Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws (2003-)

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

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.

Poured muddy brown with lots of yeast swimming around. Absolutely no head. Aroma of sweet malt and hops. Great balance of sweet malt and hops. Some pine and fruit hints present. Thick and smooth.

2006 bottle. Cloudy dark amber body with lots of yeast sediment and no head. The aroma is quite sweet and floral with lots of resinous pine and gobs of sticky toffee. The flavor is very sweet, lightly bitter with grapefruit, pine, caramel, toffee, light brown sugar, raisins and rum. Full sticky body is chewy with very light carbonation.

12oz bottle, 2006 vintage. Holy sediment in the bottom of the bottle batman! Must be about 1/2" of sludge down there. Bottle opens with barely a notice of carbonation. Uh-oh. Pours just about still, just a little ring of foam that surprisingly leave some trace of lacing. Aroma is big stupid bunches of malt, just a little hint of piney hops. Flavor is very sweet, sweeter than I remember this being in past years (2002 maybe?), almost candylike with just a hint of hop bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel is a bit off due to the lack of carbonation, but still a solid barleywine.

12 oz. bottle, 2006 vintage. Rich aroma of toffee and brown sugar, dark and sweet, some licorice notes along with suggestions of aged wood, dried herbs and flowers, some light golden raisin, orange citrus and faint alcohol as well. Medium red-orange color, very lightly hazy, doesn’t generate much in the way of a head. Flavor is hugely malty and sweet, this tempered well by the hop spice and leafy herbal character, along with peppery bitterness and spicy alcohol, these melding with a pleasant dried fruit (raisin, date) character and hints of anise. Smooth, thick, warming mouthfeel, lightly syrupy, body is massively full. Lingering hints of citrus (orange, pineapple), lacking much in the way of detectable alcohol in the flavor profile. Nicely balanced for such a huge beer. Tasty stuff, makes for an incredible nightcap. Almost candyish at times after considerable warming, but the hop flavors come through a bit more strongly as well, very late. Really good.

2005. Ruby. Small, creamy, tan head. Aroma of rich, sweet caramel/toffee malt and fruity (melons and tangerines), resinous hops. Flavor adds a very light dose of spicy menthol, some earth, and dried dark fruits. A little aged malt in the aftertaste. Surprising hop presence for a two year old bottle. Full/medium body, balanced carbonation, very soft, easy to drink. Excellent barleywine.