infection I've ever tasted. Wow it's really bad. Last night's brew I ended up drinking about half of that one, but here I'm cringing at the second sip.

Mouthfeel - medium-plus on the body. Very gassy of course. This is the only time I can recall taking a mouthfull to get the feel, then spitting it back, wine style. No real problems other than some runaway carbonation.

Drinkability - I just want to be done with this one, a rare statement for me and a beer, even an infected one. I can try it again, but I don't recall ths being that old sample. I'll track it down once more for posterity and see if I can get a good sample in order to fix up these scores.

Serving type: bottle

02-01-2012 03:36:16 | More by brewdlyhooked13

nandemo1

Virginia

1.6/5  rDev -52.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1.5

First of all, this is my first BIPA tasting. Take it for what it's worth since I'm not real familiar with the style.

This beer was massively overcarbonated. Took the bomber from the fridge and set it on counter for a couple of minutes while doing something else. Opened bottle and it was a gusher.

Took a while to get a decent amount of beer in glass, obviously a lot of head. Looked ok once head settled, a deep dark brown.

Smell had a medium citrus note compared to other IPAs. This did not translate to taste though, there was some initial pine taste but then the bitterness overpowered everything else and made it unpleasant to drink.

The mouthful was very thin and very dry.

I gave Dogzilla a shot, but I'm pouring out the other half bottle and passing the next time I'm offered it.

Serving type: bottle

06-29-2011 00:54:07 | More by nandemo1

babbules

Connecticut

1.68/5  rDev -50.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

22 oz. bottle to a pint glass. I was really excited to try this one because of the spiffy name and awesome artwork. Honestly, I should've just taken a picture of the bottle, because it was all downhill once I opened it. First of all, the head was HUGE! It would almost be more appropriate to measure it in hands instead of fingers. The color was almost jet black and the smell was floral and hoppy, but smelled oddly dank (for lack of a better term). The taste was NOT GOOD. Burnt, but not roasty like you expect from dark malts, and although it smelled floral, it tasted really bitter (not floral) and finished even worse. Also, it was too dry and reminded me of a really cheap cabernet. Stay away, there are better BIPAs out there.

Serving type: bottle

08-26-2012 22:51:06 | More by babbules

TenTwentyThree

Missouri

1.78/5  rDev -47.5%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5

Smells of slightly floral hops and old lady bad perfume. Great head and nice lacing. Weird bitterness and taste of perfume with bad after taste. Not impressed wont buy again or recommend to anyone. Worst black Ipa I've had. The only thing good about this beer is the head not even black.

Serving type: bottle

01-01-2011 03:39:18 | More by TenTwentyThree

chocosushi

Oklahoma

1.8/5  rDev -46.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1 | overall: 1.5

Remember having this around Christmas as my first CDA/ABA
Let's Revisit...

A ~ Looks like Dr. Pepper/RC Cola. Soft lacing with quite the cap of head. Uh-oh...

S ~ Juiced lemons and old grapefruit. Doesn't smell horrid but where is the "dark malt twist?"

T ~ Lots of dirty citrus, canned pineapple juice, and a weird flavor that reminds me of a yellow dandelion flower. The only malt flavors I'm getting is on the back of the throat/palette that makes me think of Marble-Rye. Yuck/What the fuck???

M ~ No balance of flavors whatsoever, and STILL no dark malt, other than on the breath. Thin as a 3.2 MGD 64.

D ~ This does not taste right! It's just bad really. It's slick, gritty, acidic, and really horrible. Maybe it's "infected" with all the talk of LD sucking lately. AVOID.

Serving type: bottle

07-10-2011 22:21:00 | More by chocosushi

jmurray999

Pennsylvania

1.85/5  rDev -45.4%
look: 2 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1

A: poured dark reddish brown, nice head, mild lacing into an old leghumper pint glass. Resembled the color of a bowel movement my dog once had after getting a hold of the pot roast dinner. (minus the head of course).

S: black licorice, hint of molasses, very lightly smoky malt

T: sweet black licorice which sat out in the sun for too long, not too much hop presence.

D: varied between hell no and I think not

M: light - mild

Serving type: bottle

06-07-2009 23:55:38 | More by jmurray999

jrsone

North Carolina

1.93/5  rDev -43.1%
look: 2 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 2

How can this be a BIPA? It's brown. Only slightly more color than say a Scotch Ale.
Way too sweet. It's like if I brewed a citrus-flavored tea with FunDip candy thrown into the steep. Maybe they used too much dark Crystal Malt and then fermented it hot for esters.
Hardly any mouthfeel.
I picked this up b/c it was a good price and I've enjoyed other BIPAs up to this point.
Next time I'll spend $2 more and get Sublimely Self-Righteous and feel sublimely self-righteous for picking a better BIPA.

