Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws (2003-)

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

Murky deep amber colour with a tan head. Malty aroma with a plum fruityness and hints of the hops. Malty sweet flavor with notes of dried fruit. Hoppy dry finish with a nice warming alcohol note.

Blue Max Liquors, Burnsville, Mn. - 12 oz bottle - 2005 edition. Murky, dark orange appearance, fluffy, thick off-white head. Very fragrant, wee bit of alcohol, some caramel, spruce and citrus in the aroma. Very well balaced. Some hoppy citrusy notes, maple syrup, spearmint, with a nectarine back end. Mouthfeel is thick and silky. One of the smoothest barley wines of this weight I have had.

2004 vintage via trade with notalush - Thanks Brandon! - Pours ruby with a big tan head that stayed pretty well. Nice aroma of caramel malts and c-hops. Some dark cherries there as well.. Flavor is very sweet at first. Notes of caramel and even a touch of brown sugar before the citrus grapefruit, pineapple, and a touch of orange take over on this. Still you seem to be left with a sweet lingering cherry and caramel aftertaste that keeps you coming back for more. Palate is full bodied and almost sticky sweet but very smooth and mouthcoating. Not a trace of the 10.5% alcohol found. Good stuff!

Bottle. Dark ruby colour with a big beige head. Dark fruits, floral hop aroma and taste. Medium to full body with a warming alcoholic finish.

Bottle. Hazy orange brown coloured with a beige head. Aroma of malts, caramel, dried fruits and hops. Flavour of malts, dried fruits, caramel, hops and pine needles.

2003 Vintage enjoyed on the night of Rob’s barleywine tasting. Thanks for the experience. This one opened as a gusher, I think due not to improper storage, but from a lot of yeast stored in the bottle. The color and palate is very grainy, a lot of yeast is floating around. Would make a good bread starter I imagine. The nose reflects this, with yeast notes dominating, but like a good champagne, its not as obvious on the palate. Aside from the graininess, I liked the flavors quite a bit. A bit too much hops for my liking, but there’s plenty of malty sweetness, lemon, grapefruit, and caramel there to match. Good stuff.

2004 bottle. sweet aroma. Complex flavour, too complex for me to describe, but its great I’ll say that. Very creamy texture adds to the enjoyability of this fine brew.

Bottle 2004 vintage, thanks go out kramer17801 for this one! Pours almost a solid light milk chocolate brown with a medium light tan head with a sort of yellow tinge. The aroma is powerful: carmelized sugar, rasins, cocoa, cherry, and a bit of tobacco. The flavor is also quite strong, elements of coffee, chocolate, dark fruits, sugary caramel malt, oak, vanilla, peat and a bit of smoke. Everything feels pretty smoothed out, all the flavors seems to be working with each other...the oaky sugary malt comes out most in the front, while the fruit, coffee and chocolate come out more in the finish. Although this beer is quite sweet it doesn’t come out overbearing over the tounge...it’s rich but not heavy which seems to be complemented by the bitter and dry ending. Quite a nice beer for after dinner, with dessert, or as a night cap. A great sipper overall.