Hair of the Dog Matt

Brewed by Hair of the Dog Brewing Company
Style: Traditional Ale
Portland, Oregon USA

Poured a clear deep golden brown color with a small off-white head. Sweet malty aroma with nose of smoke and alcohol. toffee notes as well. The flavor had a sweet start with some smokey notes. caramel and vanilla notes. Very long finish. Warming with a medium-full body.

12oz bottle courtesy of writerjlberg and shared with the Phoenix crew at hellbilly’s holiday tasting. Rustychiles brought one as well. Pours deep mahogany with almost no head. The nose is smoky roasty malt, dark fruits and faint booze. The taste is vanilla, molasses, light wood, sweet fruits and some booze in the finish, though not overpowering at all. Medium creamy mouthfeel. Very good. Thanks Luke!

Bottle courtesy of tytoanderso and shared with the Phoenix Crew alongside a second bottle shared by Sparky27. Pours a caramel brown with a nice than head. Aroma is smoke, tobacco, cocoa, malts, wood. Flavor is chocolate, smoke, wood, peat, tobacco, caramel, leather, brandy, a touch of sourness and fruits. Lots going on in this one.

Bottle. Pours a brown body with a thin lacing of bubbles. Lactose, bourbon, cane sugar, vanilla, smoke and a very bitter hop character. Chewy smoky and a clean cask like finish.

Pours a dark reddish brown with a short off-white head. The aroma takes one’s breath away - mulled apple cider, vanilla, brandy, and a hint of sour apple hard candy at the end. Flavor is similar but just as complex and enticing - green apples, roasted coffee beans, smokey peat, vanilla, and candi sugar. This beer is unbelievably smooth with a pleasantly warming bourbon like finish. Very nearly perfect - a truly remarkable beer!

This beer is epic. Astoundingly complex aroma; smoke, oak, dried dates and figs, port. Just dynamite flavor, almost as complex as the aroma and over the top yet superbly balanced. Mouthfeel is coating with a hint of the high alcohol. This seems like after a year or two in the bottle it might get even better.

Served lightly chilled around 55ºF / 13ºC
A vigorous pour into my 25cl tulip glass just produces a fat-one-finger thick, nicely browned, dark tan colored head. The beer is quite dark, almost black really with perhaps a touch of brown to it. When held up to the light the beer shows brilliantly clear, deep, dark ruby highlights. The aroma is quite smoky, phenolic even; the smoke character doesn’t have the richness that I associate with beech-wood (Rauchbier) or alder-wood (Alaskan Smoked Porter) smoked beers, instead it is a little thin, though really this might be because the smoke is not nearly at the same level as those other smoked beers. The smoke here combines with a distinct fruitiness that reminds me of raisins, prunes and even some brandy like notes along with a touch of warming alcohol. At times the alcohol can be quite noticeable in the aroma, especially after I have started to drink the beer. The fruit character becomes very rich and interesting if you concentrate on the nose for a bit. There is also a touch of roast malt character noticeable after a bit as well. Not a bad nose, but the up front smoke character is a little thin and sharp at times, though it does have a nice underlying richness.

The beer is creamy and viscous feeling with only a faint carbonation that supplies a very soft prickle. The beer is fairly sweet, which accentuates a dark, concentrated fruitiness, but both of these are offset somewhat by a sharp malt influence. Roast grain notes provide a burnt-bitterness to the finish, perhaps a touch of acrid notes as well as a touch of burnt acidity. The smoked malt is a bit fainter than it even was in the nose, but it does provide a subtle smokiness that provides some richness to the beer as well as a hint of sharp smoke phenolics that is just noticeable at times. The rich fruitiness is the most noticeable part of the flavor; notes of prunes, raisins and roasted berry notes are all quite noticeable. Subtler fruit notes of caramelized apples, a touch of dates as well as some not so subtle rich, Brandy-like fruitiness. Alcohol is evident, but donesn’t get past supplying a nice warmth and a bit of spiciness. While rich feeling on the tongue, the beer isn’t overly heavy and in fact is a bit more drinkable than might be safe.

For a beer that has a fairly middling aroma to it, the flavor has turned out to be quite nice. This is definitely a sipping brew and I am really enjoying the rich, concentrated fruitiness here that is just supported by roast malt notes and a hint of smokiness. After a slow start, this ends up being quite an enjoyable brew.

Shared by Rciesla I think. I found this beer to be very enjoyable until the hops take over. Great malt character with a little bit of smoke. I think this one will taste dramatically better when the hops start to age out.