Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws (2003-)

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

2004 Vintage. Cloudy orange-brown w/ rocky light brown head. Good lace & some sediment evident. Sweet, malty, yeasty, hoppy aroma of caramel, toffee, caramel, dark fruit, grapefruit & herbs. Chewy, full-bodied feel. Malty, yeasty flavour w/ some fruity notes & a mild, sour acidity. Moderately hoppy & bitter w/ a warm, rounded finish.

Oh my god! Had this ON A HAND PUMP at KClingers (Hanover) - go figure. Big frothy, brown head. Very strong malt aroma. Taste was very sweet and incredibly malty. I’ve had only a very few barleywines on cask, so this was a special treat. Could not taste the alcohol at all. Color was surprisingly clear. This was th ebest beer we had all afternoon at KClingers. I was even able to buy some bottles of this and Adam at the bar.

2004 Bottle; Nose is sweet and hoppy with dark fruit and citrus notes; hazy orange-amber with some beige bubbles covering part of the surface; flavor shows hops and caramel with a little fruitiness, and some alcohol and hops in the finish and aftertaste.

Bottle courtesy of TChrome. Nose-brown sugar, caramel, apples. Body-dark amber with a lasting moderate head. Taste-good medium to high bitter, apple, pear, good CO2, fig, caramel.

2005 Vintage. 12oz bottle. Very hazy orange brown (the bottle had just been traveling which may have stirred it up somewhat) with a nice creamy beige head (3+) Boozey, hoppy aroma, light floral notes deep below develop into a light honey presence as it warms up. Alcohol is slightly less prominent in the flavour, pleasant moderate caramel malts and a healthy dose of hoppy bitterness. Medium to full body. Not as complex as some but this is really very nice! Courtesy of Larry Pitonka – many thanks! 7-8/4/8/4/16-17

Bottle (12oz - dated 2005). Shared with jerc, his bottle - thanks for the share!. Deeply murky brownish-orange with a large lasting beige fizzy-creamy head. Juicy resiny/orange hop and sweet honey malt, mildly and thickly spicy, very yeasty and rich. Taste - big initial hit of peppery dry sharp hops, then honey-sweet malt, booze, yeast and spice - it mellows out to a slightly woody balanced finish; the alcohol stays with you the whole time. Thick, syrupy mouthfeel, quite complex - the overtone of raw cinnamon and funky yeast is interesting; excellent, complex barleywine, could age even more - thanks for sharing, Jer!

Murky brown appearance, thin head, but with good retention. The aroma was of figs and cherries. Flavor was dark fruits, cherries as it warmed, and resinous hops. Overall a little too sweet, needed some more hops (did I say that?). Mouthfeel ended a little sticky and syrupy without enough hop bitterness.

thanks to cmubeerman for this. there was something wrong with the bottle so i will rerate. way too much yeast in the bottle. taste and aroma survived; bottle looked like shit, though. and it was pretty chewy from the yeast. a pretty complicated beer with strong hop and toffee character. a bit of spice and pretty good amount of alcohol