Hair of the Dog Rose

Formerly brewed at Hair of the Dog Brewing Company
Style: Abbey Tripel
Portland, Oregon USA

Batch 38. A beautifully golden ale, though quite cloudy, with a fine white head. Sweet aroma, like raisins. The taste and mouthfeel are spot-on for a Belgian tripel, but much "fresher" tasting than I’m used to-- probably due to the fact that it’s domestically-made. Most of the Belgian stuff I can get my hands on has been sitting around for who knows how long... Nice flavor-- sweet, honey-like, with some caramel and raisins, and a fitting hop bitterness at the end to round it all out. No detectable alcohol desipte the high gravity. I like this one.

Batch 37. An imitator tripel, definitely not an authentic. Poured a dark amber yellow color (I like more of a golden touch to a tripel). The head wasn’t all that great in my Chimay glass (to fit the entire bottle into a 0.25L glass is shocking). Aroma was apple and grape like. Flavor was somewhat sour apples and grapes with a touch of candy sugar thrown in there. Bitter finish. Can do much better than this in the realm of tripels.

Batch 38. Aroma packs a light punch of estery wheat and I’m getting a blast of like smokey peat, maybe a little grilled pig fat. More smoke for me...weird. Mesquite honey, juniper ash and hints of hickory brisket. Best defined as a mesquite turkey breast. Flavor is peculiar. It distinctly reminds me of riding a train through the eastern plains of New Mexico, with the chimeras chugging full of juniper branches and my nostrils catching a whif of diesel and a mouthful of black beans. Tequlia! Seriously, this beer is rich in the dripping scents of blue agave sap, fermented and bottled. A touch of sainted wheat and light grasps of honey. All I can tasted now is a silver Tequila, something mid-level. This would be great with a slice of lime and a dash of salt. Palate is peculiar, with a soapy foaming character. With a parsing sweetness and light euro hop dryness. Edges of lemon dish soap. Peculiar, but truly not all that enjoyable. Alcohol hurts a little and a little salty for the style. A hint of southeastern Arizona desert night. Some out there fruit, maybe some canned mango?

Sampled from bottle. Pours hazy amber-gold with a creamy white head and nice lacing. Aroma is bold: dark fruits, clove, pepper and alcohol. Flavor is pretty balanced, but this beer has a bit of a candy aftertaste. Alcohol and belgian yeast are present as well. Perhaps a bit underattenuated, which is not consistent with the other HotD products I’ve tried. Medium-full body. A good beer, but it falls short of this brewer’s other products.

Pours red/pink, no head. Wow, this beer really doese smell like beets. According to the label he adds beets and hibiscus... interesting. I’m glad I tried it because it is so different, but I don’t think I would ever want to spend the money on it again.

pours slightly frothy golden. aroma offers hints of caramel, malt and grass. matliness, with classic belgium flavors... nicely carbonated, tingly on the tongue. finish has slight sitrus notes and notes of toffee and malt. not at all overly yeasty. very well balanced on all levels. well done.

<!-- i -->12 oz bottle. Batch 38.<!-- /i --> Very interesting pour. Kind of looks like a little galaxy in my glass. There are some floaties, and some swirlies and even some globules, and they’re all just hanging out. Nice aroma of floral hops, banana, clove and even some sugar cookie. The nose is a little weak, but good nonetheless. At first, I thought it was a bit boozy in the mouth. That faded a bit as it warmed, but it was never forgotten. Somewhat sweet, somewhat dry, somewhat hoppy, somewhat astringent at it’s peak. Very well balanced and complex. Let’s see, in the mouth, I could sense some floral hops, citrus, banana and some nice peppery spices. It finishes very peppery and dry, but sweet at the same time. I thought it was a very good American take on a tripel.

12 oz. bottle of HOTD Golden Rose, batch 32. Bottle conditioned for a while I guess, since they don’t label them like this anymore. Poured a reddish oxidized bronze color with a small white head that diminished fairly quickly. Cloudy liquid with a little sediment. Guess I poured it too fast. An awesomely complex nose with big aromas of mandarin oranges and raisins and an old port. Light malty smell with some butter, vanilla, cane sugar, and vinegar. Has a lot in common with the boquete of a sur lie chardonnay. The aroma just seemed to build and build. Some initial sourness of apple cider vinegar nicely balanced with sweet sherry or brandy and some mellow buttery notes. LIvely carbonation. A nice, long, refreshing, and moderately sweet finish. I was blown away by how good this was. A fine beer and highly recommended.