Laughing Dog Rocket Dog Rye IPA - Laughing Dog Brewing

DavidST

Texas

3.93/5  rDev +6.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a 22oz bottle into a pint glass, date of 5/25/12 on the side (bottled on??). This pours a slightly hazy yellow color with a massive (overly so) off white head which lasts for a while and leaves a lacing. The smells are a little sweet, some spicy rye, some floral hops. The feel is medium. The taste is good enough, a spicy amount of rye some bitter hops and a little malts.

Serving type: bottle

10-19-2012 01:13:44 | More by DavidST

grubefresh

Arizona

3.75/5  rDev +1.9%

05-18-2013 17:58:34 | More by grubefresh

bigunit

Georgia

1.5/5  rDev -59.2%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 1 | feel: 2 | overall: 1.5

Took a gamble on this one when I saw it at the local shop....and the gamble didn't pay off. Not a great nose to begin with, and the flavor is not appetizing to say the least. I've tried quite a few Rye IPAs this year, and this one is hands down the worst of the bunch. It has some similar characteristics of a belgian IPA (I'm guessing a belgian yeast is used) so if that's your thing, perhaps you'll like it. Unfortunately, the bottle only advertises the hop and malt bill. Sorry, but can't recommend this one.

Serving type: bottle

05-08-2013 01:29:34 | More by bigunit

dokupe

Maryland

3.5/5  rDev -4.9%

04-19-2013 19:27:11 | More by dokupe

drinkAK

Texas

4.25/5  rDev +15.5%

04-18-2013 22:12:58 | More by drinkAK

CharDoza

Maryland

4.5/5  rDev +22.3%

04-10-2013 19:56:35 | More by CharDoza

LJC3

California

4.25/5  rDev +15.5%

04-01-2013 21:42:21 | More by LJC3

acjones

Japan

4/5  rDev +8.7%

03-25-2013 03:24:06 | More by acjones

2dogbrew

Virginia

3.5/5  rDev -4.9%

03-21-2013 21:58:10 | More by 2dogbrew

estlinska

Arkansas

2.64/5  rDev -28.3%
look: 3 | smell: 2.25 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Served from a bomber from Springhill Wines into a standard shaker (best by date of 5/12/13) on 3/20/13. First of all the beer foamed over like a coke bottle full of mentos, so maybe this is not a good batch. I said this about their Sneaky Pete offering as well, so maybe it's just a matter of poor bottling; I dunno. Anyway, after the foam subsided, the beer poured a fairly nice cloudy orange with a generous amount of haze. The head was cloudy and rocky white with good lacing overall. The nose, however, was very underwhelming. For an IPA, the nose was very quiet. There were some citrus notes of hops around, but it was almost belgian smelling. It was hard to place. There was also some rye spice to the nose, but the off-belgian smell was just flat in your nose like overfermented fruit juice. The taste was still a lot like a fermented fruit and very belgian-like. The hops were more present with some good bittering overall, but the flavor just didn't sit great. The rye spice was even more evident, which I think gave it the only endearing quality of the beer. Mouthfeel had good smooth body and good carbonation. Maybe I am just 2/2 unlucky with Laughing Dog, but I can't say that I'll be rushing to try more of their beers any time soon. I'll eventually try it again, just to see if I got bad batches, but I am just not impressed.

Serving type: bottle

03-21-2013 01:41:32 | More by estlinska

OwenFromChipTown

Wisconsin

1.1/5  rDev -70.1%
look: 3 | smell: 1 | taste: 1 | feel: 1 | overall: 1

Rocket Dog is by far the worst beer I have ever had.

Laughing Dog should be ashamed of them-selves for putting this product on the market. It is absolutely disgusting and disrespectful to consumers who are unfortunate enough to be dooped into trying it.

Rocket Dog SMELLS LIKE SOMEONE TOOK A DUMP IN A URINAL. I wish that was an over exaggeration, but it is not. It tasted just as fool as it smelled. In fact, I still question if what I tried was actually beer or if some disgruntled brewery worker filtered urine threw feces and put it in a bomber.

Serving type: bottle

03-18-2013 18:02:18 | More by OwenFromChipTown

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

4.06/5  rDev +10.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.25

Laughing Dog "ROCKETDOG RYE I.P.A."
22 oz. bottle, no apparent freshness dating

Rocket Dog pours a hazy golden body with an orange cast beneath a creamy head of bright white foam. The head retention is better than average, and it initially leaves short "mountains" of lace that rise from the surface and then stick along the inside of the glass.

The aroma displays rye malt spiciness, but surprisingly little hop given its India pale ale designation. It's lightly bready with a light waft of citrus-resin hops, and it's clean. It's welcoming, but not exactly exciting. Let's step inside...

