Hair of the Dog Fred from the Wood

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

Serve in Snifter

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Honey apricot. Tightly-packed covering of sticky foam. Sappy and pungently oaky aromatics with brown sugar and muted phenols. Soft carbonation. Feisty phenols collide with very subtle sprucelike hops which are immediately overwhelmed by highly brash and unrefined hop flavors. Rather than the hops easing you in with soft nuances, they instead unleash a tongue lashing sting along with depthless leafy elements which only hinder the body. Brash citric-rind hop flavors generate more unyielding acidity while sassy oak and vanillin continue to exert their simplistic force, beneath. Plenty of gullet warmth from the alcohol. Ghostlike malts are overridden by a harsh phenolic dryness and thus fail to contribute and real texture. Combination of medicine and oak impart a cedary effect. Oak offers little else than a raw, one-dimensional pungency. No tannins and only the lightest skim of oaken dryness. Finishes soggy and heavily mucky, as medicine, peppery alcohol, and bitter grapefruit assault the palate. All the while, annoying oak pungency lingers for what seems like an eternity. Overall, the hops are extremely soggy, acidic, simplistic, terribly brash, and sorely lack definition and brightness. I should note that I’m not a huge fan of their yeast, so I made sure to let the yeast completely settle to the point of there being no haze whatsoever. Despite this, it’s still responsible for a large portion of the astringency, and when coupling that with the abundance of medicine and hop brashness, this becomes fatiguing after only a few swallows. As is the case with so many other HotD ales, this is showing early signs of infection (bottle-conditioning yeast is likely the culprit). Therefore I predict this will do nothing but rapidly deteriorate as it ages. My humble advice to HotD would be to do what Southampton has done and find a different yeast for bottle conditioning. No doubt a commendable effort for a great cause.

Thanks to Enjoyit. Pours amber with a tiny beige head. Aroma is wild honey, caramel, darker sweet fruits, sour berries, syrup, oak, vanilla, sugary, weak oxidized, raisins and some fainted hops in the background. Taste is sour berries, honey, syrup, alcohol, very dry wood and some fainted hops in the background. Yummmy ..

Bottle courtesy of Enjoyit. Clear amber pour, small rim of head. Aroma has spicy bourbon and wood, vanilla, lots of honey, white raisins, nuce malt conplexity. Red currants, fudgy malts, toffey, very sweet over all. The taste is much like the aroma, very sweet, lots of toffey and bourbon, light hints of dal fruits and white raisins, figs. Light carbonation, chewy mouthfeel, light hops in the finish. Good one.

2008 vintage. The screams of drink me coming from the bottle proved to be too much tonight. Pours a clear deep amber/copper color with a huge beige head that persists forever and leaves lots of sticky lace on the way down. Smells of caramel, brown sugar, alcohol, slight bit of sherry, lightly earthy and sweet dark fruity. Taste is caramel and sugary sweet with an earthy herbal edge and a distinct bit of alcohol presence. I could sip on this thing all night long if only that damn bottle wasn’t so small. Medium to thick body with a moderate level of carbonation and a sweet almost syrupy mouthfeel. Wood aged, but I get very of that in the aroma or flavor. It’s a damn fine barleywine just the same. Maybe the wood was subtle and has faded, but I’d drink the shit out of these if I could.

On tap @ the brewery - 2008 vintage. Deep amber pour with a sparse head. Aromas of brown sugar sweetness, oak, vanilla, toffee, and a hint of pine. Flavor is warming with lots of rich malt and some wood.

2009 vintage. The beer pours an amber color with a off-white head. The aroma is full of oak and dark fruit, with a little bit of cherry coming through. The flavor is a lot more complex. I get some oak and wood notes, as well as some cherry and cinnamon. There is also a strong yeast character, as well as some caramel malt. Overall, the oak is quite strong. Medium mouthfeel and medium carbonation. Glad I got to try this one.

08 Bottle. Clear amber gold, thin head. Aroma of oak, dark fruit, light berry tart, toffee. Taste is sweet toffee, some tart fruit, earthy, funky, lots of wood (insert splinter reference here). Medium body, soft carbonation, lemony finish, awesome, complex beer.

33 cl. / 2009 Vintage bottle split @ home with Belgbeergeek: A: dark amber / red fruits with a small white head, smell is bourbon going into a sweet barley wine, caramel, slightl vintage, above all lots of sweet caramel, T: über sweet caramel, lots of fruits, dark grapes, apricot, sweet burbon, vintage, dark sugar, very slight bitter aftertaste, B: nicely, slightly sticky with low carb, most likely even better fresh

Bottle @ Armin’s house. Hazy, brownish orange appearance with an off white head. Very rich, fresh oaky, organic woody, grassy, dark fruity, apricot, rich, amazing aroma. Pretty strong, fairly boozy flavor but incredibly rich with a shit load of fresh oak, dark fruits, citrusy fruits, tangy, rich, fairly caramelized sweet malty flavor. This baby is a winner.

12oz bottle, 2007 vintage. Pours a dark amber color with a thin white head. Aroma is sweet, oaky, vanilla. A bit heavy on the palate with nice, smooth carbonation. Flavor is sweet, woody, oak, vanilla, a little smokey, Tobacco, with a sweet, smokey finish. Excellent.

Bottle shared at RBWG- Nose is vanilla, coconut, wet wood...Taste is chewy malts, vanilla, oak, coconut, honey..Palate is thick with some heavy sweetness..