Hair of the Dog Fred

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

Thanks to riversideAK. Aroma contains a lot of caramel, butterscotch, alcohol. Hazy golden pour withe a moderate off-white head. Strong caramel flavor pairs with an equally strong earthy, dusty note. Butterscotch seems off here, as does a disharmony between the pronounced alcohol warming and the dustiness. Medium to full body, smooth, highly warming.

Batch 73. Bottle from scrizz. This pours out really thick, a golden-amber color and a huge khacki head with a ton of it staying on top. Gobs of lacing left on the glass. The aroma shows piney hops, caramel, toffee, dark fruits and a strong maple scent. There’s also a floral presence in the nose that quickly takes a back seat. The flavors are all over the place. This requires more than a few sips to rate. At first I didn’t think it was overly complex but there’s so much more to this the further I work through the bottle. On one hand, the flavors are rather hoppy with spiciness and a fruity zest. Then the next sip will be quite sugary showing lots of brown sugar and maple with some plum character and even molasses. There’s just a lot going on and overall there’s the right amount of bitter hops to counter the sweet flavors. A great beer. Thanks Clint! I look forward to the wood aged version.

Bottle from Beerlando. Pours a hazy brown/gold. Nose is full of honey and distant herbal hops. The taste is pretty exciting, lots of honey notes to counterbalance the herbal floral notes. Definitely a ton of honey notes, though. Pretty tasty stuff...

Hazy brown pour with a sudsy white head. Aroma contains raisin, dark sugars, molasses, caramel banana, peach, mild citrus, and subtle dough. Flavor is exceptionally sweet with molasses and brown sugar coming through powerfully. Slight citrus complements a fruity cake note. Palate is rich, thick, and mildly effervescent with an awesome alcohol note in the finish. Goddamn.

Opaque brown pour with reddish tints. Aroma holds tons of caramel, brown sugar, molasses, raisin, and prune. Also notes of banana, peach, and a bit of orange, and even a touch of dough. Flavor is great; tons of brown sugar, caramel, toffee, and the rye malt comes through as well. Hop character is subtle, but present, with a bit of dry bitterness that complements the sweet malt characteristics beautifully. Palate is exquisite, probably my favorite part of this beer; smooth, creamy, but the alcohol is expertly applied at the finish, and it lingers perfectly on the tongue. Second excellent barley wine of the night.

@Freaktoberfest from bottle, pours brown-orange hazy with a medium head, powerful aroma of pine, grapefruit, peach and citrus, sweety with some cheese acidity and peach, finishes with grapefruit bitterness (quite intense), complex and sticky. Another great stuff from HOTD.

12 oz bottle into a tulip glass. It’s a gusher! Overflowed upon opening. Pours golden/orange with a huge frothy off-white head. Aroma is massively sweet, with yeast, sweet doughy bread, caramel, and light fruit. Taste is also sticky sweet, with heavy malt, fruit, and a hop bite at the end. Mouthfeel is sticky and a bit syrupy. One of the sweetest beers I’ve ever had, a bit much, though clearly a quality brew.

Bottle from batch 75 at Monk’s Cafe. Pours a reddish orange color, mildly hazy with a small head. The aroma is cherries wood, alcohol fresh pear and crab apple tree. Flavor is anise candy and cherries with earthy tones, a little sweet but stunningly delicious.