Hair of the Dog Doggie Claws (2001-2002)

Doggie Claws has a light copper color and an intense herbal hop character. The beer is ready to drink now but will improve with age.

2001 and 2002: Ahtanum and Vanguard Hops

2003 on: Simcoe and Amarillo Hops

3.9

226 reviews

Portland, United States

Community reviews

3.4 Bottle 35,5 cl. Courtesy of ditmier. Vintage 2002. Pours an almost clear amber with a small off-white head. Nose has bonbons, sweet caramel and a very oxidized touch. Medium body, nutty and salty - again fairly oxidized. The hops are not overly aromatic after all these years but they still leave a solid bitterness. 150311

4.1 beautiful dark amber color, with excellent head. Lots of cherry, sherry, butterscotch, nuttiness, a bit a oxidization, but incredible depth. Hops still shine. Well balanced. Superb.

4.0 2002 12oz from Brouwer’s stock in Seattle. Remarkably spritely. Foamy head on a caramel pour. Lighter shade than the ’08 bottle we opened next to it, and tasted stronger and a bit hotter. Really great.

4.1 Hey Kevin thanks for bringing over the 2001 magnum of Doggie Claws! Pours a very hazy orange color with a very good tight head. The aroma is lots of orange rind with some booze and nice sherry notes. Flavor is slightly tart and very orange marmalade like, the beer is dry but well balanced with some great citrus rind character. Pretty awesome.

4.1 Sometimes I just gotta laugh. I popped open a rather fresh Sequoia Jacob Marley Barley Wine and forced it upon Jon for his first taste at Woodshop 5.0. The barleywine he pops is an 01 Doggie Claw. This is why Weeheavy kicks ass, and I’m a sidekick at best. Thanks Jon. This was the chunkiest brew I think I had all night, and I don’t know that my pour was from the bottom. Super smooth and complex and really really good.

4.0 Tasted from a magnum that WeeHeavySD opened at Woodshop 5.0. Thanks Jon! Cloudy orange. Sweet. No oxidation. Smokey. Very good.

3.7 2001 magnum bottle generously shared by heykevin. Thanks! Poured a slightly hazy medium to dark orange color with an off white head. The aroma was of toffee, dark fruit and subdued alcohol. Medium bodied and sweet with surprisingly lively carbonation given its age. I tasted caramel and raisin with a bit of alcohol.

4.2 Thanks to WeeHeavySD Appearance: Dark tan with no bubbles. Aroma: Sweet, baked lemon bars. Taste: Sweet lemon candy and a little bitterness in the finish. Mouthfeel: Thick with low carbonation. Overall: What a wonderful experience. I got a 2009 Doggie Claws that wasn’t carbonated, so this was my first real experience with the beer. It ages quite nicely.

3.9 Hair of the Dog Brewing Company--Doggie Claws Barley Wine Style Ale--2002 Release--12 oz. Bottle--10.00% ABV--70 Simcoe Amarillo IBU’s. (4.0 / 5.0) Barleywine. $3.49 Each. Foamy thin off white lacy head. Clear copper amber color hazes dark orange brown. Big BC sediment. Floral hop mild malt ester front. Dry sweet rich caramel fruit ester hot malty body. Smoky tangy malt hop spice dry end. Aged Well. Sampled 9/21/2008.

3.8 ’02 bottle - found this gem at Brouwer’s, tasted in a vertical with the ’05 and ’08 brews. Astoundingly, this one tasted fresher than the ’05. The alcohol was more apparent, and while the hops had long since gone stale, the malt contingent wasn’t as creamy smooth as in the ’05. Slightly different recipe, perhaps? Or just an illustration that there’s an optimal age for most brews, and 8 years on this one was too much? Still had a great flavor, with lots of caramel malts overpowering whatever hops might have once been there. Smooth and fruity, and still a crowd-pleaser... although at a table of 8 people, nobody guessed that this was the oldest of the vertical. Interesting - definitely glad I tried it - but I’d take an ’05 any day of the week.

