Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws (2001-2002)

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

Amber colour with a spicy floral hoppy nose. Flavour is malty, hoppy and very in-your-face. Could be better balanced.

Bottled 2002, Sampled May 2004,br> Pours a bold copper color, it is highly carbonated with a cream colored head. There is a citrus hop aroma with apricot notes, obviously has been muted over time but it is still front and center in nose. There is a bit of oxidized character in the nose as well. Overall this has a pleasing balanced aroma. The taste is lightly sweet with a nice balancing bitterness in the finish. There is still a lot of hop flavor in this beer. I notes that the finish has a bit of alcohol in it. This beer has definitely started to oxidize, but the hop character suppresses this quite a bit, it allows the oxidation to just be an addition to the complexity. As I get into this beer I can taste notes of bergamot, apricot and pear. This is still quite good after two years. I can imagine that the hops have toned down quite a bit, but the hops are still a huge part of this beer. I am really enjoying this beer right now.

2002 bottle. Wow! Great aroma! Intense fruitiness - ripe banana, melon, and pear - rich malt, citrusy hops. Slightly hazy copper color, huge meringue-like head. Flavor is very hoppy, some biscuity malt flavor with slight fruitiness comes through in the middle, and the finish decidedly bitter. Alcohol flavor is moderate. Full-bodied but slightly astringent, mainly from the extreme hop bitterness, not much alcohol warming for the ABV. Just bought this the other day, fortunately it was the 2002 vintage. Even after 2 years, the hop character and bitterness is still dominant. There is some really nice malt character, and the fruitiness in the nose is awesome, but make no mistake - this is a hoppy barleywine.

Very good, just not as good as adam. Orange hazy in colour with big off whit tan head. light citrusy hoppy nose and the taste is just sweet and phantastik. Good overall.

Expected good things from this brewery. This wasn’t one. Dark amber with off-white head. Aroma was complex blend of floral, citrus, herbal, spicy. Medium to full body. Flavor sweet, alcoholic, unpleasant.

hazy orange color with a head that leaps out of the bottle and is still hanging around long after the beer is gone and forgotten. Aroma is sweet, semi hoppy and fairly yeasty. Flavor is much the same, moderately bitter, sweet, fairly malty with some orange hints.

Amazing barleywine. Huge head that lasts through the whole pint. Sticky and sweet with a hoppy finish.

Bang! That was the second hair of the dog beer I have had go off like a bomb. But shockingly after the big bang it was not over carbonated but the head is big, fine bubbled and never goes away. A huge aroma, sweet malt, apricots and citrus. Medium full boded a little sticky the alcohol seems to thin out the perception of fullness. Figs, raisins, molasses, caramel balanced nicely with a pleasant hop bit. Leave you wanting another. A different barley wine but I would call it that over anything else.