Adam From The Wood 1978
Hair Of The Dog Brewing Company

(Review from notes. Had on tap at the HotD 25th Anniversary 11-16-2018.)

Briefly, this is Adam From the Woods on steroids.

The familiar look of Adam. Virtually no carbonation inside a deep brown chestnut body. The alcoholic burn stings the nostrils and warms the belly intensely. The taste buds are practically burned off.

But... this is delicious. The barrel influence explodes the tobacco and leathery tastes affiliated with Adam, but the booze barrel throws in a touch of vanilla and some incredible woodiness.

This dog needed to breathe a bit before being show quality. Great stuff and it was an honor to try it. Cheers!

On tap at the HotD 25th.

The nose is wonderful, with a blend of sherry and scotch whiskey, bourbon and vanilla, with notes of tobacco, earth and leather. 5 years in the barrel have transformed Adam to something else. The blend of sherry, tobacco, leather and light vanilla is exquisite on the palate. Full bodied, softly carbonated, this is excellent.

 

Jet black, small dark tan head. Smells of bourbon, oak, smoke, chocolate, a bit more bourbon in the nose but not in a sharp way. The first sip took me about 20 seconds to fully experience all of the flavors, it was absolutely incredible. Round oaky vanilla and bourbon upfront, classic leather and smoke immediately after and a play of sweet and smoky in the finish, which evolves into a heavier sweetness like caramel long after you think you're done tasting it. Mouthfeel is thick and luxurious, with just enough bubbles rising lazily through the thick liquid. Better than regular Adam from the Wood in terms of taste and complexity.

So much bourbon and coconut. Had a solvent taste at first (maybe the first 20 minutes) but faded as it warmed up more. This was really good and probably the most bourbon forward beer I've had.

 

 

Great smell of vanilla, coffee and chocolate. Tastes coffee, chocolate, barrel, alcohol, vanilla, red fruits, the flavours keep on coming with each sip. Best beer at Borefts this year for me!

 

Had this one at Borefts, from the tap. An excellent beer, with an extremely complex aroma and taste - chocolate, coffee, vanilla, macerated fruits, apples, pears, grapes, cherries, cherry liquor and so on. Super smooth mouthfeel with a heavy bourbon taste that I enjoyed quite a bit.

 

On tap in the tasting room. So glad I was able to get a glass of this before the keg blew.

The beer pours a fairly dark brown color, and so is very similar to regular Adam in appearance. On the nose... good grief! I have never smelled a beer with this level of bourbon/whiskey before. It almost completely drowns out the base beer aroma, which is not all that easy to do. There is still a hint of chocolate, light smoke, cherry and vanilla, but the whiskey aroma is what you notice. On the palate, if anything the whiskey flavor is even more intense (which is astonishing), and frankly, this comes across as a beer where a bit of AFTW was added to a glass of whiskey. I personally love the whiskey and bourbon based beers you increasingly see on the market these days, but I could see where this might be too much of a good thing for some folks. Mouthfeel is full, with a very long, whiskey infused finish. The beer isn't hot or heavy on the finish, though obviously, the alcohol is very noticeable and prominent in this beer.

An amazing beer from HOTD. I took my time with my glass, and as I went a long, the whiskey seemed a bit less prominent and I picked up more of the base beer. It would be great if this was around in the tasting room from time to time, but my understanding is that there is/was only the single keg. That's a shame, as this is really a treat!

Overpowering taste of whiskey, which can be good of you are a whiskey lover. Aged in barrels from 1978 for 5 years. This was a special, only on tap at the brewery.