P.S. Just for benefit of the doubt, I'll accept that I may have gotten an infected bottle.

P.P.S. I still won't ever drink this beer again.

Serving type: bottle

04-15-2011 20:36:18 | More by jrsone

brandonlovesbeer

1.95/5  rDev -42.5%
look: 5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 1.5

Two thumps way down on this. Way to astringent. It could possibly have been a bad batch. I don’t know. But I don’t plan to give them another chance. And if this is any indication of how the rest of their beers are, then I don’t plan to try any of their other beers anytime soon.

$5.00 for a 22oz bomber.

Look:
It had a large khaki colored head, even with a light careful pour, a light 2 inch head formed. It stuck around and was almost the consistency of a meringue. The beer is black as night.

Aroma:
There’s not much in the way of a hop aroma, there’s just an astringent smell from the dark malts. It smells like a lot of tannin extraction happened during the brewing process.

Taste: The tannin extraction came through in the taste as a really strong astringency. There’s a pronounced bitterness that lingers after each sip. This is more of an astringent dark malt bitterness, than a hop bitterness. There’s a light hoppy taste It’s almost an accidental afterthought rather than intentional hop addition though. But either way, there’s no specific hop flavors or aromas to speak of, just a generic light hoppiness.

Mouthfeel:
The one redeeming quality of the beer (other than the appearance) was the mouthfeel. It was very creamy.

Is it Worth the Money?"
This is a 22oz bottle of beer and I paid $4.99 plus tax. Honestly, to put it into perspective, my local brew pub brews a beer nearly identical, in flavor and color to this. I was able to fill a half gallon grower for $9.00. About 2 years ago, I brewed a beer that taste nearly identical to this. That only cost $10 in ingredients to brew a 5 gallon batch.

So I ask again. Is It Worth The Money? "NO"

Verdict: "C"
When I bought this bottle, I thought it was going to be this massively hopped, dark IPA, which is one my favorite styles of beer. Unfortunately it turned out to be a rather difficult beer to drink.

There was just way to much astringency. And the fact that it’s supposed to be an IPA, really left me disappointed, as there was almost zero hop character in this beer.

It has this flavor that usually comes during home brewing, when you steep your dark grains to hot... Actually a better descriptor would be... take your dark grains, throw them into a pot, add some water, then boil the heck our of them for abut 15 minutes. Strain the grain, add the liquid to the brew pot. There’s no sugar extraction. It’s just boiled dark grains. That’s the flavor that I’m getting from this beer. To top the whole thing off, the lack of hop... well... anything was a big disappointment considering that it was supposed to be an IPA

It’s got some flavors but most of them are undesirable flavors. If you want to try it, then try it, but it probably won’t be a beer that you try twice.

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2013 04:27:13 | More by brandonlovesbeer

PDXHops

South Carolina

2.08/5  rDev -38.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Bomber poured into a tulip. Dark reddish brown with a decently resilient tan head and scattered lacing.

Kind of an odd nose here. The roasted malt is subdued, and the dominant aromas are rather sweet grape and berry fruitiness. Some pine may or may not be lingering in the background.

Flavor is similarly puzzling. It's sweet and boozy, and the leafy/herbal hop profile just doesn't seem to fit. Not nearly roasty enough for the CDA style. Some major tweaks are needed here. I've had some nice brews from Laughing Dog, but I can't recommend this one.

Serving type: bottle

08-06-2011 14:51:22 | More by PDXHops

blackc5

Washington

2.15/5  rDev -36.6%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1.5

Poured from a bomber into a pint glass at 48F. Purchased at Belmont Station in PDX.

A - Excellent frothy head on an aggressive pour - at least 3 fingers of mocha colored foam. Great lacing as well. Overall color is a quite dark ruby-tinted brown. Looks good.

S - Very hop forward nose. Lots of earth and pine, some burnt sugar and roasted malts. Something else odd in the aroma that I can't quite identify as well... hmm.

T - Not sure if this is a good bottle. Taste is dominated by astringent bitterness. Hard to label the hop flavors individually, surprising given the nose. Some odd buttery quality as well - infected? Hmm. Might be a drain pour. Reading some other reviews, perhaps this is an intentional characteristic of the beer(?) - if so, it does not work for me...

