Hair of the Dog Dave

Formerly brewed at Hair of the Dog Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Portland, Oregon USA

I enjoyed a two-ounce sample of this thanks to an auction for charity. As a group, we split a 375ml bottle. Pours a simply beautiful brown/copper color without a hint of carbonation. We sampled this along side a 2007 Utopias. Dave was mellow and welcoming, purring like a cat, a ton of complexity with raisins, caramel, toffee, chocolate notes and a slight smoke presence. Simply delicious. The young un-behaved 2007 Utopias was still screaming and could use a good 8 to 10 years of time out. This is truly an amazing beer worthy of all the attention.

Tasted @ Hair of the Dog Brewing Company in Portland.
Big thanks to Alan for letting me get some of these. There’s still some left in the barrel!
Ow what a special and very smooth brew this is. Brown, copper colored brew. Aroma is sweet, caramel, dark fruits. And alcoholic, the cognac kinda way. Dark fruits and licorice, dark chocolate in the flavor. It’s very, very smooth and silky. Complex and balanced at the same time. Perfect combination of everything. Highly enjoyable, enjoy every sip. Really special.

Tasted at Kans place brought by Jason - thanks my friend! A deep brown beer with no head. Vinous aroma with plenty of caramel, mocha, dark malt and a nice alcohol sensation. Like a good dessert wine, strong and powerfull yet balanced. Flavor is dominated by cocoa with a dry mouthfeel like cocoa powder. Strong and vinous and rather sweet of course but not over the top. Like a good liquor, extremely smooth. I sense some apricot and a salty hint in there as well. No doubt an insane beer and if it is 29% or not I don’t know, but it feels at least as heavy as Utopias. A great experience!

Many, many thanks to Jason for allowing me to sample this rare treat! Pours a thick vein of charred goodness with zero carbonation. The most fantastic legs I’ve ever seen on a beer cling to the glass enticing me to partake of this eau de vie. Tremendous amount of kettle caramelization in the flavour. Definitely a pronounced amount of alcohol, but it has been nicely muted over the years. Huge notes of grape, cognac and vanilla. Reminds me of a fine cognac. Deeper into the experience, molasses and light soy work their way in. Although, I must say not even on the same level as Avery’s Mephistopheles. In the way of technical expertise that was involved, a masterpiece. Unbelievable how they managed to not only produce the world’s highest alcohol beer, but also made it taste absolutely wonderful.

Big thanks to Ughsmash for sharing this beer, I really never thought I would get a sample of this beer, but here it is right in front of me. Syrupy, sticky, dark brown with red tint, no head, but still some light bubbles it I swirl it enough. If nothing else this beer stuck to the glass like no other with a viscosity that created legs that could stand up to any fine wine. Aroma is vanilla, cherry, clean alc with some dirty dark fruit, oxidation gives off a little soy. Sweet, syrupy flavor dark fruit, soy, firey big alc, long lasting burn, vanilla, cherry, tofee. Syrupy burning, medium body. What can I say, this beer is huge, what is surprising is that while the beer is boozy, it still is quite well hidden for how high an ABV it has. The only thing that I can compare this beer to is Utopias which is a lot more firey and lacks the complexity that this beer has, what a stand alone in the beer world. Thanks Jason!

375ml bottle. RATING #671!! biggest thanks goes to Ughs for sharing this amazing treat with the rest of us. never thought i would be able to get the chance to try this and it deserves all the accolades that it has garnished. onto the rating.....dark thick and syrupy maple brown sugar pour with absolutely no head to begin or end with. truly splendid legs with this one as it coated the glass as it ran down....aroma was thick and chewy toffee, vanilla, and other boozy vapors. sweetness similar to that of a port wine. some soy to go along with it but it worked.....sweet sticky and chewy flavors with some anise and black licorice making their way through. some heat as it works its way down the throat but overall, it hides the 29% remarkably well. no carbonation to be seen and it all meshes well together. excellent, excellent brew.

Thanks Jason for sharing this beer! The beer pours to a dark brown body with ruby highlights. Flat and glassy body. The beer ruins a glass with it’s superior legs. Rigoddameddiculous legs. The aroma is amazing. Rich maple syrup, tobacco, dark brown sugar, super complex balance with only a light alcoholic touch for 29%. If my nose could turn into a dick, it’d !$%* this beer. The flavor is rich and syrupy maple and concentrated cereal grains, barley, and a touch of alcohol. But at 29% it’s surprisingly tame. The palate is rich, creamy, warming, with a hidden alcohol. Sick! Love the complex caramel and winey character and vanilla.

Worcestershire sauce bottle, 375ml. Poured deep, murkier brown with no head but some mighty fine legs! The aroma picked up deep, dark caramel, chocolate, and toffee with tar and maple rising greatly with warmth.. some spicy alcohol was evident, but nowhere near the level you’d expect.. amped-up port wine and more maple singe the nose hairs right at the back. The flavor had deep port-laden maple syrup and charred, well-aged caramel at the core.. salty soy and dark chocolatey notes come through in a second wave.. some older oaky notes at the back with warming maple and soy again.. warmed up the belly, but the booze factor was somehow held in check.. wow! Full bodied, thick, and syrupy on the palate.. heat fell into the stomach.. great balance. Phenominal!