Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws (2003-)

Brewed by Hair of the Dog Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Portland, Oregon USA

Thanks to (pantanap) Kan. Pours amber with no head what-so-ever and very little carbonation. Aroma of malt, dark fruit, caramel, and a little hop to round things out. Flavors of sweet amlt, and some hop bitterness along with some booziness. Mouthfeel was somewhat creamy with a very boozy warming feeling towards the end.

12 ounces 2004. Redddish dark amber colour with a nice little head. Lovely aroma of dried fruit, sweetness, malt caramel and someway candy like. First very tasty flavour of caramel, candy, sugar and little fruity, second very alcoholic and smooth, a very good master piece of a barley wine.

Aroma is nice fallen hops, caramel and and cognac or port like flavors. Taste is cloyingly sweet, slightly alcoholic, and deeply rich and complex. The fallen simcoe hops impart a deep orange flavor to the rich port and cognac state of the beer. Finishes, somewhat clean, but lingers well. Very, very solid. ---re-rate--- 4/18/2008 Yeah, I am re-rating this very quickly after rating the first 2007 bottle. Same year. Aroma is hugely sweet and tinny, with some grapefruit and more sweetness. Taste is west coast grapefruit, a little more carbonation than I’d like in this beer, but otherwise freaking great. Fruity, and yummy. I’ll keep my rating where it is at. Oh, alcohol comes through too.

Got 2 bottles, this one fresh, the other I’m hoping to be patient enough to age for a bit. I may be reading into this one what I want to when I "detect" spice on the nose. The rest is a straightforward BW. Thick-bodied/viscous and rich in the usual BW type way. Opaque and glowing amber in appearance. As a BW, doesn’t especially stand out, but (a) BW is a strong style and (b) this BW hasn’t benefitted from aging.

Currently playing: Hovhaness symphony No. something

07 bottle
Pours opaque muddy brown with suspended yeast as well. Looks exactly like muddy water. Worst looking beer I’ve ever seen by far. ZERO carbonation and head. Unpleasantly chunky, gritty, thick palate. Smell is of alcohol and muddy, earthy hops. Flavor is overly sweet with a mild earthy bitterness and earthy, herbal hop flavor and touch of alcohol following. Tastes, feels, and looks like tree bark smashed up in sugar water. Doesn’t resemble beer at all, excessively sweet, and an unenjoyable drainpour. To me, very overrated.

05 bottle from SpudClampDawg. Pours cloudy bronze/orange color with fizzy head that gets the hell out of dodge with the quickness. Lively carbonation. Floaties,as in small peices of hops that I removed with my finger. Sweet citrus hop aroma. The taste was sweet and malty with sharp citrus hop flavor. Milky floral perfumy finish.

#700 2004 vintage. 12oz bottle. Served at 52° in my NB snifter. Huge malty, nutty, caramelly aroma with some hints of pine and spice. Reddish brown with a two fingered khaki head and tons of sediment that drops to the bottom of the glass (should have left it in the bottle, at least at first). Initial taste is huge malt, toffee, dark caramel, chocolate, pine, some citrus followed by a rush of brown sugar, spice, light alcohol, dark fruits (prune). The finish is spicy with lingering malt. Thick bodied, but really nicely balanced. Tasty.

Bottle. Pours a cloudy brown/amber color with virtually no head to speak of. Aroma of sweet malts, caramel, some floral notes and a slittle spice. Flavor, again, is very sweet, lots of malt, toffee/caramel and a little dark fruits. On the thick. Alcohol is reasonably hidden. Tasty.