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

Reaper16

Alabama

4.78/5  rDev +11.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 5

12 oz. bottle -- Batch 74 (Fall 2009) -- served into a tulip glass

Pours a a very dark chestnut brown. There's some lighter brown at the very top of the beer, when held to direct light, but for the most part it is very dark. This is a big beer with nearly three years on it, so there isn't much head. What's there is a sort of dirty beige color. Actually, a more aggressive pour yields a full finger or more of a proper khaki color. Nice stuff.

This bottle of Adam smells like a properly-aged beer in all of the right ways. There's plenty of sherry-like notes from the oxidation, along with deep fig and prune and fruitcake.There's a bit of bakers' chocolate and some... mint? Yeah, mint. Just like in my favorite Old Ale, Straight to Ale Unobtanium. There's even some smoke, which when taken in with the mint gives off a sort of menthol cigarette sort of vibe. It's not perfect, but there's a lot of complexity here. Perhaps some barrel character would take this aroma over the top.

Some barrel character might improve the flavor too, but this beer is close enough to perfection as is that I'm not left wanting for anything. This is a fantastic beer. Dark fruits for days, especially a strong fig presence, but like dusted with some decent chocolate. There's flavorful alcohols and oxidized sherryish notes. Some toffee, for sure. Some smoky character. The sharpness of the aged character paves the way for the figgy, chocolaty finish. Every complex flavor is in some impeccable balance here.

This aged beer isn't thick in terms of mouthfeel, but there's a very appropriate and pleasant syrupy quality.

Overall, this beer is astonishing. I just reviewed a beer last week -- Straight to Ale Unobtanium -- that I said was the best Old Ale I'd ever had. Hair of the Dog Adam is better. At least as good, at the very least. Or, this aged bottle is, anyway. I am blown away by this Old Ale. I wish I had more. ISO: Adam from the Wood. ISO: more straight-up Adam. Amazing.

Serving type: bottle

06-11-2012 04:16:15 | More by Reaper16

bump8628

Oklahoma

4.5/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Well-aged bottle picked up at The Bruery Provisions in Old Town Orange. Dark, murky brown with a sizeable head of big-bubbled froth. Huge flavors of caramelized sugar with toffee, coffee cake, treacle standing out. Warming brings out smooth alcoholic esters, bread crust, earth, husky grain. Complex, deep, but smooth. A beer for special occasions, but I think I could drink it everyday.

Serving type: bottle

06-05-2012 19:45:06 | More by bump8628

oline73

Maryland

4.08/5  rDev -4.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured from the bottle into a goblet.

Appearance: Pours a dark mahogany color with a finger of fluffy off white head. The head sticks around very nicely and leaves some lacing.

Smell: Some sweet malt with a strong presence of brown sugar and dark fruit. Mild vanilla and some warm alcohol.

Taste: Not nearly as sweet as the smell would indicate. Some warm alcohol with dark fruit. The finish is actually quite bitter, but it rounds the beer out well.

Mouthfeel: The body is just on the thick side of medium with very fluffy carbonation and a dry finish.

Overall: This is a really nice beer. It was more bitter than I expected, but I definitely enjoyed it.

Serving type: bottle

05-26-2012 03:42:41 | More by oline73

Flounder57

Massachusetts

4.1/5  rDev -4%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 oz beer was poured into a pint glass.

Appearance: The beer poured a one finger head. It is a dark brown/pitch black color with little clarity. Head has reduced now to a thin layer.

Smell: sweet molasses, raisins, bananas, dark fruits, caramel, and butterscoth too. Not too familiar with old ales too much, but this one smells delicious. Some lacing on the glass as the beer was drank.

Taste: Very tasty, coffee flavors, mocha, creamy notes, bitterness, spicy, super dark fruits, and some chewy notes too. Some booze on the back end also

Mouthfeel: smooth, creamy, full bodied, medium carbonation, silky, a little dry, boozey, and very tastey.

Overall: For an old ale, this beer is good. Hadn't seen it before till I went to Brooklyn a few months back for the B4B. Happy to have stumbled across it at Bierkraft.

