Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws (2003-)

Brewed by Hair of the Dog Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Portland, Oregon USA

12oz bottle from Larry Pitonka (thanks to MrBendo for the additional bottle). Aroma: Piney hops, toffee and caramel, slight oxidation, bready malt, brown sugar, and dark fruits. Some fairly strong floral and alcohol notes as it warms. Appearance: Dark orange in color and hazy. Almost no head to speak of, just some small froth that kicked up as I poured. Despite the small head, there was some nice lacing. Flavor: Intensely sweet bready maltiness with big notes of carame, brown sugar, and toffee. Some anise and light cardboard oxidation. Dark fruits come out more as it warms. Hops work there way subtley throughout with notes of pine and citrus, and a faint bitterness that can’t hope to budge the intense malt sweetness. Palate: Full bodied and a bit syrupy. Low carbonation. Strong alcohol warming over entire mouth. Overall: A nice beer for the end of my night, but not as good as I was hoping for. Low carbonation definitely hurts it in mouthfeel and allows the malt sweetness to build. Still, pretty nice overall and worth atry.

2006 Bottle. Pour is a dark reddish amber with no head. Almost zero carbonation, maybe it’s the screwy HotD caps. Aroma is hoppy with sweet caramely malts. Fruit and pine also in the nose. Flavors of resiny pine, caramel, toffee, sweet fruit, honey, and bitter hops. Pretty thick mouthfeel. A tasty sipping beer.

2005 Vintage. Cloudy brown with lots of carbonation and sediment. One inch of foamy white head. Sweet strawberry aroma. Thick body is sweet with some of that strawberry sweetness. Bitter dry finish. I’ve heard much from joebrew about doggie claws and this bottle did not disappoint.

12oz bottle, 2006. Pours a dark ruby red color with no head. Some airy bubbles form a ring around the glass. There’s a mountain of sludge in the bottom of the bottle. Aroma is very sweet and fruity, syrupy, typical barley wine smell. Sweetness is a little cloying. Very thick mouthfeel. Taste is very sweet and first with a bitter finish. I am not a huge fan of BWs this sweet. I prefer Fred over this. This is a good beer for people who like this style but it’s not really my thing.

Bottle. Brown-sugar color. No head. Very sugary. Fudge, honey hints. Very smooth and even throughout. No bite. Best barleywine I’ve had.

2006 bottle. I seem to remember my first bottle exploding and foaming all over the place but this one didn’t. Mahogany color, 95% opaque with a nice tan(ner) tinge at the top. Chunky aroma of honey, caramel, taste the same with the lightest hint of alcohol, some berries, figs. Chewy and long finish. Totally awesome beer.

Oh yeah. This here is what I’m talking about, fool! A delicious, nearly perfect barley wine. Sticky sweet and syrupy, yet smooth as fine oriental silk. Fortunately, you can’t really make a session out of these without injury or arrest, so that’s good. I’d have gone higher on the overall, but since this was part of the Death Metal Beer Tasting Festival, things are a little foggy. I’m sure I liked it even MORE than I am leading on here, several days after the fact.

Bottle sampled from Capone’s. Pours bronze with a one inch thick light tan head. Aroma of molasses, brown sugar, caramel, fruit, toast and alcohol. The flavor is amazing, sweet, molasses, caramel, brown sugar, toast, alcohol well blended, and hops are noticeable and well balance. Great brew.