Hair of the Dog Cherry Adam from the Wood

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

12 oz bottle. Pours a dark brown body with a small creamy dark beige head that retained as a thick ring. Nice nose, dark fruits, peat, some soy like oxidation, roast, chocolate, yeast, some light oak, and maybe a light hint of sourness. The flavor is a little briney and salty at first with an olive juice and peat undertone. Then the Adam comes out a bit more as I get more accustomed to it. More roasty, chocolaty, and fruity. The cherry really is an afterthought that comes out late on the finish. The oak really only comes out on the back end also. Medium bodied with a bit of malty clinginess on the finish. Very nice minimal carbonation. Pretty nice, but I think that I’ll just take a regular Adam over this anytime.

VINTAGE 2008 Appears to be black, but closer inspection reveals it to be very dark brown with a dark ruby tint. Pours with a totally minimal head. No retention. Pretty good lacing, suprisingly. Smells like Adam, only better. Nose is of huge cherry notes mixed with a bourbon-like backbone. Good oak presence. Big caramel malt notes. Lots of dark fruits mix with molasses notes. Hints of vanilla, smoke, dark chocolate and butterey biscuits. Very slight booziness. Quite a complex nose. It smells like dessert. Taste is quite complex, also. Cherries and lots of other dark fruits, right out in front. Good bourbon notes mixed in. Lots of smoke, leather, and hints of oak. Dark chocolate, vanilla, caramel, molasses, and brown sugar. The sherry barrel aging comes through in the finish. Mouthfeel is okay. This is a thick, viscous brew. The lack of any real carbonation hurts this one and leaves it overly syrupy. The saddest part is that this is my only bottle of this. I wish that I had several others so that I could lay them down for awhile and see how they progress. This is a beer with an amazing level of smells and flavors. The lack of carbonation really leaves it too syrupy, which costs it points. Despite the one minor flaw, this is an excellent brew.

Holy sweet jeezus. This beer is a hell of a sipper, to be sure. Pours a lovely dark dark brown with almost no head (not that it needs it) and a touch of rose around the edges. Aroma is a heady sweet mix of malt, vanilla bourbon, and a touch of fruitiness. This stuff tastes absolutely divine. Starting out very warm with the bourbon and sweet malty body mixing well with a touch of oak, and then the back end dissolves into a little bit of dark fruit. Just a superbly crafted beer. I gain more respect for Alan Sprints by the day.

This 12 oz bottle from the ’09 dock sale is Alan’s answer to Imperial Stouts, and this more than holds it’s own against the best. Mirror-calm pour produces a fleeting ring of bubbles, maple syrup legs on the sides of the glass, and a deep redish brown clean body. Bourbon, black currants, cherries, vanilla, and oak greet the nose. The brew is sticky, chewy, and rich, with dark plump cherries dominating the chocolate, toasty caramel, leather, tobacco, and camp fire browned marshmallow. A cherry s’more if you will. Mildly dry finish after the rich sweets flow past the tongue. One serious alloy of flavors.

12 oz. bottle - 2009 vintage; fresh from the dock sale; pours very dark brown with rosy hints against the light and basically flat (like the 2008); rich nose of bourbon, tobacco, dank cherries, malty goodness, vanilla; creamy thick body with a lovely boozy sweetness; seems to pack a bigger punch than the ’08; more bourbon, more cherry sweetness, less tartness and smoke, though that does come out a bit as it warms; wow, great stuff; fresh ’09 is rocking; in the fresh stage, there is a ton of bourbon which is pretty dominating, but not in a bad way; cherries are there, but taking a back seat; chocolate, tobacco, vanilla, bitter cherries.....ymmmm, adam with more dank fruit and lots of bourbon, oh my; the richness mixed with slight peaty smoke is right in my wheelhouse

12 oz. bottle - 2008 vintage in December 2008; no carbonation; dark rosy brown; thick, smooth and tart; touch of smoke and tobacco; creamy body with tart cherries and sweet vanilla bourbon; tobacco stands out with a mild tartness; need to update with a 2009 and 2008 side by side; I guess I can handle that :)

Bottle, thanks After4ever! Pours opaque dark orange brown with a tan ring of foam. The aroma is bourbon dominated with a touch of vanilla, smoke and molasses. Sweet taste with more bourbon vanilla and molasses, joined by dark cherry, wood, earth. Medium full body, light carbonation and nicely warming without being hot.

Red tinted brown pour wiht very little carbonation. Creamy vanilla and molasses. Bourbon and some cherry notes. Sweet and sour cherry. Roasty with a bitter finish.

Bottle: Muddy mahogany color, light tawny with light head and lacing. Musty, sweet cherry notes, cobbwebb, lots of wood and sherry. Excellent dusty aged notes, hot and good. Musty, salty, funky. Great HotD interpretation. Another bottle on deck for next year.