Hair of the Dog Blue Dot Double IPA

Brewed by Hair of the Dog Brewing Company
Style: Imperial/Double IPA
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

Bottle shared by MrPickles...thanks Andy! - Pours hazy amber with a thin off-white head. Resinous pine and citrus hop nose, with a creamy cracker malt base. Taste is similar, with a nice honey sweetness and a herbal spiciness. Grassy, herbal hoppiness on the finish actually builds as it sits in your mouth. Very nice stuff.

Draft @ HotD. Pours a cloudy muddled golden yellow. Smell is big tropical fruita and grapefruit. fantastic nose.  Taste is tropical fruit, soap, with a clean finish. Great brew but the soap was almost a bit distracting from how good the rest of the profile was.

Summer 2011. Bottle from Ole! Thanks! Citrus hop aromas. Pours murky yellow. Flavors of citrus salad in your mouth. Overall a fantastic IPA.

Originally rate 08/24/11. It pours a crazy hazy light orange color; totally opaque, nothing is visible through it. Kind seems like what would be produced if apricots could lactate… yum. Smell is a lot of sweet tropical fruits. Not much in terms of pine. It has some pineapple and tons of peaches going on. Very light citrus, maybe a sweet kind of orange, not much to be said in terms of grapefruit though. Slight perfumy kind of smell, like a potent flowery hop sort of smell; a lot like those dried apricots too. Taste definitely has the apricot juiciness and a little bit of pineapple, it mixes with that strange perfumy, flowery hop. Smooth shift to pine and grapefruit flavours,bitterness starts to move in quite strongly. Also get some bready malt briefly before that grapefruit and pine bite comes in. The bubbles really feel nice on the palate. Medium bodied and the finish is bitter, but not dry; it’s really enjoyable.

bomber. my first beer from HOTD. Now I see what everyone’s talking about. This is a really well done imperial IPA. Nice intense bitterness.

Bomber from Whole Foods Portland. Bottle says summer 2011, and it is now a freezing cold January day in winter 2012, so maybe a bit past prime. Tons of unfiltered orange haze going on, which I love. Once this beer warms up a bit, it pours a nice white head, with a murky sludge at the end (so much it made me sneeze!). As with most DIPAs, the initial bitterness gives way to a nicely complex citrus floral concoction, a bit more on the earthy side. Being a Hair of the Dog beer, I must admit my expectations were probably too high. This is a very enjoyable DIPA and I would have it again, but not the best.

Bomber. Pours a murky dark orange with not much of a head. Aroma of some musty toasted malt, orange rind, bread, and some faded grapefruit. This bottle might just be a tad past its prime. Could be a bit brighter. Full bodied for a DIPA, This beer imparts flavors of sweet toasty malt, orange, grapefruit, some unique rye spice and some yeast. Once again it seems like some of the hops have faded. Still has a tad of a bitter finish lingering on the end. Even though its not at its prime, its still a solid beer. The rye really stands out besides the muted hop profile. I’m sure if this was at its freshest, it would be a perfect compliment.

Bottle from thome50. Thought I had ticked this one, but I’m apparently very much mistaken. Pretty hazy and golden in color with a minute white head. Any sort of head there was dissipates extremely quick. Just doesn’t look that pleasing compared to many other dipas. Malty and fruity aroma without a ton of citrus. Caramel, orange zest, some lemon, maybe a touch of pineapple. Aroma is just a bit more muted and a little disjointed, but still contains the elements I love in a dipa. Taste is also a bit lighter and muted. Caramel malt and some orange are present, but it lacks much of what was present in the aroma. Finish is fairly bitter but never over powering. Enjoyable, but it just doesn’t come together for me to be a really good dipa.