Headless Dog
College Green Brewery

Headless DogHeadless Dog
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From:
College Green Brewery
 
Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
Style:
English Bitter
ABV:
4.3%
Score:
81
Avg:
3.39 | pDev: 16.52%
Reviews:
9
Ratings:
16
Status:
Retired
Rated:
Aug 03, 2016
Added:
Sep 16, 2006
Wants:
  0
Gots:
  2
No description / notes.
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Ratings by Bob6518:
Photo of Bob6518
Rated by Bob6518 from England

4/5  rDev +18%

Nov 29, 2011
More User Ratings:
Photo of flyingpig
Reviewed by flyingpig from Scotland

3.11/5  rDev -8.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 2.75
500ml bottle from The Linen Hall, Enniskillen (£2.99):
Quite a disappointing Hilden beer if I'm honest, I was expecting a bit more from the brewery with this one if I'm honest & it just seemed far too light at times with both the taste & the nose seeming somewhat subdued & weak. There was some pale malts & the off background fruit coming through alongside nice helping of citrus but it all seemed a touch bland & flat at times & it was wasn't one that I particularly enjoyed sadly.
Aug 03, 2016
Photo of BeerDrinkersWorldTour
Reviewed by BeerDrinkersWorldTour from Northern Ireland

2.92/5  rDev -13.9%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Appearance – Pours a clear gold with a thin pathetic head that has extremely poor retention, light CO2 activity in the body.

Smell – Kilned Malt, crystal hops all with a rather musty kind of edge. The nose here is unbalanced and confusing.

Taste – Barley and malt. The hop presence here is poor and underdeveloped. Straw, grain and leafy edges. Poorly balanced;

Mouth feel: Crisp on the finish and overall smooth that is all that I can say on a positive note. This beer is thin and watery.

Overall – A poor enough beer this one is best left alone.
Jun 22, 2015
 
Rated: 4 by TX-Badger from Texas

Sep 15, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Bobhoya from Arizona

Sep 02, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by innominat from Ireland

Feb 23, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by NeoClassicist from New York

Mar 15, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by Beerstorian from District of Columbia

Feb 16, 2013
 
Rated: 4 by KarlMcGowan from Ireland

Jan 26, 2013
Photo of Wattsox
Reviewed by Wattsox from Northern Ireland

3.75/5  rDev +10.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
500ml bottle, 4.2% ABV (rather than 4.3% posted), consumed Mar 2011, BBE Feb 2012.

A - Pale golden body with a decent head that dissipates down to a decent blanket that stays around throughout along with good lacing and cling.

S - Mild aromas of sweet malts and a little fruity undercurrent.

T - Similar to the nose, bready malts lead with some hop bitterness for balance. Quite a muted taste profile overall.

M - Smooth medium body with mild carbonation.

O - Extremely easy to drink, either on its own or as a session, and the relatively low ABV makes it quite easy to drink consistently.
Mar 18, 2011
Photo of Jugs_McGhee
Reviewed by Jugs_McGhee from Colorado

1.68/5  rDev -50.4%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 1.5
From draught into Hilden brewery pint glass; served at the John Hewitt pub in Belfast. Reviewed from notes.

A: Pours a clear gold with a thin pathetic head of extremely poor retention.

Sm: Malt, crystal hops. Kind of musty. Difficult to detect individual notes with me broken nose.

T: Barley and malt. Some badly handled hops. Tastes like a shite cask beer. Straw. Poorly balanced; poorly built.

Mf: Crisp on the finish, but that's about the only good thing I can say about it. Watery. Too smooth and too wet.

Dr: At 3.30 pound, I'll never look twice at this tap again. Leave this one be, lads.
Mar 09, 2011
Photo of NATOuk
Reviewed by NATOuk from Northern Ireland

3.43/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Appearance
Amber colour, thin but dense creamy head

Smell
Light Biscuity malt smell, hint of fruits

Taste
initial sweetness, gently changes to a light hop bitterness on the finish. Balanced, no one flavour overpowers, the overall taste is subdued.

