Hair of the Dog Dave

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

RBSG 2004: 9 years old, on tap, at the brewery: A firery combination of orange, red and ruby, over which a small head slowly dies. Burnt plum, toffee, brown sugar and vanilla attack your senses, while nuts dominate the port-like aromas. It starts sweet and gets pretty sweet; your mouth tingles, tongue heats up and then only a mild warming as you swallow the elixir. Holy crap. The brewery claims it is this mellow because of its age and that it was hot when it was younger. Westvleteren Abt 12, -0.1.

My top beer for 2006. It’s not retired, Dave is just hiding. A small sample at the brewery. A hugely enjoyable surprise. 29% is unbelievable, just cannot taste it. Started out as Adam. Rich molasses flavour with roasted malts. Alcohol shows up as a slow rising warmth after swallowing.

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.

Holy ’mokes. This beer was amazing. And the age. I am floored. First for the fact that I got a chance to try this. Second by the beer overall. Amazing aromas. Wanted to sniff it all day, but then what? Dark Fruit, Molasses, cane sugar, wood, wood, and wood. Flavor didn’t disappoint either like some beers with an amazing nose. More sweet malts. Raisin, prune, chocolate. Alcohol was evident in the warming of the palate and throat, but not in the flavor. Purely awesome. Not to mentions pretty darn tasty. Thanks for making this happen.

Had this during the 2004 OBF at the brewery. This might be one of the rarest beers I’ve ever had. NO, IT IS THE RAREST! Very dark, very strong. Very good. Molassas,coffee, chocolate, tobacco,woody, vanilla, This is a must try for anyone who says they know beer. I love this brewery! Top 5 ALL TIME! Lurch says it goes great while smoking a good cigar and eating a bar of chocolate. Thank you ALAN for sharing your creation.

2nd Brewery 07-08 Beer Road Trip with Bikesandbeer, 12/31/07 @ The Brewery with Alan Sprints. Alan was nice enough to give Kevin, Kevin’s Girlfriend Jessi a private tour and tasting on New Year’s Eve 07. Alan was so super cool and nice on the whole visit to the brewery, we were there for over 2 hours and this is the last beer we tried, I asked and he came back with two glasses for me and Kevin and I was pretty damn happy about that. This was amazing, all in all and fantastic creation I only wish I could have it all the time or for that matter ever again. Alan said this batch had been aging for about 12 years in the barrel it was held in. Pours dark brown with no light penetrating with a half finger tan head. Nose was sweet and killer really complex and oakey not to mention all the other flavors that come to mind. Taste was sweet, robust and really pretty damn amazing. The years in the barrel have made the strongest beer ever created into a far more easy drinking creation than anyone would suspect, it felt more like a 10-12% beer to me, Its killer balanced and amazing. Wow

Was one of the lucky few to enjoy probably the finest atisanal creation out there. Truly a masterwork by one of the great epicureans in the beer business. Thank you so much Alan for an experience that will remain in mind a lifetime

Freaking fantastic brew shared by toncatcher at the fordest tasting. Awesome barley wine.