Thirsty Dog Citra Dog

Thirsty Dog is out of Akron area, which is relatively close to our area. We actually were a few blocks away from the brewery for a wedding earlier this summer. And it's rather hard to type and relax when you have 2 cats on the computer chair with you, one on the arm and one on the back of the chair. Thus, forcing me to type like a god damned T-Rex. Speaking of T-Rex, get it on, bang a gong. But fuck it, onto the sermon.

Ladies and Gentlemen of the congregation of Behind the Tap, we are brought together today for one purpose and one purpose alone. IPA Day. Now, what is IPA Day? Some may think it's a made up holiday to get drunk. No, my brethren, that would be St. Patrick's Day. Some may think it's a made up holiday to honor a certain style of beer. Closer. No, my fellow hop heads. No. Today is the day where we call upon Hopsus to bring us great beers of a certain variety. And if we honor him in a special enough way, he'll bless us with the gift of great beers. Now bow your heads to Hopsus. Open your books to Citra 1:73 and read along with me.

"95 IBU, 6.5 ABV, oh Hopsus. You're blessed me with this beer today. I shall drink your offering and honor you above all others. In his Hoppy name we praise thee."

This beer. Holy Hopsus this beer. This is my 2nd of the night on this, and I wish I could replace all the cheap beer in the world with this. No more PBR or Stroh's, just this. I feel like I'm cheating on my regular Dogs here (Flying Dog), but this is worthy of His Hoppiness's name.

FYI, BeerAdvocate has 20 reviews on this, Ratebeer has 35 reviews. So, it's a little reviewed brew. Not sure if it's a distribution thing, that it's a newer brew, or that people are confused by some sort of Super Dog on the label.

A nice golden copper pour with a bit of some white head. The aroma on this is what I wish my homestead smelled like perpetually. Sheer Citra hops. Citrus (lemon and orange), peach, mango, and other tropical fruits (lychee?) with some hints of biscuit and faint grass notes. PRAISE HOPSUS! The flavor on this is something fantastic. I don't know if the English language has enough words to properly describe the sheer awesomeness of this. There's an initial rush of orange zest that fades into a peach and mango combo, trailed slightly by a quick burst of lychee and faint earthy flavors, leading into a nondescript tropical sweetness that rides out until the end. There's an initial wave of bitterness that spirals out slowly until long after the flavors have faded. The resiny stickiness left on the cheeks and gums is a beyond warm welcome on this, Dia de los IPAs. It's hard to type with a cat who just jumped on your shoulders, but it's my monstrous gatos (Gia), so it's okay.

I now pass this off onto my female counterpart for her insightful views while I deal with shoulder cat.

5/5 caps

-Nathan-

Um, I'm really not sure how to follow that up. That was a fantastic description of the beer, despite my heathen ways being tainted (Happy Lughnasadh/Lammas to all my Pagan friends out there. Yes, today has quickly become one of my favorite days of the year).

Mine has had some time to warm (seriously, I killed two Stroh's while he was typing his portion). The lychee in the nose really has come out. Yeah, lychee. Fanfuckingtastic. The flavor is also lychee mixed with mango and a sharp bite, perhaps some black pepper? Pine needles?, with a whole lot of citrus and more pine in there, as well. But Nathan's description of the taste was so fantastic and spot-on, I have nothing else to add other than to praise Hopsus.

This is a hophead's dream. If you can find Citra Dog where you are and if you enjoy hops, please obtain some of this. It's good. It's really good. I wish we would have detoured to the brewery while we were in Akron for Michelle and Dan's wedding, but we're close enough to make a road trip. And I'm quite fine with that.

5/5 caps

-Jennie