For the 2nd beer of my 50 day beer challenge, I decided I would keep it local and review a beer from brewery just a few minutes away from me. Hair of the Dog Brewing Company, located in Portland, Oregon was founded in 1993 and has become home of some of the most sought after Portland brews.
Adam was the first beer brewed by Hair of the Dog and has been around for awhile, but I’ve yet to review it (plus it’s been some time since I’ve had it). It’s an Old Ale that is a recreation of a historic beer style. You can read more about Hair of the Dog on their website (which looks like it’s from 1993). Now, on to the review.
First of all, Adam is a beer that will improve with age. I looked but couldn’t find a date that the beer was bottled. The batch number 79 was printed on the front, which I’m guessing is fairly recent since I just bought this bottle.
Pouring the beer I was a little surprised to see that there was absolutely no head at all (I even poured straight down the center of the glass). It’s extremely dark and cloudy with just a hint of red. While there is no head, there was some slight lacing left behind.
I honestly think I could sit and smell this beer all day. In the words of Will Ferrell, it is simply “scrumtrulescent”. It is very complex with aromas of dried fruits, figs, carmel, some slight alcohol (but not to much), sugar, and hops. It reminds me quite a bit of Barleywine, but I don’t think I’ve smelled a Barleywine as nice as this.
One of the beauties of Adam is that the taste follows the smell. Some beers have a great smell and then the flavor is completely different. This beer on the other hand tastes how it smells. It has flavors of dark fruits such as cherries and figs, carmel, chocolate, and some slight hoppiness which compliments the sweetness very well.
This is a very complex beer that is a great dessert type of beer which would probably pair well with some nice cheeses. It’s not too sweet, too hoppy, or too carbonated, it’s just right. The mouthfeel is smooth and would be a great beer to sip by the fire on a colder day as it is warmer for sure.
I loved this beer, however I can tell that some aging would make it even better as it did have a “young” taste. The 10% ABV can definitely be felt in this one so be careful.
My Hair of the Dog Adam Review: A
Here are the details:
ABV: 10%
IBUs: 50
Style: Old Ale
What’s your thoughts on Hair of the Dog Adam?
