Hair of the Dog Adam

Brewed by Hair of the Dog Brewing Company
Style: Traditional Ale
Portland, Oregon USA

Update 11/18/08: Bottle, batch 70. Pours dark brown with no head. Aroma of cocoa powder, apple skins, yeast, and a light fruitiness. Flavor of dark and light fruits and light bitter chocolate/roastiness. Sweet and warming. Nice beer, very tasty. I don’t know if the batch I had just wasn’t as tasty as the earlier one or if my palate has changed in the past year (more likely), but I just didn’t find this beer as awesome as I once did.

Original rating 2/19/08: I love this beer! Pours dark black with a small, persistant, light colored head. Aroma of light and dark fruits: apple, pear, raisin, fig. Makes you think you’re gonna drink a Belgian, but then you take a sip of it and it’s so rich and hearty. Tastes of roastiness, chocolate, nuts, coffee, vanilla, earthiness. This is one of the most complex beers I’ve ever had. Amazing. 9/4/10/5/18

Shared bottle with Timfoolery, bought at Monument Liq. in Concord. Poured a very dark color and had a very complex smell. Carmel, chocolate and many others. Very strong tastes of chocolate and roasted nuts. Only mildly bitter. An excellent brew for a cold winter night.

Bolttle from Monument Liq in Concord. Poured with immeasurable head and thick, black body. When they talk about beers being a meal, this is definitely in that category. This brew was strong from the second it hit my lips. Tastes of chocolate, coffee, and woodsmoke were very apparent. It beat down my lamb and potatoes dinner, and filled my mouth with roasted malt flavor. Also, it had a nice, crisp finish for such a strong ale. Not my favorite, but still very good.

<i>2008-11-29, 9-5-8-5-18=</i>
Very dark brown color, with a huge compact head. Aroma of caramel, chocolate, light molasses, nuts and spices (pepper, vanilla), very light smokey, alcohol and phenol; complex, as the components shift and come in waves. Strong body structure, with a very strong dark chocolate flavor, perfectly complemented by the caramel and some malt, medium sweetness, but surpassed by the roasted malt bitterness, with hints of old wood, leather and liquorice; all this covers an excellent hopping. The final, powerful as well, and warming, has the character of dark chocolate and roasted nuts. Wonderful.

<i>2007-08-27, 8-5-8-4-18=43</i>
Dark chestnut color; huge, creamy head. Aroma of caramel, with a touch of vanilla wood and liquorice, some alcohol too. Powerful body, with an excellent mix of flavors, caramel over all, corrected by a dash of roasted malt, rubharb and liquorice; the final becomes more coffeish, with a reminder of toffee. The palate sees a struggle between the medium-high bitterness and the alcohol warmth. Very well brewed, a pleasure to drink. Excellent.

What a treat! Huge thanks to GMCC2181 for sending this one my way. Had no idea what to really expect, as "Traditional Ale" seems to be a catch-all category, but this one was awesome. Pours black with a slight purple hue. A head unlike anything I’ve seen. The "soft cotton-like" description gunhaver left is spot on. The head filled up a third of the glass on the initial pour. Aroma is very fuitish; apples and plums, probably some peaches. Flavor is just as complex; light chocolate, caramel, dark fruit and slight candy. I chewed this one and it brought out more flavor. The alcohol is pretty apparent for a 10%, which is usually something I don’t care for, but it actually suited this beer perfectly and I didn’t mind it at all. A very warming beer, simply delicious. Had a little too much alcohol on the aftertaste (seperate from the flavor) and that’s why the palate score is just a "3". Everything else is top notch.

Bottle. Pours black with tons of tan carbonated soft cotton-like head. And it stays there, too. Never really settles down, but makes for pleasant theater. Prominent lacing remains on the glass. Really not sure what to expect here. Aroma is fresh raisins, apricot, peach, smoked meat. Very unique to say the least. Flavor is very different and throws a curve ball at your senses. Roasted coffee, toffee, caramel, smoky chocolate. The roasted taste and texture can’t be stressed enough. It really envelops the entire brew and makes this beer something very unique and fascinating. Starts off sweet on the palate, but finishes dry. Alcohol is barely detected. I’m not too sure what the brewers were going for, but I love it.

Bottle from Pabobcat. Batch #63. I will first say that, perhaps because of the type of this brew, I was expecting a much different brew, and I am really blown away. Pours a deep purple that is close to black, with a thin off-white head. The aroma was really great; dark fruit and a musty earthiness. The taste is similar; plumb, raisins, dark cherries, and a earthy dry roasted malt. Utterly amazing. Unique and really well made.

Bottle from Whole Foods Market, New York, USA, surreptitiously consumed at St Aldates Tavern, Oxford, England, on the Ratebeer Oxford Day. Batch 68. Dark brown with a large coffee coloured head. Big malty aroma. Sweet, alcoholic taste with black treacle, stewed plum and sundry other fruit, nut and vegetal notes. Mid bitter finish. Utterly different from the gentle English session beers that we were drinking on the day. Which I suppose is just the thing that makes the world of beer so wonderful.