Don (2018)
Hair Of The Dog Brewing Company

Got this a long, long time ago from someone who was very generous. Unfortunately my notes are a disgrace. If it was you, cheers!

From a 16.9oz bottle into a snifter
Vintage: 2018
Double barleywine aged 18 months in port, madeira, bourbon, calvados and rum barrels

APPEARANCE: Pours out flat and yields no head. Transparent ruby red in color with no carbonation. I'm pretty sure this was the idea.

SMELL: Lots of boozy barrels. Red wine, bourbon aromas, and plenty of woody oak on the nose. Some light vanilla and some red fruits as well.

TASTE: Very boozy, with lots of wine flavors, bourbon, oak and woody character up front. Some more barrel character at the swallow, with a bold finish bourbon, wood, vanilla flavors, some light notes of pure chocolate, and red fruits linger on the palate. Lots of barrel and booze, with some nice vanilla and chocolate flavors from the barrels.

PALATE: Lighter body and relatively thin, with no carbonation. Flat.

OVERALL: A one-of-a-kind beer for sure. I must admit that I’m certainly not the leading connoisseur of uncarbonated beer, so take my comments with a grain of salt. This is flavorful, very barrel heavy, boozy enough, with plenty of oak and woody notes to satisfy any fan. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who likes well-crafted, unique boozy beer. I generally love anything of that flavor, though my tastes need just a touch of bubbles to make it world class. Just a touch. In any case, this was very enjoyable and I’m glad I had the chance to try it out. Thanks very much!

Upon the pour, it is noticeably the lightest of the three vintages; a deep ruby with surprising clarity. As noted on all three iterations of Don, this does not have any carbonation.

The Port barrel is really what hits on the profile of the nose first. Stewed cherries and apricot bolster the fruit-forward entrance, with just a touch of rum raisin and milk chocolate to round out the profile and add some complexity.

The palate comes forward with spiced pear and a bittering nuttiness. Following closely are notes of Raisinet candy and caramelized honey. As it settles on the palate the initial bitterness lingers, but the heartier notes dissipate and leave a trail of grape brandy and canned peaches.

The mouthfeel begs for more weight, and we agreed that based on the overall profile of the beer, it would benefit from a carbonation treatment. That said, sip this one slow. It's undoubtedly complex in what it has to offer, almost riding a line we didn't even know existed between barleywine, mead, and Port wine. The finish initially trails with too much bitterness, but closer to room temperature that really settles down and is replaced by more pleasant esters, ethanol warmth, and drying fruit.

Sampling this beer at cellar temp and pouring into my mini snifter tasting glass. Gonna treat this as a cordial and re cap the bottle after a few ounces tonight.
The beer pours a bright clear amber color with no carbonation, foam, head etc. The swirls do leave some sticky legs on the glass like a fine wine may do.
Aroma is robust, some brown sugar and fruit with fig and peaches coming through and mixing with some dry wooden notes and a mix of booze with bourbon and rum taking the dominant position. No hops to be mentioned or detected here. I do get a bit of fusol booze as well and a bit of black pepper. I expect this beer to be warm when it hits my palate.
First sip reveals a medium body with no carbonation, as expected, and a bit of a slick texture. The beer tingles my palate, but from boozy warmth not bubbles!
Flavor is some toffee followed by peaches and sweet oranges mixing with some brown sugar and a bit of a leathery note. I also get bourbon and rum as the booze representation and there is some dark (high cacao%) chocolate in the background. And yes, there is warmth on the swallow and rolling down my gullet and when it hits my belly.
This is a sipping beer, and I think it is definitely more of a cordial approach for handling this beverage.
Very unique and I enjoy it, but not something I would recommend drinking in one glassful to finish the bottle. Ill see how this beverage changes over the next couple weeks, with a few ounces at a time.

2018 bottle poured from fridge temp. No carbonation as expected. I had a bottle of this a in 2019 and it blew our socks off. Let's see how it goes tonight. Nose is really interesting. Orange, rum, tropical fruits (mango, papaya), coconut, toffee, and more rum. It's really interesting how the rum dominates the nose. Makes me think it spent more time in the rum barrels than the others? Taste is a really nice balance of the casks. The rum is definitely obvious, but now the port and madeira come through. Dark fruit (plums, red grapes) mix with tropical fruits. The alcohol is very evident, coming in at 15.2% ABV. Honestly, this tastes a lot different from what I remember. As it warms, I get some coffee grounds, dark chocolate, toffee, and walnuts. The aftertaste is rum-forward. Overall, this is a really interesting take on a BA barleywine. I can't say that I have ever tasted anything like it.

