Hair of the Dog Blue Dot Imperial IPA

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

22 oz bottle. Pours hazy yellow orange with a medium white creamy head that goes to a thin film and laces the glass.

The aroma is sweet grapefruit and dank resiny hops.

The flavor is sweet fruity malts with lots of dank resiny piney hops. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied with low carbonation.

Overall, a solid DIPA. Right up my alley with hops and balance. Slightly too harsh and dank/catty/resiny.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

On tap @ Hair of the Dog. Copper pour, tight head, nice lacing. Big hops aroma and big bitter taste up front, floral and piney, citrus and caramel, a big nice straightforward DIPA.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

Rich aroma is quite hoppy with a firm citrus undertone that is equal parts grapefruit and orange. It pours a luscious, somewhat hazy honey golden with a substantial fluffy white head that leaves some good lacing. Flavor is - WHOA, seriously hoppy! It is quite bitter, but not fiercely so, and has hints of resin, malt and even honey. Ragged texture is quite lively and fizzy, leaving a hoppy tingle that persists for a while. Recommended to all "hop heads."

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 6 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Had some of this at the Brewery today. Somewhat hazy, orange color, but with perfect head and lacing. Aroma of citrus hop, and a little herbal. Medium body and very bitter. It could use more malt for my tastes to balance it out. Extremely fresh tasting and all quality, but these kind of hop bombs are a dime a dozen in Oregon, so I think I'll spend my HotD money on their other, more unique, styles. But don't get me wrong, this is still a very respectable beer.

Aroma: 6 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Pours with an orange body topped by a very thick, foamy head with some lacing left on the glass. It’s slightly sweet and malty with a nice floral and bitter hop presence with notes of pine, citrus and a hint of spice. Medium bodied and a touch warming.

Aroma: 7 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

As typical Hair of the Dog fashion goes, every style which is anticipated (by me at least) to be a killer West Coast hop bomb, ends up being a mellow fellow of a beer. Something fresh and fine with pine notes and citrus fruits. But wicked creamy in the mouthfeel. im expecting something firm and astringent, but it suprisngly ends up being way more chill then i thought.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Pours into my cup as a hazy body, thin head, dark orange in color. As all the other beers from Hair of the Dog, this is so mellow and smooth, I could see why they call it hair of the dog cause it's something nice and smooth in the morning after a hard night of drinking.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Fall 2008. Bottle from Hi-Time Wine Cellars, who seem to be my online retailer of choice. Pours a copper color with a thick fluffy off-white head. Excellent retention, heavy lacing. Aroma is citrus hops, floral, caramel, overall not all that powerful but nice. This is hardly an in your face hoppy Imperial IPA and actually it's hard for me to envison it as a Double IPA. This drank sort of like a slightly amped up Pale Ale with a lot of malt showing, caramel, grains (the rye?) malts to compliment the citrusy hops. Crisp bitter hoppy finish. I really like this beer. Not one I'd pick if I feel like a hops onslaught but this is very drinkable, balanced and damn good. Would be a perfect session brew.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 9

bottled Fall '08, sampled 3/09. poured like your average ipa, maybe a bit more bubbly than usual. this one is only 7%...more like a regular ipa than an imperial, but the thin body is made up for with an intense dry hoppy aroma from a generous hopping, and rye malt. nice touch, there. very dry, bitter, and intense. well balanced with the pilsner and rye malt as well. if the body was a bit fuller, this would be one of my favorites.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Fall 2008 Release; Sampled December 2008
A reasonable pour into my 25cl tulip glass gets me a three-finger thick head that overflows the rim of my glass just a bit. The head has quite a bit of staying power, is quite fluffy, leaves a nice layering of lace on the sides of my glass and forms some interesting structures as it slowly recedes. The beer is a honey / light amber color that shows a clear, bright copper color when held up to the light. The aroma is nicely hoppy, though it has me noticing that my nose is not quite working as well as usual). Aromas of pine, a touch of menthol, as well as a light herbal note are noticeable up front, but there is a solid, citrus-like backdrop of grapefruit, bergamot, lychee and lemon zest.

The beer is nicely hoppy tasting, much more so than my nose was able to tell. Notably, the beer is also not infected (like my last bottle of this), which is really quite nice. The hop character is fresh and punchy with ample flavors of grapefruit, bergamot oil, and lychee up front; it finishes with a sharper, more herbal focus of tongue clinging pine and hemp oil, with a touch of menthol there as well. There is a nice, solid, and up front, clean bitterness throughout the flavor profile, it gets a little dirty (in a good way) towards the finish as the more herbal hop components kick in. The beer is nice and light bodied for a beer of this strength, which is perfect for the way I like my Double IPAs; it does have some body to it though and is able to carry the ample hop character quite well. There is a touch of alcohol noticeable in the finish, it provides a touch of warming as well as a peppery bite.

This is quite nice when it is not infected, I am quite glad I was able to get another batch of this.

Purchased: Liquid Solutions

Rating from January 2007
Total 3.8
8/8/8/8/6
Disturbingly over carbonated, this beer ends up with an easily five-finger thick, light tan colored head that leaves a layered pattern of lace on the sides of my glass as it subsides. The beer itself is a lightly hazy, definingly copper color. The aroma is certainly quite hop driven; with fruity citrus notes and tropical fruit notes abounding. There is also a fair amount of malt noticeable in the aroma, with both a light sweetness and a biscuit-like malt note noticeable in the background. What else is in the aroma, dare I say it, there is perhaps a touch of Brett signature (though I could be wrong). If it is here it is quite light, leaving only a touch of mustiness and something that I would describe as meatball (maybe it is just a touch cheesy).

Despite having spent a good 5 minutes exploring the aroma, the beer is still quite carbonated as it froths up quite a bit as it first hits my tongue. A quick swirl of the glass releases some of the excess gas and makes the beer smoother and more palatable. There is definitely still a funky note in the flavor here, though the dominant note is one of excessive hops. Bitingly bitter from the get go, this beer is sharp and definingly hoppy from start to finish. It has quite a light body, which is perfectly in line with a West Coast Double IPA; keep the beer excessively hoppy but eminently quaffable. Citrus & fruit notes of tangerine, bergamot, peach, and pineapple all shine at times, though the fact that this beer is relatively dry seems to downplay these notes. This beer does have a malt sweetness to it, just not as much as one might usually find even in an West Coast version. Menthol-driven pine notes are also found in abundance, and perhaps even a bit of grassy herbal character, no make that a definite.

Back to the funk, it is definitely here, nothing too big, but enough little things to add up to something that significantly effects the flavor profile. The beer tastes a touch metallic, lightly cheesy (almost like old hops, but not really), definitely musty, a bit of cobweb character, and a leather / sweat / goat-like note that could quite possibly be Brett influenced.

From a stylistic standpoint, or even a point of view having to do with the brewers intent, I would flunk this beer outright. Though the infection is light, it is here enough that I can recognize it. Still it seems to add a bit of Funk or even Belgian character to this beer, which is not wholly unpleasant. From an enjoyment standpoint I did, and I will happily consume my other bottles of this. In fact take this review with a grain of salt, I like a little (ok even a lot) of funk in my brews, and this one has it, so I am intrigued. Still I would enjoy this much more if it were not infected, or intentionally brewed to be so.

Purchased from: Liquid Solutions