Friday 9th of October 2009 06:48:08 PM

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I went to this Brewery in the summer of 2009. It has a nice large tasting room with lots of memorabilia like shirts and hats. Very clean bar and the server was friendly. I first had the Cream ale which was lite with some moderate bitterness and a somewhat spicey or peppery aftertaste. It is their best seller and won a Gold Medal last year at the North American Brewing association competition. Then I had a beer named Crotch Sniffing Bastard, as all the beers are named after dog themes. It seemed to have some slight diacetyl flavor but had a nice malt sweetness and was copper in color. Then I tried the huckleberry cream ale which had a nice golden color and lite huckleberry flavor all from real fruit. This is a good fruit beer. The pale ale was next and was well balanced, not as hoppy as most pale ales, but still very nice, a good session beer. Then came a beer called Alphadog which has a big hop nose and moderate hop bitterness and flavor. I really liked that beer. They had a cask conditioned beer called Cold Nose which was big and hoppy using Palisades hops. I talked the owner into giving me some Palisades hops to bring home to try in one of my homebrews. Dogzilla was the last beer I had that they served on tap. It is an IPA but somewhat on the dark side and it had a nice lingering hop bitterness, another good beer. The owner, Fred, told me they are getting ready to move to a new 4000 sq, foot facility. He treated me to a special beer Dogfather Imperial Stout. This beer was about a year old, it had some initial malt sweetness backed by significant hop bitterness to balance, this was a great beer. If you are in the area definately worth the stop. Ask Fred to unleash his private stock of Dogfather if you go there, or take him an empty growler for his collection. I would not buy beer on site as it is more expensive than the large grocery store across the street. Shop there first and then at the Brewery!

Tuesday 16th of September 2008 07:21:08 PM

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Way up in Northern Idaho there is a little oasis called Laughing Dog Brewing in the little town of Ponderay. Right next off Lake Pend Oreille this is a great place to visit. The tap room is clean and filled with growlers from everywhere. Great beer art work and posters. Get ready the big cut out dog bone that carries the 10 samples is huge and the samples are tasty. They got it all starting with a light Pale ale kicking it all the way up to a Hot Chihuahua and then great ready don’t be scared Dogzilla Black IPA is there also. If you like fruit beers the Huckleberry cream is one of the best I have ever had. The snacks served while you drink your samples are near perfect spicy little snack that leaves you wanting more beer. And when you had enough the Sweet stout will leave you ready for moving so you can be closer to the brewery. I was able to score a great tour of the brewery and see the inner workings of the place. They are busy all the time and wow the place was clean. Maybe hot but hell it is beer it starts out hot then becomes cold. They love what they do and they love to drink the product. There are several parties throughout the year so if your lucky to catch one be sure to schedule a visit during that time. I bet it is a rip roaring great time. Great brewery I will be back for sure to see what they have done since I was last there. Cheer to you Laughing Dog you are doing it right even serving your snacks in dog bowls.