Hair of the Dog Cherry Adam from the Wood

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

Bottle 35,5 cl. Courtesy of mj. Pours a clear deep brown with a reddish hue and a small, rough beige head. Tart, fruity and oaky aroma. Medium body, rather low in carbonation. Tart, berry-like fruitiness with distinct notes of bourbon. Warming alcoholic finish. 301109

12 fl oz bottle. Pours dark brown with a small tan head. Aroma is dark wooden and light vanilla. Sweet, malty and vanilla flavoured. Mild acidic and dark dense chocolate malt flavoured. Dark lingering malty flavoured into a lingering dense malty flavoured finish.

Bottle from 08. Pours dark brown with nice head to it. Has a leathery, cherry, wood smell to it. Has a wood, cherry, caramel taste to it. Maybe some other dark fruit in there as well. Still a bit hot and needs time in the bottle

Bottle thanks to a few folks. Pour is deep mohogany with a small tan head. The room is permeated by the aroma of cherry, bourbon, old ale, and vanilla. Further smells also yield some mild acidity, faint coconut, and balsamic vinegar. Huge legs on the glass. The flavor is almost bitter intially. That quickly turns to alcohol, mild sweetness, notable wood, mild sherry, very faint fruitiness, old red wine, black pepper, and a mild burn in the finish. Very happy to have tried this, however it is not easy to drink. Certainly a sipper, and maybe not my favorite. A little rough around the edges. It does have an intense nose and looks damn good in the glass.

2009 bottle - Pours mahogany with no head to speak of. Intense smell, with deep, rich black cherries, lots of oak, and a bit of heat. It’s tart, but still syrupy sweet. The taste is a bit overbearing, real sweet and syrupy, and cloying. It hits with some overripe cherries, sweet bourbon, and caramel. It’s just too much--super sweet with a bit too much heat on the finish. It’s complex, but also medicinal. Couldn’t get into this one.

12 oz bottle. Pours a dark brown body with a small creamy dark beige head that retained as a thick ring. Nice nose, dark fruits, peat, some soy like oxidation, roast, chocolate, yeast, some light oak, and maybe a light hint of sourness. The flavor is a little briney and salty at first with an olive juice and peat undertone. Then the Adam comes out a bit more as I get more accustomed to it. More roasty, chocolaty, and fruity. The cherry really is an afterthought that comes out late on the finish. The oak really only comes out on the back end also. Medium bodied with a bit of malty clinginess on the finish. Very nice minimal carbonation. Pretty nice, but I think that I’ll just take a regular Adam over this anytime.

VINTAGE 2008 Appears to be black, but closer inspection reveals it to be very dark brown with a dark ruby tint. Pours with a totally minimal head. No retention. Pretty good lacing, suprisingly. Smells like Adam, only better. Nose is of huge cherry notes mixed with a bourbon-like backbone. Good oak presence. Big caramel malt notes. Lots of dark fruits mix with molasses notes. Hints of vanilla, smoke, dark chocolate and butterey biscuits. Very slight booziness. Quite a complex nose. It smells like dessert. Taste is quite complex, also. Cherries and lots of other dark fruits, right out in front. Good bourbon notes mixed in. Lots of smoke, leather, and hints of oak. Dark chocolate, vanilla, caramel, molasses, and brown sugar. The sherry barrel aging comes through in the finish. Mouthfeel is okay. This is a thick, viscous brew. The lack of any real carbonation hurts this one and leaves it overly syrupy. The saddest part is that this is my only bottle of this. I wish that I had several others so that I could lay them down for awhile and see how they progress. This is a beer with an amazing level of smells and flavors. The lack of carbonation really leaves it too syrupy, which costs it points. Despite the one minor flaw, this is an excellent brew.

Holy sweet jeezus. This beer is a hell of a sipper, to be sure. Pours a lovely dark dark brown with almost no head (not that it needs it) and a touch of rose around the edges. Aroma is a heady sweet mix of malt, vanilla bourbon, and a touch of fruitiness. This stuff tastes absolutely divine. Starting out very warm with the bourbon and sweet malty body mixing well with a touch of oak, and then the back end dissolves into a little bit of dark fruit. Just a superbly crafted beer. I gain more respect for Alan Sprints by the day.