Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws (2003-)

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.

(Bottle 35,5 cl) Vintage 2003. Pours amber with a slight haze and a huge, creamy, yellowish head leaving a neat lacework. Caramelish nose with a nice edge of aroma hops. Nice, full body with lots of fruit - almost perfumy - exotic fruits actually. Distinct sweetness balanced by some bitterness in the finish. Tasted at the Oklahoma Beer tasting March 06 hosted by mjames and lilannie. 240306

Bottled, 2005 Vintage. Native copper red colored pour with a thin layer of even, off-white head. A pleasant flurry of yeasty sediment clouds the beer, giving it a muddy consistancy. Strong hoppy presence is apparant in the nose, but is supplemented by honey, fresh mint leaves, juicy strawberry, english toffee, and a touch of anise upon further examination. The texture is a bit thinner than expected; the crisp hoppiness is a bit surprising given the beer’s murky appearance. The hoppy tongue splash, however, is a great palate cleanser for the flavor parade that immediately follows. Under-ripe cherries, rye seed, raisins, and dried figs march on through. A gin-like resin from the hops adds to it in a fashionable manner. Some spice livens up the brew along with a peanut butter creaminess. Final finish of hops cleanses the palate for a second time, leaving a smack of lemongrass and cayenne pepper. Great brew; wish I had the patience and another beer to age 10 years for another tasting.

Bottled 03. Poured creek water brown with a thin tan head. Aroma is strong malts with a good hop presence, some carmel, dirty earth, and roasted hops. Flavor is slightly sour, well malted, some sweet floral notes, and a hint or orange peel. A spicey malt mouthfeel with some carbonation.