The flavor displays more hop character then the aroma suggests, but it's just one component in a fairly rounded mix. The rye characteristic is pleasant in that it's not overdone, and there's just enough to give it some delicate spiciness and let you know that it's a rye beer. The bitterness is somewhat restrained as well, given the massive amounts of IBU's that brewers tend to be throwing around these days, and I'll applaud them for that. This beer is about balance, with an emphasis on the rye malt, and I guess that explains the more laid back use of hops. It comes through to me mainly as Cascade, although the label states that it also includes Simcoe and Columbus. I find some of the fruitiness of the Simcoe upfront, but not so much that it couldn't have just been from yeasty fruitiness instead. And I also find some piney character that's reminiscent of Columbus hops in the finish, but the overall impression I get from start to finish is of mildly fruity, citrusy (pineapple, grapefruit, pith), and lightly grassy hop combination. It finishes dry across the board, initially leaving more malt and delicate spiciness behind, and then progressively showing its citrusy hop character as you edge forward and the alpha acids build on your palate. There's alcohol present as well, but it's well-cloaked other than to lend the necessary spritz of sharpness required of a slightly stronger and somewhat more malty beer.

Overall, what seems at first whiff (no dog pun intended) as a fairly simple and straight-forward beer actually reveals itself to be fairly complex; all the while holding back from hitting you over the head with malt, hops and bitterness, and thus retaining a great deal of drinkability. I appreciate that they've kept on course for a true I.P.A. (more English in nature than American, and with a light twist of rye), displaying golden malts, a more than respectable 6.9% abv, and a reasonable 62 IBU's - rather than throwing in some darker malts, loading it with hop flavor, and jacking the bitterness to beyond 70 IBU's or more. Nicely done!

Serving type: bottle

03-09-2013 22:52:29 | More by NeroFiddled

grahamboudreaux

Tennessee

4.25/5  rDev +15.5%

03-07-2013 04:44:09 | More by grahamboudreaux

RaulMondesi

California

2.08/5  rDev -43.5%
look: 2.5 | smell: 1 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.75

My brother must have been out of his dome when he bought this. Rocket Dog? Wtf? I'll tell you one thing, rocket dog ain't come to save a hot dog thing. Smell, taste, appearance... everything, just nasti nasti.

Raul don't like it. Raul don't like it at all.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2013 05:59:02 | More by RaulMondesi

douglasgoodman

4/5  rDev +8.7%

02-15-2013 22:10:13 | More by douglasgoodman

bmwats

Louisiana

3.91/5  rDev +6.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a 650 ml bottle into a tumbler.

A: Cloudy, light golden hue. Giant, bubbly, white head. Slow, dry, deterioration, leaving some dry residue behind as it does. Pretty ridiculous beer ring lacing also.

S: Pungent, fermented fruity, orangey, raisiny, bready tone; with some light floral components.

T: Acetyl and raisin. Very piny and pungent with a nice touch of sweetness.

M: Mouth puckeringly bitter and very dry. Pungent, lingering aftertaste.

D: The feel dictates a sipping experience.

Atmosphere is really nice. Great head, with a dry decrepit deterioration and some solid lacing. Nose is very stong, combination of pungent fruity and bready components with a lightly floral character. Very bitter, with a slight balance of sweetness. Dry finish. Overall, this is a really good quaff.

Serving type: bottle

02-09-2013 04:36:16 | More by bmwats

IanWingy

New York

3.25/5  rDev -11.7%

02-09-2013 00:17:57 | More by IanWingy

leedorham

Washington

4.25/5  rDev +15.5%

01-21-2013 16:28:02 | More by leedorham

Gagnonsux

Texas

4/5  rDev +8.7%

01-14-2013 20:42:24 | More by Gagnonsux

dmorgan310

Michigan

3.75/5  rDev +1.9%

01-08-2013 04:28:54 | More by dmorgan310

Thomas_Picton

Massachusetts

4/5  rDev +8.7%

01-06-2013 16:40:31 | More by Thomas_Picton

northyorksammy

Ontario (Canada)

2.75/5  rDev -25.3%

01-06-2013 06:13:16 | More by northyorksammy

AndrewMichael

Virginia

4/5  rDev +8.7%

01-05-2013 21:14:17 | More by AndrewMichael

KevinGordon

North Carolina

3.75/5  rDev +1.9%

01-05-2013 04:35:40 | More by KevinGordon

chinchill

South Carolina

3.05/5  rDev -17.1%
look: 4 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

22 oz bottle (thanks Duncan) with a 18 July 2012 bottling date served in a snifter.

Poured a hazy apricot color with a good sized and durable off-white head that leaves ample lacing. The aroma is fruity, which would be nice except it doesn’t mix well with the rye and hop aromatics. The mix works better in creating a rich flavor. Has a very smooth and nicely full feel but turns a bit too acidic in the finish.

O: more like a Belgian rye pale ale than expected. Quite yeasty and the mix of rye, malts and hops did not work for me.

Serving type: bottle

01-03-2013 21:52:40 | More by chinchill