Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws (2003-)

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

300th Rating!!! 2003 Vintage (11.5%), 12 oz bottle via trade with Kramer17801, many thanks Jason. I’ve been saving this for a while, and I have a 04 bottle that I may very well age another year to see if it tastes like this bad boy. Upon opening the bottle the aroma came right out and greeted me like a fruit beer or a big double IPA does, just with a different smell. Pours cloudy dirty red with orange hues. There is a thin parshly bubbly white head that is ends up like a big rignt. The aroma is nice and full with notes of dried fruit, smell like I expect a BW to smell. Taste is sweet with a large hoppyness in the forefront, it is a little hoppier than I usually prefer but this is certainly a solid brew, the alchol is well hidden and the mouth feel is quite nice. Another successful brew by HotD.

2005 vintage dark caramel color with thin persistent cream head. almost a bit sweet with a grainy feel. very good. 2007 special edition no head retention, little syrupy body and with mellow complex flavors. even better than the 05.

The capped looked like this might not be a good bottle. Turned out to be fine. Thats 3/3 so far with HOTD bottles. Taste was caramel, honey, brown sugar, dark fruits. Very smooth and almost fruity throughout. But not too sweet or sticky. Really enjoyed it.

Copper colour with no head. No carbonation. Aroma of fruit, hops, honey and alcohol. Strong malty flavour with much bitterness and alcohol. Finish like a good wine. Sip this. Good with chocolate.

12 oz 2004 bottle thanks to pineypower. Wow did this one hold up nicely. Poured a deep dark ruby reddish brown with a small bubbly beige head, actually lots of head for a 5 year old BW. Aroma of chocolate, toffee, caramel, vanilla extract, sherry, citrus hops and alcohol. The flavor is mostly dominated by caramel and toffee but a little bit of oxidation is noticed and some cardboard notes are creeping in. Thick syrupy body with still noticable carbonation despite the age of this one. I’m still impressed how the hops have held up in this one and how great it was drinking.

2009 bottle Picked up at Full Throttle Bottles. Dark brown in color with a small head that sits around the edge of the top; looks like a great beer to me, but I haven’t had a bad Hair of the Dog. Definitely a strong hop aroma with this thing. Nice pine-type hop aroma. Definitely a subtle sweet malt backing that compliments the pine almost citrus hop flavor. Slight sweet dough aroma. Fairly nuanced beer, but I think some time on this one would really improve the aroma, and bring out those malts a bit more. Definitely get a sweet subtle honey aroma. The sweet honey/malt flavor comes through more to me in the flavor than in the aroma. Hops are still there. Still a subtle pine and slight citrus hop. Pilsner malt is definitely there too. Ah, a nice smooth flavor. Very good offering from Hair of the Dog.

Poured from a 2007 version bottle from a friend who brought it down from portland. Copper and murky in color with a thin tan head. Very silky syrupy smooth on the palate. The aromas are subtle fruit and malt. Flavors are oustanding and complex of prune, fig and raisin. Mild hop undertones with sweet caramel maltiness. Nice lasting finish. Wish I had more for sure.

2006 $4.09 bottle from Hi-Time. Whoa, what a thick solid sediment at the bottom of the bottle, 5mm! Even after carrying bottle around, it doesn’t budge. Poured into glass with no head. Stopped pouring before yeasty liquid came out. Then drank the yeasty remains in the bottle...about the same taste as the unyeasty portion. Pure amber color. Malty aroma (indiscernable hops). Tastes get better as the beer warms up. Very sweet, mild hops profile. I really like beers like this. Needs some more aging, and alchohol nose is a bit stronger, but already excellent.8,3,9,4,18:4.2 2006 version, 1 yr old. awesome, buttery malty oak aged aroma (even though it isn’t) 10,3,9,4,19:4.5