4.5 Plum and apricot flavor. Perfect lacing and color. Clear copper color with and perfect lacing. Strong taset with a a powerrful flavor of malty brew with a nutty aftertaste. Powerful taste with a strong barley wine flavor. Very strong and powrrul brew. Raisons and brandy comprise this brew. Overall a fantatastic a brew.

4.0 Bottle, pours dark with thin head, Aroma is sweet burnt sugar and light fruit not overly sweet with a little spice. Taste is smooth with initial sweetness but follows with tongue curling tingle and hop dryness. its good

3.9 2002 12 oz bottle. Hops on the nose along with some caramelized sugar. Oh I like this a lot, more than the total score would indicate. Better balance of hops and malt than a lot of barleywines that are overly sweet. There is even some spice in the flavor which I can’t ever remember experiencing in a barleywine.

3.9 2001 vintage opened in line at the anniversary sale makes this much more appreciated. Caramel rosemary aroma, orange peel oaky oxidized beautifully. The generosity shared by the other beer lovers (in this case, poured by Alan’s brother) always makes for a great experience. Beer was amber colored with small granule chunks by the time I reached my glass out for a couple ounces. This beer has held up wonderfully, and after having the 2009 vintage later in the day, I prefer the beer with age and will hold on to my 2005 bottles for a while longer.

3.7 (12oz bottle, 2002 vintage, courtesy of BMan1113VR) Pours a murky amber with a small off-white head. Aroma of toffee, caramel, bread, pepper, raisins, and cherries. Flavor of caramel malt, some noticeable oxidation, raisins, florals, and herbs.

4.1 Bottle at Brouwers. 12 oz. 15$ per 12 oz. Dark caramel brown with a nice thin and tan head. Very pungent caramel sweetness. I was surprised as hell that this beer didn’t have a ridiculous alcohol aroma/flavor. Very nice sweet and malty beer that just hits every tastebud. Very malty, and after 7 years of aging the hops are virtually gone! I am so glad to have tried this, and I just can’t believe the depth of the malt flavor. A very rich and tasty beer.

4.1 2002 bottle. Such a good Barley Wine. Light reddish color with a decent head. Aromas of dark fruit and molassas. Flavors were similar with some heat and alcohol in the finish. Yummy

4.6 [Vintage 2002] An impulse/indulge purchase from Brouwer’s Cafe in Seattle... Poured from bottle a deep amber with a thick, long lasting, off-white head. Deep barley and alcohol aroma with a roasted and berry quality. Very smooth and still retained a good carbonation but very soft on the palate. Dark fruits like grapes or dates, vanilla and a whiskey like booze character. Roasted caramel malts. Not hop flavors left in this one. Also notes of smoked oak and milk. Very rich, complex and a joy to drink.

3.9 Bottle. Pours a hazy orangish color. Aroma is caramel, syrup, bourbon, oak. Flavor is bourbon, caramel. Syrupy mouthfeel.

3.6 2002 bottle via a trade with ratman197. Pours with a large off-white head over a hazy golden body. Aroma of berries, honey, toffee and alcohol. Taste is a bit thin with berries, caramel, sherry and alcohol. Thin body light bubbles.

4.4 Bottle of 2002 opened in April 2009. Clear and red in the snifter. Thin head that sticks to the top of the beer like an oil slick and refuses to let go of the glass. Aroma reminds me of grape juice. Not as big as the nose on the 2005 ut still very nice. I can already tell this is going to be more mellow than the 2005. Smooth, medium sweet, and a lingering palate of alcohol and brown sugar but neither is at all overpowering.

