Hair of the Dog Matt

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

Bottle brought by Simon to the 6/27/09 D-METAL Tasting with Jared and Katie at the Del Mar pad. Thanks for hooking this rarity up Simon! One of three current Ratebeer Top 50 Beers sampled in one evening! Pours deep mahogany with a translucent center and clear edges, with a fine beige head developing with swirls. Lovely aroma of green apple, leather and light tobacco. Some smoke and molasses comes through as well, hanging above the subtle bourbon, chocolate and oak wood character as the base. Candy sugar shows itself in the flavor, along with more smoke, dark chocolates, sweet apple and cherry. Everything follows with a light bitterness and a touch of oak barrel and tobacco. Full-bodied, velvety texture to the palate. A great beer overall.

Big thanks to GodofThunder for sharing. Deep chestnut color, thin broken off-white head. Alcohol, dark fruits, a malic sourness and acidity on the nose. Thick mouthfeel. Sour dark fruits to start, some roast behind the tartness and alcohol, some raisin also. Very nice.

Thanks to Alan at the Brewery for letting me and my dad have this on draft. This beer was absolutely amazing. Poured a golden brown with nice head. Aroma was incredible, I just wanted to smell it all day before even tasting it. It had a sweet candy smell with hints of apples, smokey oak chips, and bourbon. Taste was an orgasm to the palate with so many complicated flavors to describe. This is probably the best beer i’ve had to date. It was perfect in every way. Thanks Alan for the tour and for the awesome beer.

multiple bottles shared by rustychiles and sparky27... thanks guys. pours a murky orange tinted dark brown with a couple of bubbles on top which attempt to form a head. it smells quite complex... super sweet and malty, molasses, raisins, slight smoke and vanilla. the palate is a bit too sweet which masks much of the character... vanilla, tobacco, leather, piloncilla, dark dried fruit/grapes and chocolate come through however. the mouth feel is creamy though the body is much thinner than i would have expected with all the sugars... 8/4/7/4/15/3.8

had this at the ACBF in Boston as a share from someone cool after the event let out. Wish I could remember who shared it but thanks. Nice flavor and was to be expected from HOTD . nice smoke malt presence and flavors from Belgian yeast coming through. Malty and sweet and a dangerous 11.5% ALC. Some slight apple flavor coming through with a candi sugar sweetness on a malty base. Good stuff.

Special thanks to Hoppymeal for getting me some of this for rate #666. Pours a nice and cloudy dark brown with a chocolate milk colored head. Aromas of bourbon, chocolate, vanilla and roast. Flavors are equally complex, with the bourbon being at the forefront, but not overpowering. Just enough of cocoa, vanilla and roasted flavors peek through. Very well balanced. Great beer.

Bottle, thanks to Brendan. Beautiful pour of really, really dark brown and a creamy mocha head. Smoke and malt dominate the nose. Refined and understated. Hair of the Dog always has this great smoked malt thing going on with their darker beers. Some sweet, salty bacon is in the nose too, but is weaved in nicely. Really sweet and creamy in the mouth. Smoke picks up the back end nicely. There are dark, deep choclate elements working here, wrapped in smoke, and lighter, higher notes of light apples. This is really interesting. A bit sweeter than I would like., but man, that is a beautiful interplay of flavors. A bit thinner than I would like, which does not help this beer. This is very good and is worth seeking out.

Rating Number 100!!. Bottle, with big thanks to NYbeer. Pour is deep rich-looking brown with hints of red. Pretty much no head, just a few bubbles around the perimeter. The moment I opened the bottle I could smell stone fruit and wood in the room. The aroma is also caramel malt, red and green apple, rock sugar, faint background smoke, and the earthiness and oak tones of pinot noir. It smells rich. Flavor is huge up front. Lots of caramel malt, apple, plum, and date to start. Then rock sugar kicks in, some raisin in there too. Finish is continued sweetness with woody notes and a lingering sweet apple flavor. The bourbon is certainly a background flavor initially, but really intensifies as the beer warms. Also a hint of smoke and vanilla/bourbon in finish. Alcohol is very well hidden. This is a sweet beer, it tastes like it has 5 years of age on it already. I have no idea what a few more years would do, but Im glad I drank it now. Certainly a rare treat, Im glad I got to try it!