Serving type: bottle

05-24-2012 03:51:08 | More by Flounder57

AgentMunky

Alabama

4.28/5  rDev +0.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 12 ounce bottle into a Glencairn glass. Batch 82.

A: Black. Huge head, with annoying excellent retention. Damn.

S: Nutty malts, toasted coconut.

T/M: Roasted coconut again. Bourbon or black molasses. Excellent, if flat/smooth. If by 'old ale', they mean 'stale,' then okay, I guess the style applies; still...The endtaste is long and lingerly boozy. (Are you sure this hasn't been bourbon barrel aged?) Vanilla and brown sugars. Very good.

O: A phenomenal beer. Highly recommended; will drink again.

Serving type: bottle

05-16-2012 07:22:31 | More by AgentMunky

woosterbill

Connecticut

4.4/5  rDev +3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4.5

12oz bottle from Batch 77 (brewed no later than May of 2010) into a Duvel tulip.

A: A rough, forceful pour is required to create just a thin layer of frothy light-brown bubbles; the body is black when looked at from a distance, and glows a clear orange-amber around the edges when held up to light. While it appears to be wholly uncarbonated, the bubbles forced out by the pour do stick around in a ring, keeping it from looking entirely lifeless. More importantly, each swirl of the beer leaves thick, sticky legs tracing their way down the sides of the tulip. Not exactly a beauty queen, but an attractively intimidating appearance all the same.

S: Wow. This smells like a hybrid Barleywine/Single Malt Scotch/cigar. The aromas are many and varied: smoke, leather, tobacco, toffee, caramel, fig, chocolate, and pepper. Only a touch of light booziness. Heady, intense, and amazing.

T: Happily it follows the nose for the most part, with sweet sugars and dark fruits up front, followed closely by deliciously meaty smoke, rich leather, piquant tobacco, and spicy alcohol on the finish. The booze is just a bit too prominent for a 10% beer that's been aged for two full years, but other than that it's spectacularly delicious.

M: Still, sticky, and viscous. Very rich and mouth-filling, but a bit of carbonation would have gone a long way.

O: Flatness notwithstanding, this was one of the best beers I've had in a long time. Hugely complex and just as tasty, I was blown away by the way the smokiness and leather/tobacco notes complemented the sweet Barleywine-like fruits and toffee. I could sip on this for hours and still discover new intricacies. I really, really wish I had bought more than one.

Cheers!

Serving type: bottle

05-12-2012 20:56:31 | More by woosterbill

Sean9689

Illinois

3.18/5  rDev -25.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

12oz bottle, Batch #84, into Bruery tulip.

A - Pours dark brown, huge frothy kaki-colored head, sticky lace, big cap.

S - Sweet dark fruits, oak, booze. Not quite as sweet as I was expecting. The oak and booze are pretty powerful at this point, it's obvious to me I should have aged this bottle a bit more.

T - Dark fruits, big oak, some char notes, astringent, and a bit medicinal. The booze isn't quite as bad as I thought it was going to be. Finish is medicinal notes, and oak'd dark fruit.

M - Full, perhaps a touch too much carbonation for me, dry oak finish.

O - Now I know to age my bottles of Adam for quite some time before digging into them. I've had several from the late 90's that were mind-blowing, but fresh, this isn't my cup o' tea.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2012 03:15:50 | More by Sean9689

Souleman

California

4.55/5  rDev +6.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Dang tasty brew!

A- Nice pour, very nice head formation (actually started to head-out of the bottle after I opened it) with nice tight bubbles that stuck around through the tasting.
Not exactly a clear brew, but I like a little texture along with heavier beers, and not so much that it is offensive.


S- Very malt-forward aromas. A bit of cocoa/coffee coming through on the first smell, then tapered off to the higher malt aromatics.

T- Amazingly rich and full. Tastes of licorice, coffee/coffee and slight currant flavor coming through along side a very low hops flavor. Definitely a nice hop bitterness apparent. Definitely darker roasted malts mixed with some brown are creating the malt profile for this brew, and enough crystal malt to not have the beer become chalky or too heavy or imbalanced.
Some yeasty/hop residue on the bottom of the bottle, which was actually a nice textured little bitter sip. So good to taste the ingredients.