2018

I had never heard of this beer until I saw it on the HotD website for sale. I was very excited to try it. Intriguing aroma, more cocktail than beer. Orange, honey, and booze, booze, booze. What kinds of booze? Maybe...all of them? The spirits from fruit seem more prominent. Big, brassy, and exciting.

Flavor falls short of the aroma unfortunately. The sweet elements are all but overwhelmed by alcohol. I could discern some fruit, orange apple, and some darker fruits. The alcohol notes are all over the map. At one moment almost sweet and decadent, the next moment floral, bitter, and unpleasant. Again, more cocktail than beer. And it kind of works. As promised, it was absolutely flat and that did not bother me. I had this at refrigerator temp and at cellar temp. I strongly preferred it cold. The alcohol bite became too intense as it warmed.

From the website- This Beer is meant for sipping and comes in a resealable bottle. Following this directive, I opened this yesterday, had 4-5 oz then resealed the bottle. Love these pseudo growler 500ml bottles. I had very strong negative feelings then but I'm enjoying my 5 oz much more today. Today's pour was muddier. Typically I try very hard to leave the sediment in the bottle, but I wonder if what I got in the glass today helped? I think I'll save the last 5 oz for tomorrow. Probably have even more sediment then.

Hard to recommend this at $35 a bottle. It's unique for sure and I guess I don't regret the purchase.

Edit: day three brings a bit more sweet and a bit less heat. Same elements but in better proportion. Gave it a 3.57 on day two, going a little higher now.

 

One year, one month after acquisition, it's time to pop the top and indulge with some Don. The color is what you'd expect from HotD, a rather ruddy, rusty orange. As indicated by the description, he is completely flat. Not a single bubble, so sound from the flip top as it's let loose, nothing.

The aroma is absolutely insane on the alcohol front. The rum barrels perhaps stand out the most. A splash of orange liqueur is the only subtlety.

But the flavor... Wow, the flavor. Clearly not for everyone as it truly rings spirit vs. beer, but this is where subtleties DO shine. Fig, plum, and grape followed by waves of orange marmalade and honey slathered walnuts. Maraschino cherries join the fruit bowl as it warms. The complexities are endless as each sip warrants more focus and attention to minor details. It demands you to push through to see what's next.

Sweet, sticky, sappy, bitter, thin, bright, flat, harsh, warming. Damn this is one intense beer.

Here's the tricky part: approach this as an ale, cocktail, or spirit? I pick cocktail. It's a friggin Top Shelf Long Island, Manhattan, and Barleywine rolled into one. It's hot of booze, it's sweet, it's bitter. It's fun, unique, brash and bold. At any rate, people will absolutely love or absolutely hate this. A beer that needs to be explained before ordered, but for those seeking out the truly extreme, here's your "beer". Highly recommend taking small draws which the flip top cap accommodates, or at very best, share this with a well thought out selection of friends.

Cheers.

 

 

L: dark red / brown. No head, pours still
S: a bit muted, but I get barrel and caramel
T: nice and classic babw but again not a flavor explosion. Solid bourbon soaked caramel covered raisins!
F: I love that it’s still! Smooth and easy drinking for 15% too
O: I’m very suprised the previous ratings are so low...much be newbies to bil

 

Bottle pour at the brewery.

A still ruddy brown with no head, this looks nice. No legs on the pour. The nose is immediately A sweet with with notes that one finds in Fred immediately apparent. there's sherry, Apple brandy, vanilla, bourbon, coconut and tons of barrel flavor. Plenty of dried fruit. Nutty, rich, deep toffee, caramel and mild butterscotch notes are present alcohol is reasonably well hidden. palate opens sweet with sherry, mild port, rehydrated raisins, brown sugar , vanilla ,mild bourbon there's a little coconut full bodied, sweet and slick on the palate, there's a lingeting sweetness of Calvados and dark rum. Alcohol is noticeable on the finish . full in body and still, there's even a mild boozy barrel tartness present. This tastes aged, though, unfortunately, not particularly well integrated, and I'm not sure any additions aging will help - I don't see how more oxidation is a good thing. Rich, buttery and unabashedly a HotD creation. Complex but a little lacking in a statement of intent IMO.