Hair of the Dog Fred

12oz bottle from LarryPitonka. Aroma: Nice maltiness with a touch of bready yeast and caramel. Interesting hop character with a bunch of citrus, pineapple and mango, and some light floral notes. Some light peppery spiciness and alcohol comes forward as it warms. Appearance: Deep golden in color with a little orange tinge. Off-white head was big and creamy with good retention. Nice lacing. Flavor: Medium sweet maltiness with notes of bread dough and caramel. Some raisin and vanilla. Complex hop flavor. Light resin, Citrus and pineapple, big earthy notes, and some light spice and grass. Medium bitterness. Fairly dry finish with some bitterness carrying over. Palate: Medium-full bodied. Medium carbonation. Light alcohol warming over entire mouth. Overall: Nice beer, but I preferred Fred from the Wood.

Bottle via LarryPinkotia. Cloudy, orange/amber color. Smell of hops, orange peal, cinnamon, pie crust, malt, brown sugar, prunes, and alcohol. Taste of spice, hops, brown sugar, dark fruit, orange peal, bread, red wine, caramel, grass and a touch of tobacco. Wonderful!

Bottle, Batch 63. Poured a deep golden color with a thick white head. Sticky, malty aromas with copious amounts of hop smells, citrus, floral, earthy, spicy. Those 10 different hops sure add lots of aroma complexity. Sweet malty flavor, caramel, toffee. Smooth mouthfeel and a sweet finish. A very good beer.

Bottle, batch #65. Cloudy orange brown color, big off-white head. Aroma of hop, some sour fruit like pineapple, caramel malt. Strong caramel malty taste, alcohol is present. Some sugar sweetness, cognac-like. Slight bitter and bit sour palate.

Bottle from trade with CaptainCougar. Pours a hazy orangish amber color with a full frothy creamy head. This is truely an amazing brew. The aroma makes your mouth water. Very complex and balanced. All of the flavors of toffee, malt, plums, hops and vanilla and many others all come together in 12 part harmony. The taste is just as good as the aroma and the looks. It just can’t get much better than this. Cheers!

Bottle: poured dark honey color with no head at all (might have gotten a bad bottle). Aroma is fruity, slight molasses notes. Taste is a little more pronounced molasses, thick on the tongue. finish ends quickly, but is mostly the diluted fruity taste. Overall not that impressive, but still pretty tasty

Bottle. Batch #65. Clear amber color with a small fizzy virtually none off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, caramel, ligth to moderate hoppy, moderate alcoholic. Initial flavor is heavy sweet and moderate bitter, finish flavor is moderate sweet and heavy bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft, finish feel is light alcoholic.

bottle split with Muenster for rating #900. Pours very nice, deep burgundy with varying shades depending on the depth of the beer. There is a fantastic tan head on top that lasts and lasts. Aroma is powerfully hoppy, yet somehow not aggressive like a IIPA. Many of the more acidic, biting notes are absent, leaving a soft citrus, flower bouquet with notes of pineapple, orange zest. Oaken scents are noted along with dark spices and tobacco. Mouthfeel is savory. It’s slick and clingy with very appropriate carbonation. Hops are everywhere in the flavor with a delicious, deep world of bright, floral flavors. Plenty of malts are present with hints of caramel, peat, cigar, vanilla, earth, macadamia nuts. This is so complex and bold, I love it. The finish leaves just a slight burn over my palate and is very warming. Tremendous brew here. I have to say this is way better than the barrel aged version, in my humble opinion. I really wish we could get some HoftD offerings somewhere remotely close to my home. [Oct 23, 2007] Bottle batch #59. This stuff is about two years old now and I have to say I’m a little skeptical going into this. The pour is just as I remembered, thick with beautiful layers beneath the white, frothy head. This is some of the best head retention I’ve ever seen. Lacing is dense after a swirl. I do get some muted, oxidized hop notes but they are not off-putting here. Rich floral aromas still highlight things with additional hints at pineapple. The flavor really shines with some age on it. Everything has melded nicely and I get very few "dead" qualities. It’s richly sweet, but not excessive at all. Notes of honey, toffee, peanut brittle, citrus abound. This beer is amazingly well made, it is soaked with professionalism and craftsmanship. The bottom line: though I did greatly enjoy this bottle, ( very rare for me to enjoy a 2-year old brew) I prefer the fresher Fred as it has some outstanding hop qualities and clashing flavors which I love, that eventually fade.