Hair of the Dog Fred

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

Barch 69. Semi hazy golden apricot...nice rich lingering head. Aroma of amber malts, bread and nuts. Big body of rich malts and hops, caramel, honey, candy sugar, floral and bitter grapefruit hops, pine, peach, pear, and an alcohol bite. An intriguing, warming sweet and bitter finish.

Bottle from Made in Oregon store in the Portland, OR airport. Batch #68. Large frothy, fizzy ivory head that mostly diminished, virtually no lacing, and visible carbonation. Nose was malty, hoppy, citrus, fruity. Flavor was sweet, malty, hint of caramel, hoppy, fruity, citrus, and the ABV was noticeable. Tingly mouthfeel and medium body. While this is definitely not one of my favorite beer styles, this was very quaffable, very tasty, satisfying on the tastebuds, and most worthy of a try.

I seem to have had only odd experiences with this beer. The latest was a batch 5 that was eleven years old when I had it, courtesy of Shyam. The nose was mellow, golden, plum skins and malt. The flavor was prickled with carbonation and had a very old hop twang. Ends kinda bitter, kinda oxy. Old rate: Suffers from the same nonsensical largesse as Avery’s Grand Cru. I am not a big fan. Monstrous malt liquor flavors - huge rotting fruit sweetness. Keeps it under control better than The Beast, but geeze.

Batch 56 bottle thanks to mmtmatrix. Poured a deep golden color with a fluffy white head that left good lacing. Sweet, peachy, fruity aroma with a hint of hops. Flavor really mirrors the aroma, with a sweet, malty entry leads into a peachy, slightly citric finish with a touch of hop bitterness. Full and smooth, a real nice beer. Thanks Malcolm.

Bottle, Batch #70. Pours very dark and hazy apricot with an air tight white head that seems to have a orange tint to it. Bits of lacing spot the glass. Nose is sweet with citrus, apricot (both fresh as well as a sugary apricot syrup), honey, and fruit cake, with a great hop presence (ranging from spicy saaz to crisp pine). Booze also comes forth in the aroma letting you know that this will bring some heat along with complexity. Taste comes through in layers. Honey and graham cracker malt, citrus fruit syrups, and spicy hops are first to attack your taste buds. Mid-palate is sweet malts, honey, caramel, and grapefruit hops. The finish is piney and resinous hops, peach syrup, sweet and strong malt, all followed up by a swift kick of alcohol. Semi drying and slightly sticky in the finish. Mouth feel is that of an elixir, syrupy with super fine carbonation. Perfect warming in my stomach, not hot, to make this winter night cozy. The best American Barley Wine I’ve had to date, bar none.

2005 Vintage I think. Thanks to Islay for bringing this to my tasting!

Aroma is pretty awesome. Aroma is of dark fruit, caramel, honey. Just an awesome mouthfeel. Maybe I need to age some more barleywines, or maybe this is just good no matter what the age. Tis a shame that HoTD pulled out of MN. They have some excellent beers, and this one most definitely fits that mold.

Pours a very cloudy copper, nice frothy head. Sweet syrupy aroma with some fruit and malt. Tastes of apricot and spices, sweet and malty with balanced hops and a slightly bitter and tart finish. Very creamy and frothy. This is an excellent beer, seems just as much of a Belgian as barley wine in style.

Small sample from 12 oz. bottle consumed at tennisjoel’s tasting on 1-26-08. Batch 62. This was the eighth of ten beers that we tried and the one on which my notes started to suffer, as inevitably will happen at some point in a tasting. Classic aroma of a sweet barley wine: Candy sugar, light (peach) and dark (plum) pitted fruit, and fruitcake scents. Pours an amber / dark orange with a large amount of suspended particulate and a large amount of beige head. Produces nice lacing. The taste is sweet yet simultaneously bitter, spicy, and dry. Apricot, plum, and honey flavors. Thick and frothy in the palate. Hair of the Dog Fred is a solid barley wine across the board, and I very much enjoyed it, but it did not blow me away as I had hoped.