1001 Beers

Beer No: 51
Page No: 617
Category: Dark

A few weeks ago, a good friend celebrated her 30th birthday, and for the occasion, David opened a magnum he had been saving for years from Hair of the Dog - their Fred of the Wood.  It was a rare treat as back when he received the bottle, they didn't bottle Fred from the Wood (apparently they do these days).  The bottle had very little carbonation, but the beer still tasted amazing (and I'm not the biggest fan of barley wines as it is).  Fast forward to today and I've got a Hair of the Dog Adam - a "heavy old world ale."  And boy is it heavy.  It's just 10%, but feels like much more.  The alcohol wasn't hidden very well within the finish of the beer and the fruit flavors almost overwhelmed the smoke and wood subtleties that I experienced back when I first rated this beer in 2003.  I'm certain I'll revisit this one as I'm a fan of Hair of the Dog's brews.  But for now, I wouldn't recommend Batch 75.  If you can find an older, aged batch though, go for it!

My review, cross-posted at RateBeer.com:

Hair of the Dog Adam from Hair of the Dog Brewing Company

Rating on May 14th, 2010:

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 6/10
Palate: 3/5
Overall: 14/20

Rating: 3.4 / 5.0

Had from 12oz. bottle from Hi Time Wines (Batch 75). Pours dark brown / black with thick tan head that takes a few minutes to subside. Lacing is good and slight head lasts until the end. Aroma is sweet and fruity with malts and raisins. Taste is rich with chocolate, alcohol, fruits, malty. I wish I remembered my original tasting of this beer, but I didn’t much care for this batch. Alcohol is much too strong in the finish and the smoky flavors that I previously detected are missing. It’s tough to go from a 3.9 to a 3.4, but I will revisit this as I usually love Hair of the Dog’s brews. This batch just missed the mark.

Rating on April 18, 2003:

Aroma: 7/10
Appearance: 4/5
Taste: 8/10
Palate: 4/5
Overall: 15/20

Rating: 3.9 / 5.0

Wow. We bought a nice large bottle to share amongst the table and I was pleasantly surprised. You can definitely smell the aroma of hops and smoke. The appearance is also quite nice - absolutely no head with a garnet coloring. The beer has a very strong flavor with a strong, smoky aftertaste. Very heavy, but very good - a beer, similar to a porter - that would just be good next to the fire on a cold night.