M- coats the mouth nicely, not too thick or thin, and definitely stick around a bit, but gets out of the way to let the flavors shine.

This beer reminds me of a German malt beverage that I accidentally stumbled upon years ago. I love it's complexity, while it is still very bold and makes a statement that it these types of beers can stand on their own. This could have easily gotten too heavy-handed and too thick and rich, but they put it on the verge of the craziness, and slam-dunked a really progressive, taste-forward beer that I will gladly consume any time I get the chance.

Serving type: bottle

05-11-2012 00:54:11 | More by Souleman

cpetrone84

Pennsylvania

4.18/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Had next to eve, adam from the wood, and about 8 or 10 different vintages. pour is dark black, ruby edges, tan head and nice lace. The nose is nice, faint chocolate, tobacco, creamy vanilla, notes of olive and a bit of alcohol. The taste is chocolate, fair amount of olive, bread crust and fig, light bit pleasant heat with some citrus hop in the finish. The body isnt heavy, well carbonated, smooth and creamy.
***
A-deep dark brown, almost black and lets just a peep of light through, deep and dark caramel head, very thick, lingers for a long time leaving a decent lace on the glass.

S-strong roasted malt, definitely some chocolate and fig, not sure if i'm getting a very faint citrus towards the end.

T/M-smooth, thick, and sweet. big flavors, there is a roasted character there (not huge), taste of figs, hint of chocolate, carbonation up front, sweet taste of dark fruit comes towards the back, some plum and raisin.

D-intriguing beer, very tasty and thick that brings nice fruit flavors with a full body

Serving type: bottle

05-03-2012 15:47:36 | More by cpetrone84

thecheapies

Pennsylvania

4.05/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Batch 83. No idea on the bottling date (get your shit together, Hair of the Dog website management crew).

By far, the rockiest head I have ever seen on a beer categorized as an old ale. A darker-than-tan head that sticks around FOREVER. The liquid is near-black, but I'm sure it's some fancy name for a shade of dark brown darker than everything but black. For an old ale, this looks effing fantastic. Got to give it up here. 5.0

Dark chocolatey malts with some peat, dried fruits, blackened barley grain, tobacco, and a hint of left-to-bitter espresso. Nice nose. 4.0

First thing I notice is the smack of bitterness upfront from both hops and the roast, then comes pouring the alcohol. Licorice and black coffee fight for conquest over raisin, smokey peat, bitter cocoa, and husky (somewhat harsh) grains. Lots of booze in the finish. 4.0

Half-decent carb on this sucker, and the body is full without being sticky, clumpy, or slick. Still hot in its (apparent) youth. 4.0

I enjoyed this beer thoroughly, but I'll leave it up to time for my remaining bottles. Recommended for lovers of old ales, wee heavies, imperial porters, and English barleywines. 4.0

Serving type: bottle

05-02-2012 04:30:26 | More by thecheapies

xenjoiii

New York

4.53/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 12oz bottle into my SH Snifter.

Batch 84

A: Dark brown almost a black color with a creamy khaki head.

S: So much going on in the nose. Roasted malts; smoke - lots of smoke; a tiny bit of heat; and bitter chocolate.

T: This is my first time having this beer, and I am having a difficult putting the taste into words, as the complexity is strong with this one. Huge bitter chocolate notes in the front of the mouth; by the middle of the mouth, the bitterness fades leaving a nice roasty flavor; and the beer goes down leaving a lingering smokey hop bitterness. Mind blown.

M: Full body. Perfect carbonation. Really smooth.

O: This is beer went above and beyond my expectations. Definitely will seek more of this out in the future.

Serving type: bottle

05-01-2012 01:31:29 | More by xenjoiii

nmbr0ne

Florida

4.48/5  rDev +4.9%
look: 5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Batch 81 bottle poured into pint glass.

Appearance: Brown, deep mahogony body with a huge khaki head. Great retention and lacing around glass and top of beer.

