Otto - Hair of the Dog Brewing Company / Brewery and Tasting Room

writerLJBerg

Oregon

3.51/5  rDev -16.4%
look: 1.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.75

12oz glass at the brewery. Just tapped, so it’s out of the fridge at a really cold temperature.

A: Bit of a mess off the tap. Looks like blood mixed with mud with some prune juice thrown in. No head, no hint of carbonation.Likely still settling after just being tapped, but this isn’t out of the norm for HotD either.

N: Oak and cherry are the dominant flavors right off the nose. Hints of honey and brown sugar. Slight hints of the peach, but they’re very faint. Leather and tobacco. Don’t know if it’s the chill, but I’m not getting a strong nose out of this. It’s there, but it’s taking a number of whiffs to pull out flavor.

T: Sweet cherries and cherry jam spiked with pepppercorns, toasted oak, and hints of caramel. Marionberries are present, as is some vinous red wine grape. Leathery components, and a very strong resemblance to port with the sweet brandy qualities and cherry flavors. Quite sweet, lots of malt and sugar, but it never breaks my threshold, either. Rye, I think, is evident.

M: Thick, sticky, and beautiful at hiding the alcohol. This is pretty much the consistency of Fred as one might expect.

O: A decadent treat for those who like port dessert wines. It’s far greater than the sum of its parts (Cherry and Peach Fred), and for that it should be commended. Still, I would rate this about the middle of the Hair of the Dog pantheon.

Serving type: bottle

02-17-2013 05:52:05 | More by writerLJBerg

stoutluvr420

Vermont

4.6/5  rDev +9.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A blend of barrel aged Cherry and Peach Freds on tap @ HotD. Pours deep ruby with no head. Nose is sweet bourbon and caramel, cherry with hints of oak and heat. Taste is fantastic--really smooth blend of black cherry, bourbon, vanilla, mellow oak, and big waves of bready malt. Don’t get the peaches, but I’m sure they’re in there somewhere. Real smooth and velvety in the mouth, even though it’s not all that carbonated.

Serving type: on-tap

09-16-2012 22:38:40 | More by stoutluvr420

Alieniloquium

Florida

3.98/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 2.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4.5

On tap at Hair of the Dog. Served in an HotD taster glass.

Appearance - Darker than Fred. Deep amber. No head. Looks flat... much like other Fred barrel treatments I've had.

Smell - Bourbon, cherry, and oak are most prominent. Pale malts. Earthy hops. A little bit of the original Fred back there, but it's a lot of barrel and fruit.

Taste - Cherry and bourbon again. The peach is faint, if nonexistent and I'm just imagining it since they told me it's Peach Fred. Maybe the Peach just cuts the intensity of the Cherry a bit. Pale malts are strong enough to make Fred come through all of this. Some apples and a slightly bitter finish that are more reminiscent of the base beer.

Mouthfeel - Pretty low in carbonation and rather hot. Not overly sweet like other barrel treatments from HotD. The weight and alcohol is expected for this size.

Overall - Really tasty. Not without the hurdles of a huge beer. Good fruit and the base beer stands up to all the craziness they've done to it.

Serving type: on-tap

09-15-2012 20:37:59 | More by Alieniloquium

HuskyinPDX

Washington

4.75/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

On tap at the tasting room on 8.2.12

A - Served a dark ruby red. Very wine-like with a fizzy light pink head that fades quickly.

S - Sweet fruit, oak, bourbon, molasses.

T - The taste is sweet fruit an oaky, then lots I boozy bourbon, carmel, and molasses and some slight peach in the finish.

D - Nice carbonation, medium body with a slightly sweet finish.

O - I lucked out on this one. I think it is better than it's components, which is saying a lot. Drinks very easy and smooth.

Serving type: on-tap

08-02-2012 23:07:58 | More by HuskyinPDX

johnmichaelsen

Oregon

4.48/5  rDev +6.7%
look: 3 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

On tap at the Wildwood HOTD dinner the other night.

Otto pours a very dark amber color with red hilights. Head retention and lacing are minimal, and this beer has the look of a beer that has seen some significant barrel aging. The nose on this beer is incredible, with maybe the most complex aroma profile I've ever encountered. I picked up holly and fruit cake initially, but as the beer warmed there was coconut, apple brandy, chocolate, light coffee, vanilla and sour cherry as well. The beer had a slight sour undertone on the nose, something that was replicated on the palate as well. The flavor profile replicated the nose to a large extent, though there wasn't quite the same array of flavors on the palate as I got on the nose. Also, while moderately sweet, the light sour and touch of bitterness on the finish seemed to balance that sweetness amazingly well. Mouthfeel was medium bodied at most, and I was surprised by how light on the palate this beer seemed, given the abv. quoted for this beer. Otherwise, the beer had a long, spice infused finish.

Excellent stuff. I guessed this was a blend of Matt and Michael, but was told the blend was actually peach fred and bourbon fred (if I heard correctly). We were told the abv. was in the 12% range, though the assistant brewer at our table indicated it might actually be a few points higher than that. Although this was something of an experimental batch, we were told that a bottled version should hit the market, probably by December of 2012.

As for the name, Alan indicated that Otto was the original name of "Fred" Eckhardt. Apparently, when he originally came to this country, people of German descent were looked upon with suspicion and outright hostility (I gather this was soon after WWII). So he (apparently) elected to go by the name of Fred instead. Alan indicated that he has always held Fred Eckhardt in high regard, and so it made sense to make a beer with his original name in honor of the man.

Serving type: on-tap

07-29-2012 20:25:00 | More by johnmichaelsen