Mouthfeel
Very light carbonation, silky texture in the mouth

Drinkability
Extremely easy to drink. Very balanced, No flavours stand out noticeably. A great session beer
Jan 27, 2011
Photo of StJamesGate
Reviewed by StJamesGate from New York

3.55/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
On cask at the John Hewitt, Belfast.

Pours gold orange with light sheets of lace. Orange blossom nose. Mild hay and caramel malts with orange oil and tea hops. Slight dry finish, light to medium body.

Fresh and fruity hops, which is nice, but entirely different from the bottle - so much so I wondered if it was even the same beer.

Tried a second time on cask at the Deveney's of Dundrum Beer Festival in Dublin, and it was different again: much more chalk and funk to finish, closer to the bottle.

I'm knocking half a point off drinkability - the first pint was nice, but what good is that if you can't get it again?
Of course, this could raise questions about the quality of casking, but I rather think this is just a neurotically inconsistent beer.

bottle
(2.5; 3.00 2.50 2.50 2.50 2.50)
04/02/2009
Contract brewed by Hilden.
Pours dark gold. Headless (heh.) Nose is mulchy with some tropical fruit. Smoky, stinging tobacco hops up front. Apple malts cut by a lactic sourness. Bitter finish leaves a flinty, stale aftertaste that just won't end.
Not nice. Some of the same problems I have with BrewDog's Hop Rocker - do UK brewers just have trouble using American hops in big amounts?
Not impressed by this brewery so far.
Feb 03, 2010
Photo of jspruit
Reviewed by jspruit from Denmark

3.47/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Got this 500ml bottle from the Drink Store in Stoneybatter. Best before 02/2010.
Pours pretty flat gold with a tiny head that doesn't stick around for long. Little carbonation.
The fruity notes are what come out more here with some earthy tones backing it up. Also smells of light biscuit, malty, and some nuttiness.
Tastes slightly fruity and earthy, hops really don't make much of an appearance here even though it says they use North American Cascade hops on the label.
Goes down relatively smooth, finishes dry with light malt hints. Nothing overpowering though.
Overall, a decent beer that I had wanted to try from this brewery, but nothing that I would jump back into again in bottle format. I'd like to taste it on tap though.
Jan 20, 2010
Photo of mdagnew
Reviewed by mdagnew from Northern Ireland

2.75/5  rDev -18.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 3
500ml bottle bought from GapWines...

Poured a good copper orange colour. White head poured very frothy and loose and faded almost instantly to a thin ring around the edge... no carbonation or lacing...

Aroma - Lots of ripe fruits (oranges, lemons, very ripe bananas, pears), cider / apple juice notes, strong floral honey sweetness, quite grainy - smells a bit like a brewery... yeasty notes, very light biscuit malts, light salty notes, some sulphur, wet rotten grass...

Taste - Pretty bland... Very watery fruits (light oranges, pears and apples), quite grassy and peppery, barely and maltiness, metallic notes, some saltiness, musty notes.... overall this is a bit like drinking a really watered down fruit cordial...

Feel - Thin and watery with no carbonation whatsoever... very light bodied... too dull and bland to be in any way drinkable...

Overall - I really hope this was a bad bottle otherwise the brewers really need to sort this one out.... very disappointing...
Apr 02, 2008
Photo of cypressbob
Reviewed by cypressbob from Northern Ireland

3.28/5  rDev -3.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
On cask at the John Hewitt bar, Belfast

Pours with a fairly fizzy light amber body, small dense white head with fair retention

Smell, slightly sulphurous, some thin malt, little bit floral

Taste, fairly crisp hops initially, biscuity malt, some dms, very short mouthfeel leaving little hop bitterness on the palette

A solid ale, quite drinkable but a few off flavours would put me off coming back to it again, maybe its the contract brewing from Hilden because its the same noticable sulphurous aromas that stop this beer being great
Sep 16, 2006
Headless Dog from College Green Brewery
Beer rating: 81 out of 100 with 16 ratings