Smell: Brown sugar, spice, dark fruits, molasses, a little bit of honey, and caramel.

Taste: Sweet throughout the sip, but it's a composed sweetness. It's not a sugar bomb. More molasses, caramel, spices, brown sugar, all right from the aromas. Great presence of hops towards the finish. Great balance between sweet and bitter.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Smooth. Good amount of carbonation. It feels like a session beer to be honest. I like it but it doesn't match the rest of the beer. Feels out of character.

Overall: Favorite old ale. The hops in the finish is a good counter for the great amount of sweetness throughout the beer. Definitely not too sweet. Aromas and tastes are spectacular.

Serving type: bottle

04-29-2012 00:19:06 | More by nmbr0ne

cradke

Texas

4.25/5  rDev -0.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: Dark with a huge fine head.

Smell: Yeast and bread. Some interesting brown sugar, coffee and molasses as well. Even some black tea. Seriously complex

Taste: Lots of coffee up front. Again some bread and brown sugar. A good amount of malt with a limited hop profile. With some oxygen an awesome tobacco flavor comes out.

Mouthfeel: Very smooth. Good carbonation

Overall: One of the most complex beers I've ever had. Fantastic.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2012 02:06:17 | More by cradke

GallowsThief

Florida

4.73/5  rDev +10.8%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Poured into my tulip out of a 12 oz bottle. Gift from Dee from Bobby’s liquors on my last trip out there. Thanks Dee!

A – Poured out a toffee brown color with about a half finger of light brown head that settles down to a nice cap. Nice slow cascade lacing.

S – Light and sweet chocolate. Roasted malts. Touch smoky with vanilla hints.

T – Starts off with a nice light sweetness that somehow rolls over to a touch of astringent bitterness. Very nice mix. Vanilla, chocolate and a cocoa powder taste follow along. Brown sugar in there. Dark fruits with raisin and figs. Complex brew.

M – Velvety smooth and creamy on the palate. Medium to big body. Ample carbonation. Slight ABV burn in it but not much.

O – This is a beauty of a beer. Big complex taste and silky smooth. Easy drinker despite alcohol. Must have more!

Serving type: bottle

04-14-2012 00:28:38 | More by GallowsThief

Sternfels

4.63/5  rDev +8.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A: Fluffy none lacing head. Old ale brown color.

S: Caramel then vanilla then lemon

T: Tastes amazing. Caramel and warm apples. Slight woodchuck granny apple flavor makes it a 10%abv hidden excellence.

M: smooth cool greatness

O: Woodsies grreattttneeeessss love this thing!go buy

Serving type: bottle

04-11-2012 05:05:11 | More by Sternfels

jtmartino

California

4.63/5  rDev +8.4%
look: 5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

How can you not love this beer? Seriously? I cracked a 6 month bottle open and dumped it into my Deschutes Snifter. Poured a dark, rich mahogany with a finger of light tan head.

Smell is incredible. Caramelized sugar, toffee, coffee, raisins, molasses, with a spice reminiscent of cola. Big, thick, and sweet.

Taste is excellent, but very different than the smell. Carmelized apples and burnt toffee dominate the flavors...the astrigent roast of the malt but an underlying sweetness. There is an acidic green apple quality to the finish that makes this beer dangerously drinkable. Think of a roasted caramel apple.

Mouthfeel is thick, creamy and viscous.

Overall this is an amazing beer. Worthy of the praise indeed.

Serving type: bottle

04-06-2012 04:13:51 | More by jtmartino

AndyAvalanche

Massachusetts

4.5/5  rDev +5.4%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

12 oz. bottle poured into a Sam Adams Perfect Pint Glass. Dark, deep, and earthy brown. Lots of particle floating around in this guy, probably shouldn't have poured the last oz....but that ship has sailed. HUGE frothy head on this beer, lots of different sized bubbles and it clings to the glass for dear life.