4.2 12 oz. bottle - part of a 2001-2008 vertical w/ Skoi, Terry, bvc, riversideak and after4ever; like tom said, an excellent investment at the november ’08 dock sale; the eight years lined up in 48 snifters was quite the sight; thank you Alan for gracefully aging these for us!! the 2001 came in with very mild carbonation and light gold; the 2001 & 2002 were quite lighter than the other years, obviously marking some of the recipe changes; nose of apples and sherry; drank smooth and soft with no heat at all; sugar not as strong as the current recipe; lots of fruit with some spice from the booze on the finish 2002 has the same light gold hue with more carbonation; a little more fruit, but less of the obvious apple; not as spicy from the booze; preferred the ’01 for sure

4.1 12-oz bottle of 01, cracked April 09. Pours a crystal clear bright amber with caramel highlights. Headless and laceless. Very leggy. Huge caramel, apple, sherry/port, and a bit of booze on the nose. Creamy medium flat body. Nuts, caramel, port/sherry, apples, and honey on the mid-palate. Mild bitter finish. Amazing stuff. Shared this as part of a full DC vertical with Skoi, Terry, BVC, Alex, and Ben. That vertical quickly established itself as one of the best investments any of us had ever made in beer. Well done, Mr Sprints.

4.4 Bottle shared by Daknole. Clear golden pour with off-white perma-head. Nice honeyed aroma is just lovely and shockingly smooth with the barest hint of welcome oxidation denoting maturity. Nice quaffable mouthfeel. Delightful, absolutely brilliant English-style barleywine with attendant sublime mouthfeel, superior quaffability and an absolutely brilliant hop character in the finish. How the hops survived so well all these years is a miracle. I loved this beer, thank you so much Daknole.

4.4 Bottle, shared with Oakes and Beershine. Pours a cloudy amber color with a small whtie head. Nice aroma of honey, floral hops, fruit, and caramel. This bottle had hardly any oxidation and had stood the test of time very, very well. Flavors of honey, hops, caramel and some nutiness is present. damn fine beer. Now I wait to try a Matt!!!

4.1 Bottle, sampled at Woodshop Quad. I wrote down that it was an 02 bottle, though I was pretty drunk at that point. Pours a hazy amber with a thick fluffy white head. Rich aroma, of malt, citrus hops, dark fruits, and caramel. Big taste, of malt, hops, herbs, caramel, citrus, and pine. Lingering hoppy malt flavors. Very nice.

3.6 2002 bottle. Pours hazy amber with a large, frothy, off-white head, somewhat lasting with fair lacing. Aroma is average malt (cookie, toasted bread, straw), heavy hops (perfume, flowers), average yeast (dough) with notes of heavy alcohol, wood, and apple. Full bodied, sticky and alcoholic texture, lively carbonation, and a bitter finish. Long duration, light sweetness, heavy acidity and bitterness.

3.8 Big ol’ 2001 bottle shared at the RB City Beer party, pours attractive opaque ruddy brown with thin cream colored head. Flavorful and sweet with an earthy finish that was a bit hot.

3.8 2002 vintage. Thanks Jason! The beer pours to a hazy glowing amber body with a coating off-white head and spotted lacing. The aroma is complexly caramelized and oxidized hops. Very nice however. The flavor is malty with some soapy hops and earthiness. The palate is medium bodied and has a slightly bitter hop to it. Nicely textured.

3.0 In short: A tired smooth fruity strong ale. Past due date. How: Vintage bottle, post-Dark-Lord-Day 2008 party. Unknown generous soul. The look: Murky orangey body topped by an off-white ring of foam In long: Sugary sweetness and a lot of fruity flavours with no specific fruits really coming out. Less oxidized than most beer its age but the beer is passed due date. If there was a hop bite it is long gone and the body/mouthfeel/carbonation felt very tired. Alcohol well concealed. Didn’t fell like a Barley Wine. I had put away the notebook but despite my advanced drunken state I had to pull it back out when that rare threat showed up unexpectedly. But with a rare beer like that opportunity only knock once, if I hear a second knock it’s probally a Jehovah’s witness.