Anyone use this bean? With a fresh roast I am finding the espresso to be 'ashy'. 16grams extracted to 30 grams over 30sec. 200degrees linea mini. Tried extracting to a smaller volume but the taste was worse. Tried extracting more but got bitterer. (Is that a word?)

Sorry, I can't help you with their Road Dog but I've pulled many pounds of their other beans; blends and SOs. Motor City is the darkest I generally like and that gets pulled via EspressoForge...or else I need to turn down the boiler pressure/temp on my levers; and Road Dog is a darker roast than Motor City.

I really like their Bali and Powerglide with my levers! I tried their Guatemala but it was too dark for my palate; I couldn't, like you state with Road Dog, get rid of the burnt/ashy taste using my levers. I ran out of beans before I was able to get the water temp low enough from either my Export or LI.

If you can lower your brew temp to maybe 190-195 you might find it tastes...less dark .

Things I would try:

Lower Pressure
Lower Temperature
Higher Temperature (sometimes bitter turns chocolately).
Pull a short shot (22ish seconds with an overdosed basket. This is not the same as a low volume shot). You already seem to be pulling a longer shot, which is what I was going to suggest.
Try a longer preinfusion

thank you for the suggestions. As a comparison, I brewed some in a french press, 22 grams in 12 oz water 80 degreesC for 3 minutes coarse grind - deliciously smooth and chocolatey with a sumatra-ish smoky hint. So I know it's not the beans.

I'll try the suggestions. In general, is ashiness the sign of overextraction? The crema looked good without dark flecks or a ring so I didnt think it was overextracted but it sure tasted that way. Maybe this bean needs a real gentle touch - lower temp for sure. Unfortunately, my linea mini does not have an easy way to lower pressure. May I'll reduce the dose.

Well ashy is typical as a roast defect but you already ruled that out. Astringency (dryness) is over extraction though. That's why I recommended a higher temperature as sometimes you can get a bitter chocolate.

I had your problem with redbird (not as dark but FC+) and the solution was to extract more, haha. Not to be confused with pulling a short ristretto shot, which actually extracts less. That being said i'm not tasting your extractions so take with a grain of salt.

On the other end, French Press brews are typically under extracted. First thing I would try is a short ristretto shot as this will reduce extraction.