M - Relatively smooth, all things considered. Medium-bodied, slightly above moderate carbonation.

D - Given the lacking flavor profile, I will grade this low. May edit this review if I try again and it turns out better...

As I try to drink some more, I realize I've only had a few ounces and can't fathom even pouring the rest from the bottle.Yeah, this is a drain pour.

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2010 05:26:43 | More by blackc5

kwjd

Ontario (Canada)

2.17/5  rDev -36%
look: 3.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Pours a light brown colour with off-white head. The head dissipates quickly with little-to-no lacing. This bottle must be infected, but it was recently purchased I was told. It had almost a smell/flavour of a bad white wine, mostly sour grapes. Not getting roasted malt or a hop bite that I'd expect from a black IPA.

Serving type: bottle

07-12-2010 19:56:52 | More by kwjd

nitro0292

New York

2.18/5  rDev -35.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2

I will admit that I am a fan of the style and was hoping this was good.

Appearance - Best part of the brew. Just about black color with plenty of head that receded fairly quickly given its size. Left picturesque lacing down the glass.

Aroma - Weak...faint smell of roasty malts and hops. Yeasty funkyness I would expect from a Belgian. Not quite Brettanomyces levels, but an aroma I am very sensitive to, as I find it very off putting.

Taste - No real flavor...some bitterness, pepper and earthy notes from the hops. No malt presence. Luckily only a little of that funky character...maybe that is just the smell getting closer to my nose.

Mouthfeel - Quite thin. This is not a light beer or a particularly light style. Thin feel is a bit puzzling.

Overall - Not very good. I drain poured this one, its not worth the calories.

Serving type: bottle

02-25-2012 03:52:20 | More by nitro0292

GalaxyCruiser99

Minnesota

2.19/5  rDev -35.4%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Bought this at my local craft beer store.

A: Looked great...and was at a great price of 3.99. Was a cloudy amber color with a thick head.

S: Smelled of a sour home brew and extremely bitter.

T: Drinkable but would not buy again, tasted bitter with slight citrus notes more malty than hoppy. Tasted like my first failed home brew...strange.

M: Very little carbonation in the bottle I bought, which tasted off, but might explain the cheap sale price I paid. My bottle was from 5/11/12.

O: I've had other Laughing Dog beers I loved but this black IPA tasted strange and off. I would try again only if bottled fresh or from a tap.

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2013 02:36:28 | More by GalaxyCruiser99

akorsak

Pennsylvania

2.28/5  rDev -32.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Bottle 3 of the almost frozen 7. The slushiness is gone.

A: The black IPA is appropriately named, showing off a dark red color that is black from afar. A small head doesn't lace.

S: The nose is a blend of coffee and caramel malts, particularly caramel with a syrupy sweetness. The sweetness of the malts overwhelms the citrus hop component.

T: The syrupy sweetness mixes a dull listless hop bitterness. The result is a odd. The hops have a fresh green element, maybe even a touch vegetal. Coffee flavors appear as well, but quickly run into the wall of bitterness. An interesting premise that doesn't gel.

M: The mouthfeel is unpleasant. Syrups malts remind me of extract and the hops are just plain bitter with no depth. I was really anxious to try this one...

D: ...but I can't bring myself to finish it. Just shy of a drain pour.

Serving type: bottle

01-31-2009 23:13:22 | More by akorsak

SteveGNC

North Carolina

2.28/5  rDev -32.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Pours very dark - nice color, good lingering head with nice lacing. Unfortunately, that's the best this beer has to offer. Taste is thin and bitter with some sour notes as well. There is a definite hoppy taste, but not enough malt to offset the bitterness. Not my cup of tea and I would not purchase again.

Serving type: bottle

02-04-2011 23:00:27 | More by SteveGNC

barter

Arizona

2.39/5  rDev -29.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.25 | feel: 2.25 | overall: 2.5

Got a bomber on reccomendation of the sales guy at TotalWine.

-Poured in to a borrowed Dragoon Brewery pint glass. Bottle inexplicably foamed over when opened so that my first few swallows were from the bottle to avoid waste, the pour was also very sudsy and despite my best efforts the glass still half head.

-Tastes? Think its easier to say what it is not. It is not hoppy or roast malty or delicious. Don't get me wrong it is entirely drinkable, just not what I look for in a Black IPA.

-Finishing taste is almost like sarasparilla, that with the carbonation adding to the rootbeer experience.

Serving type: bottle

01-25-2013 01:25:43 | More by barter