Excellent smelling beer. The malt profile is pretty much perfect. Hints of toffee, caramel, and bittersweet chocolate. Nice aromas of dark fruits and natural sugar too. Dark cherries, plumbs, raisons, and even prunes. All really nice. There's not a hop or alcohol aroma, but the alcohol slightly warms your nose.

Flavor is as equally outstanding as the smell. Plenty of toffee and caramel, and some slight back hints of cocoa. Same dark dehydrated wonderful fruits too. Cant stress enough how good the malt profile is here. Sort of the love child of a dopplebock dunkle/quad, but on steroids. Hops are more present in the flavor, but really just provides some slight bitterness here. Really good.

Mouthfeel is really good. Full bodied, full flavor, surprisingly smooth and a good carbonation level. Beer has a great balance and really tasty. Adam is an extremely drinkable, but it's a sipper, not a chugger. It's ok though, you really wanna savor the flavor on this one. Thanks googzoid10 for an AWESOME extra!

Serving type: bottle

04-04-2012 02:09:21 | More by AndyAvalanche

shleepy

California

3.15/5  rDev -26.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Small bottle from K&L (Redwood City), poured into a snifter glass.

A: Black, or at least very, very dark brown. Creamy, tan head, with good retention.

S: Roastiness, leather, rubber.

T: Caramel, raisins, something burned that I can't quite put my finger on. There's a little sourness that shines through, which I like. A little roastiness and a bitterness remain in the aftertaste.

M: Smooth and creamy. Heavy-bodied but not a completely slow-sipper. For some reason, left me with a dry mouth... but maybe that was caused by something else.

O: Interesting and complex, but not something I'd buy again.

Serving type: bottle

04-01-2012 22:05:43 | More by shleepy

EricCioe

Montana

4.6/5  rDev +7.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Batch 83.

This pours a deep brown with a tight khaki head that leaves great lace. On the nose the first thought that came to mind was an oriental blend of pipe tobacco like GL Pease's Embarcadero, where there are both raw tobacco/smoky notes combining with deep fruits. I can't say I've ever smelled anything like this before. In the mouth the smoke wafts around while rum soaked figs and roasted malt and chocolate ... this is a beer that will take some getting to know over a dozen bottles to unpack all of the details here. The body is medium, lighter than I might have expected, with a long finish where some booze and smoke linger after the fruits die away.

Overall, this beer is both incredible and unique. It's like a smoked Baltic porter mixed with an old ale. Unreal complexity, yet highly drinkable. Send me this stuff.

Serving type: bottle

03-28-2012 23:37:54 | More by EricCioe

Holland

Pennsylvania

4.18/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A: dark brown color with minimal light brown head, but the lacing stays for the glass. Looks viscous.

S: sweet malt, caramel, dates, brown sugar - smells sweet, with no hops that I can smell.

T: immediately I do taste some bitter hops to balance the malt sweetness. It also tastes like raisin, brown sugar, and slightly like alcohol. Taste is a lot more bitter than I would have expected with a smell as sweet as it is.

M: medium-heavy body, one of the heavier old ales I've had. Comes with medium carbonation that fizzes a bit in the mouth to make it fluffier than it is when it first enters the mouth.

O: the alcohol is easy to detect, but it's solid. Paid $6 for a 12 ounce bottle, which hurt but was worth it. Overall excellent beer with deep complexity.

Batch 81.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2012 23:04:48 | More by Holland

BrokenStones

New Jersey

4.23/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Had this at Baileys Tap Room in Portland the other day, 12 oz. Bottle. Very disappointing. HOWEVER, I had one on tap at APEX the following day and they were like two different beers.

Bottom line is that the bottle was almost like eating an ashtray. Hardcore black liquid smoke. Truly not enjoyable.

***Had a bottle at home 3/25 and was a world apart from the bottle at Baileys. The charcoal and dominant burnt/smoke characteristics were far less dominant. Rather the charcoal was just part of, as Andy would say "A cornicopia of flavors, a fruit basket of delight!"

Headed to Apex the following day and had to try it on tap.
Much more mellow, rounder edges, far richer in character, deeper and more complex.

Fred is far more enjoyable for me right now.

