Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws (2003-)

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

Serve in Snifter

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Bottle, aged for 1 yr. Pours dark copper with a very large foamy head, poured half into a small glass and when I set the bottle down it kept foaming up and out. Aroma is of pear, spice, hops and alcohol. Starts out with a nice fruity sweetness, but some astringent hops and alcohol presence fights against it. The complex array of flavors in this brew to me just did not sync well for me, I was in the end disapointed.

2003 vintage. This brewery is sneaking up on me. I’ve grown to love Alesmith and Stone, but this brewery can’t seem to do anything wrong in my book. This ale pours very dark copper/brown colour with a ruby tint and a long lasting, very creamy-looking yellowish head. Sticky lace. Wow! The description of the beer just doesn’t do the complexity justice...and consider this.....a few of the bottles must have "over heated during shipping because they leaked big time in the case. They were sticky and definitely lower in volume than the others. Surprisingly , when openend they tasted great. No lie....I targeted them immediately so I could find a reason to complain to my shipper. What a surprise. Gorgeous sweet malty aroma, with cookie dough, caramel, vanilla, chocolate, and brown sugar. Also some notes of spice, wood, and I definitely get a hoppy aroma, but it isn’t really piney or floral as I come to expect from hops. More of a vinous, herbal character is exhibited. Flavour is also delicious, immediately you are hit by the huge malty character, molasses, soy sauce, dark fruits, which is then followed by spice, some herbal/medicinal hops and an very long, warming, finish. Enough bitterness to let you know it’s there, but definitely isn’t overpowering. A very good ale, definitely undervalued.

Deep orange in color with a tan head. Some floaties, but clear. Full bodied. Alcohol burn. Hoppy flavor. Nice beer. Enjoyable.

Special thanks goes out to Tchrome for this one. Deep orange, tan head. A couple of floaties, but clear. Aroma of hops, sawdust, carmel, and alcohol. Thick hoppy flavor. A little woody. Hot. The flavors could meld a little more, but otherwise very nice. This is a long term ager.

12/3/03. Poured out of 12 oz. bottle, bought at Stuffed Sandwich in San Gabriel, CA 12/3/03. 2003 Vintage. Big head that fades. Medium brown-amber color. Aroma is very lovely. Menthol?? Flavor is minty, sweet, bitter bitter but very smooth. Incredibly complex and full body. Burn and bitter hops with richness that lingers. Finish is surprisingly smooth and no less complex. Just a terrific brew all-around, and I was surprised to find that it wasn’t more highly-regarded on the site.

Ruby Brown. Quite fragrant in its bouquet. Odd, difficult to describe, with notes of dried herbs, cinnamon, rotting red apple, hot sauce and peppers. The hops are enormous in this barley wine. They don’t really come into play until the mid-palate, but when they do huge flavors of pine, lemon, wood and herbs come about, along with an incredible, overpowering bitterness. The malts are full of caramel and sweet sugar glazed dark fruits. Daunting, griping, textured, full body. Just an incredible beer.

sweet cherry cran/raspberry nose, huge tan head over a mirky chestnut body, a very fruity barley wine, clean and delicate palate, sweet and brutal, thanks to hair of dog we can celebrate christmas any day of the year.

Orange-amber colour, small white head. Clean orangey aroma with hints of dried fruit, pepper and alcohol. Grapefruit and citrus peels in flavour with notes of alcohol, honey, pepper and earth. Long soft and warming finish.

Bottled.Reddish amber. Gingery nose. Warming and salty, very malty. Grapefruity hopsfight with licorice and alcohol. Rich and soft but bold. All the flavours doesn’t really mix.

2003 version. Typical HOTD gigantic sized off-white head, long-lasting. Murky medium brown hue. Huge aroma of multi-faceted hops and dense sweet toffee malt. Alcohol is indeed more apparent than in the 2002 version in mouth, but it’s barley-wine ish all the way. Flavors of plums, orange, mint, pine, cookies, mango...Yeasty feel, good balance despite the ridiculously high sweetness: there’s enough acidity and bitterness to counter it. Medium body, lively carbonation for the style. Lovely and complex nightcap. A bruiser of a brew.