Hair of the Dog Cherry Adam from the Wood

Brewed by Hair of the Dog Brewing Company
Style: Traditional Ale
Portland, Oregon USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, English pint, Stein, Yard

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Bottle purchased at Chucks in Chagrin Falls last year (I don’t know who traded with them to get this, but I scored 3 other HotD’s and an Abyss that day). 2009 vintage. Thick black yeast deposit left in the bottle, no head at all, deep brown-red hue making it seem black. All great signs. Aroma is almost perfect. Deep roasted malt, honey, chocolate, toasted oat, vanilla and notes of heaven all in the nose. I cannot imagine the flavor getting better with age, since it has the perfect complexity and flavor after a year and a half... but I do doubt it could get worse. Flavor is like a rich deep cherry and molasses flavor. Strong notes of vanilla and wood come through with a honey-like smoothness as well as the subdued malty sweetness. God this one is amazing.

Opens with just a slight hiss and pours flat. Cherries add A slight berry note and complements the sweet vanilla bourbon notes but they are barely there, covered by malts and warming bourbon. Bit of a letdown, maybe some bubbles would have improved my experience. Viscous sipper.

12 oz. bottle from the brewpub in Portland, OR (2009 bottle). Flat, dark brown pour that appears almost black in the glass. Aroma of dark fruit, oak, and light chocolate. The flavor is many things at once; cherry, bourbon, oak, chocolate, and coffee. Possibly a little more carbonation would have made this a little more to my liking but that is a minor complaint to this stellar beer. Absolutely sublime...As a side note I compared this to a 2011 bottle and the cherry was more upfront in the newer bottle. I prefered the aged bottle to the newer bottle.

2008 bottle, 04/28/2012. Pours ruby brown, no head to speak of. Decadent aroma, a mixture of chocolate, caramel, cherries and plums, a little musty, barrel finish with hints of red wine, vanilla, bourbon, subdued booze. Taste is heavy with chocolate glazed dark fruit, cherries prominent, dark molasses and vanilla bourbon finish. Palate is full but has thinned a bit at this point, but incredibly smooth, alcohol never in the way. One of my favorites.

Pours black with tan head. Aroma of black licorice, some aged wood, black cherry, and chocolate. Flavor is much the same. Overall, very good shit!

33 cl. Bottle @ home / 2009 version: looks like wine, light shade of brown though, no inkling of head even, sweet syrup upfront, light honey, malts, dark fruits, liquorish leading into a tart cherry, strongly vineous, bourbon finish, due to the fact that this is completely uncarbonated the finish on this is quite boozy in a wine kind of way, feels a touch thinned out by aging, this is good but nowhere near as good as Adam from the Wood because this really should have had some carbonation, first non-pure lambic beer that I have had that has no carbonation whatsoever, it is flat beyond flat & that is a strongly defining characteristic

From notes. First reviewed 8/19/2011. Poured from a 12 oz. bottle into a tulip. 2011 vintage. Thanks to Dunt for bringing this bottle. The beer pours a dark brown color, with an obvious cherry tint and an actual cherry glow, although there is no head whatsoever. The aroma is full of strong sweet cherry, some plum, fig, and raisin as well. Some general tart sweetness and a bit of tart cherry in the background. A bit of toffee and caramel malt go along with sweet cherries and a bit of molasses up front. Nicely blended dark fruits - plums, figs, raisins, and red grapes all blend together well. The finish is a soft caramel malt sweetness. The flavor could have been finished off better. The mouthfeel is is the downfall of this beer. No carbonation really causes the flavors to stick together and clump on the tongue. It feels heavier than it should. Sticky. Unfortunately, this is another Hair of the Dog beer that has no carbonation and would be amazing otherwise.

UPDATED: MAR 6, 2012 Bottle @ acbf. Thanks Alan! Aroma is a huge cherry awesomeness, also wood, roast, malt, chocolate. Flavour is the same, lazy rate, wicked beer. Wow. Thanks a lot!

UPDATED: MAR 11, 2012 3/III/2012 bottle @ ACBF (Moen) - BB: n/a (2012-197) Thanks to Allan and BelgBeerGeek for sharing this with me!

Clear ruby red beer, no head. Aroma: sweet fruity, sugar, vanilla, bourgon, sweet caramel. MF: no carbon, full body. Taste: sweet syrupy, ripe cherries, forest fruits, little sour, mainly sweet though, vanilla, bourbon, touch of wood. Aftertaste: sweet sugary, dark chocolate, little bitter. Amazing stuff. I’d like to try a whole pint of this, or even half a pint, just to discover all the complexities, which was alas unable with the small sample we got.

2009 Vintage
Tasted in late November 2011 from a capped magnum bottle shared by unclejedi at his birthday tasting, massive thanks, Jim. Pours murky brown/auburn red with a thin collar of tan lace. The nose is hot, with tons of caramel, dark toffee, cherry, and some toasted, burnt bitterness. The flavor is sweet date, caramel, toffee, cherry, and some burnt brown sugar bitterness. The body is full and syrupy, with very light carbonation and a long caramel, cherry, and lightly bitter finish.

bottle. pours reddish brown with zero zillch head. aroma of bourbon and cherry. taste is cherry flavored bourbon slight vanilla and lots of booze