Hair of the Dog Greg

Brewed by Hair of the Dog Brewing Company
Style: Spice/Herb/Vegetable
Portland, Oregon USA

Growler from WeeHeavy at the preSAF tasting ’07. Mild aroma. Light amber color. Some bitterness from squash and not hops,which is super interesting. Lots of flavor like a much stronger beer. Tasty. I like it.

Hand bottle from Samurai Artist. Thanks Ezra. After re-watching American Beer last week got me extra excited to try this, and just in time for Turkey Day. Pours orange with a nice 2 finger tan head. Nose is light and sugary with a bit of malt and the faint squash. Wow that is really crazy. Very sweet, very squashy and therefore robust. Overall a pretty damn tasty beer. Really different and thats good. I really like it it has a lot of flavor and a big bite in the taste for a mere 4.5%. Yum.

On tap at the brewery. Pours a transparent, honey gold color with a thick layer of well-sustaining soapy white head. The health and depth of the head is quite impressive, especially for a beer brewed without hops. Clean, crisp aromas of toffee, caramelized sugar, and cookie dough blend beautifully with the layer of autumn squash that’s humbly, yet clearly present. Medium-light bodied, crisply carbonated mouthfeel. The cleanness and dryness of the palate is astounding considering the lack of hops. Plenty of squash flavor present, accompanied by a mild brown sugar sweetness and firm bready malt base. Free from any detracting spice characters, this is just a fine example of an clean drinking, flavorfully unique brew.

Tap at Higgins, came out a hazy golden tone with absolutely no head and served at nearly room temperature. Had a malty aroma, low carbonated palate and flavors of berry like fruits, vegetables, and a tart lager like finish.

On Tap at Hair of the Dog Brewing Company Pours out a hazy yellow topped with a very small head. This is pretty cool he put squash in this one. Has a very nice spice.

Had on tap. Appearance is golden, hazy, with a medium –low white head. Aroma is of spice and pumpkin-squash. No hops in the flavor or aroma.. Tastes of malt and fall squash flavor, and maybe slightly sour It’s not really spicy or sweet like a pumpkin ale, but very mild, no bitterness. The body is med-light to medium, with a medium head. Interesting beer, very refreshing, but it seemed one note. Maybe it tastes better paired with a food.

Cloudy or murky dark copper color with little to no head. Warm nose of bread with a ton of pumpkin spices. A note here and there of sourness. A touch nutty, but the spices prevail. Toasted malts with a little hint of roast. Caramel and lots of spice. Doughy as well. Decent body with a wet mouthfeel. Sweet and spicy tail.

Tap at Uber Tavern in Seattle.

Pours slightly cloudy light yellow-brown with a minimal head. The aroma is soft and sweet and faintly fruited; the flavor is almost indescribly soft, slightly buttery, some meon, a hint of spice, and I think I can make out pumpkin in the flavor and on the aroma, but perhaps that is just my imagination running off with me.

It’s a very mild beer, to the point of actually being somewhat difficult to enjoy. I guess I just miss the hops; they need not be massive but beer without hops has that strange "something’s-missing" flavor of bread without salt.