Hair of the Dog Cherry Rose

Bottle from Hi-Time Wine. Baffled that I am the only bottle rating. Even more baffled I havent entered it yet as this was Spring 08. That this is based on a Tripel is the most incomprehensible. Cherry Rose is full, mellow and warming and might be cloying if not for the supreme balance.

Tap at brewery. Pours a nice reddish/purple? color. Very nice pinkish/purple head forms and last for quite a bit. Good lacing. Medium bodied with good carbonation levels. Sourish cherry aroma with a bit of woodiness. A bit tart initially although not tremendously so. Big woody/nutty presence from the pits left in the fruit. NIcely done!

(Draft: Hair Of The Dog Brewery in Portland, OR) Different from the "regular" Rose in that there is no use of beets, hibiscus or red peppercorns, but no matter, this is about as red as any beer I’ve seen. The cherry flavor is unique in that it is not sweet, so it’s more realistic in that sugars apparently aren’t added to create a more "palatable" sweetness. There’s also a gentle spicy character from the yeast. The pinkish white head maintains a thin layer, but leaves lots of foam on the glass. I only wish I could have had a few minutes to comtemplate this beer without trying to carry on a conversation with Alan. Gotta try this again.

RBSG 2004, on cask at the brewery: Hazy red with a small white head. Like Rose but with a huge sour cherry component to it. Some additional sweetness comes up front and then it ends fairly dry.

RBSG 2004 Thanks again to Alan Sprints for providing the RB crew w/ some HoTD rarities. On tap, reddish color, the cherry flavor is very nice. This is a very nice fruit beer.

Sampled @ brewery, RBSG 2004. Bright murky red, wonderful appearance with a small white head. The nose and flavor are dominated by the cherries, with a nise tartness that is kriek-like... a little wood or pit in there, nice bubbly semi-sweet cherry fruit. Thanks Alan.

Cloudy, chunky amber-red body, topped by an ever so slighlty red hued head. The aroma is sweet and very cherry infused. The flavor almost works, sweet cherry, with some almost lambic like qualities but there is a slight bit of astringency that develops, probably jus tneeds to age a little more and it will be spectatcular. Dry finish, medium body.

On tap at the RBSG ’04: Pours a deep pink with a lightly pink frothy head. Aromas of cherries and that’s about it. Starts of very tart with a little sweetness. Very easy drinking with the cherries and the oaky sourness playing scenter stage but the malts do a nice job of keeping up. A slight bitterness at the end. The best fruit beer I have had.