I haves some at home and will age a few and go back to it and see how the bottle develops. I will review again.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2012 08:01:26 | More by BrokenStones

BarryMFBurton

Indiana

4.2/5  rDev -1.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

This one’s a random liquor store find – it certainly pays to shop around.

Brewed about three years ago (Batch 77, 2009 Vintage).

A: Odd pour: there’s no big, fluffy head, but a film of very thin white color around the edges of the body. Lacing is minimal and spotty. The color is brown with a ruby red light, showing a watery, old ale character in its thickness. Looks interesting, to say the least.

S: Starts with great caramel cream aromas, but soon shows hints of vanilla, baking chocolate, and wood; old ale deliciousness. Leather is the transition aroma before Noble hop notes of lemon and floweriness. Finishes with some Vanilla Coke and a mineral water tone.

T: Full of flavor from the very first sip: starts with a spicy hop bitterness and a grainy zest of lemon rind and oaky rum. Tons of complicated malt flavor, with prune, caramel, toffee, fig, and chocolate notes. Roasts aren’t as pronounced as in the nose, but peat and rum raisin flavors make their way through with a rolling iced coffee character tagging along. It’s a little dry on the end, with some stabilizing wine and buttery fudge notes. Aftertaste is sugary-smooth smoke and raisin.

M: Cool, smooth, and refreshing. A little thick for an old ale, but still relatively thin for a 10% alcohol beer.

O: A very tasty brew: brown sugary and old-ale-rich to the core. To be honest, I expected a bit more craziness from the guys who made Fred, but this is a great, woody old ale. With this base beer, I’m guessing I’d love Adam from the Wood. New beer quest…go!

Serving type: bottle

03-25-2012 03:02:46 | More by BarryMFBurton

divineaudio

Michigan

4.53/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

300th review!
bottle courtesy of rjocobs6.
batch 76 into my founders snifter.

a - pours a murky, dark brown shade, nearly an opaque black. gave me a thin cap of sudsy, tan head than calmed to a film slowly. leaves a few thin legs of lacing in the glass.

s - massive sweet dark fruitiness. raisin, plum, fig, faint chocolate.

t - wow. starts off with chocolate malt, then dark fruits roll in as do notes of leather. a candi sugar sweetness takes over then fades into a smokey, peaty finish. slight alcohol spiciness and faint hop bitterness both come out as the beer warms.

m - full bodied with the perfect amount of carbonation. finer co2 profile, slight alcohol warming. amazingly smooth. one of the best textures i have ever experienced in a beer.

o - a wonderful beer. falls in the dangerously drinkable category, not because you don't notice the alcohol taking effect, but because it's so damn good that you sip it faster than you probably should. worth seeking out.

Serving type: bottle

03-24-2012 05:43:22 | More by divineaudio

jgagne

Kentucky

4.43/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

A- pours a nice mohagany brown with prominent very light brown head. Good retention.

S-good caramel notes at the nose with a underlying smell of smoked wood.

T-huge sweet malty flavor with a nice but not to strong smoke flavor. Very clean and balanced. The caramel/nutty flavor is wonderful in this beer.

M-large body that coats your mouth with sweetness.

O-my first beer from Hair of the Dog, and I am extremely impressed. Wonderful balance. Hides the alcohol very well, definetly an easy drinker.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2012 01:24:54 | More by jgagne

Drinkerofales

California

4.38/5  rDev +2.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

Batch 83

Pours dark brown that allows no light, there is some lightening of the brown on the edges. A huge light mocha head took forever to recede and left plenty of lacing.

Smell has some booze, but the overall character is freshly cauterized leather, smoky, and bold. A bit daunting....

Taste is complex, strong, dark fruit, roasted malt, bitterness, some smoke on the finish.

A smooth medium body with good carbonation make this huge beer feel a little lighter.

While it may feel a little lighter, the flavor never lets you forget it's boldness. My first time I every smelled a beer, and fully experienced leather, it was quite scary. Glad I tried this excellent flavored brew.

DOA

Serving type: bottle

03-19-2012 18:23:03 | More by Drinkerofales