Bourbon Fred From the Stone
Hair Of The Dog Brewing Company / Brewery And Tasting Room

 

2019 vintage, so 3-4 years old. 12 oz bottle

Pours a clear, very dark amber color, thin head that fades. Aroma is boozy - oaky whiskey, spiced apple, a little vanilla. Similar flavors in the taste. It's warming, it shows it's 12% abv. Mouthfeel is a little syrupy, gentle carbonation.

Had this on 2023-01-20 from a 2019 12oz bottle with my son-in-law.

Absolutely killer aroma and taste. Raisin, fig, dried plum, rich malt. Smooth feel. Alcohol is well disguised. Thoroughly enjoyed this.

Pours brown with a hint of burgundy to the color. Transparency is murky. Head is a finger of khaki foam, which bubbles away rather quickly. Aroma is bourbon with layers of raisins, fig, toffee, caramel, and toasty malts smashed around bourbon. It does not smell hot, though the barrel is forward. Flavor profile follows along the same path as the aroma, hitting toasty, roasty, and caramely malts with dark fruits, fig, toffee, and bourbon. It brings forward a little bourbon and barrel, but isn't heavy or hot. Mouth feel is creamy with a thin, watery undertone. A little flat. Overall, bourbon is a fine addition to this. It hits some quality notes, but lacks the depth of other options.

Served in a 15.5oz Spiegelau tulip from a 12oz bottle.

Re-visited June 25th, 2022

Dirty, tawny orange body; cloudy; thin, creamy head, thin rings of foam encircle the glass. Candied orange aroma; sweet cherry. Sweet, rye-like flavor; caramel; red licorice; orange zest. Heavy body; thick and sticky; some alcohol warmth.

This beer has a really unique and interesting flavor. It makes the beer pretty memorable. Much better from my first experience from almost a month ago.

Pouring temperature: 57 °F; bottling data: 2019

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Original May 22nd, 2022 ratings and score: 3.75 3.75 4.0 4.5 4.0 (overall 3.98; rDev -3.4%)

Dirty, cloudy appearance; brownish-orange color; thin yet lasting head, off-white color, some sticky rings and fingers of foam encircle the inner glass. Heavy caramel smell with over-ripe stone fruit tones; trace of bourbon and oak. Big earthy sweetness with a heavy caramel note; whiskey; phenol bitterness. Smooth, velvety mouthfeel; heavy with residual sugars coating the palate; lots of alcohol heat and dryness; sticky.

A decadent beer, rich and boozy in nature.

Pouring temperature: 55 °F; bottling info: 2019; bottle conditioned

On tap at the source.

A deeper, more copper color pour than the Fred that this is going against. The nose is immediately rich and warming with bourbon, vanilla, coconut and barrel oxidation on top of the base beer. The rye has taken on an oxidation note, turning slightly sherry like, working nicely. The palate opens rich and full with warming bourbon, rich vanilla and a little coconut. A touch of minerality is present, amplified by the higher carbonation. Rich sherry on the finish. Medium full in body with a warming finish. Excellent, but my preference tonight is for the regular Fred this is up against.

12oz bottle - 2019 vintage. Opened 4-10-22.
1/4" beige head with short retention, falls to a sparse cap quickly. Amber-brown and opaque body. Spotty, wispy lacing. Nose is toffee, brown sugar, vanilla, fruit and wood spice. Full body, low carbonation, smooth mouthfeel and some lingering heat. Long, rich and sweet finish. Nice as a dessert beer, end of the evening, digestif. Outstanding.

 

Pours a murky, ruddy brown with a short-lived, half finger of light tan head that quickly settles into a wisp and messy crown that leaves messy lacing.

Vanilla and toffee jump out in the nose, coupled with leather, faint apple and alcohol.

The taste is fairly similar — vanilla, toffee, leather, warming alcohol. Added to the mix is some pretty strong almond extract and bitter, woody tannins in the aftertaste.

Full bodied and slick feeling with tight, soften carbonation.

Another fun, complex sipper.

 

 

 

2019 vintage, 12oz bottle. Dark coppery color with lightly audible carbonation that leads to a thin layer of long-lasting bubbles that skim the surface of the liquid. Strawberry, white peach, leather goods, green tea, and mineral notes on the nose. Some bourbon heat on the palate with some resinous hops, tobacco, ginger, and floral impressions. A very interesting mélange of flavors. A fairly smooth sipper, and an accessible level of carbonation for most drinkers, compared to HotD's many offerings bottled still or practically so.

 

2019 bottle poured from fridge temp into a Hair of the Dog glass. Pours a murky orange/light brown with a little bit of carbonation. The cap actually released a hiss when popped. Nose is intense toffee, bourbon, marmalade, honey, bread, oak, vanilla, mango, raisins, and a slight sherry note. The taste is next level. Toffee, figs, tobacco, honey, marmalade, maple, vanilla, oak, leather, a touch of citrus peel, and a bit of brown sugar. So complex and intense. One of my favorite beers from Hair of the Dog. Mouthfeel is medium-bodied and just wonderful on the aftertaste.

12oz bottle poured into Hair of the Dog Tulip.

Vintage 2019; the only vintage of this beer that I am aware of.

Appearance: Muddled and mucky crimson or mahogany brown body. A small cap of bone white head results from a hard pour into the glass. Head eventually settles into a ring around the inside of the entire glass. Scant lacing scatters on the side of the glass. Booze legs present after each sip.

Smell: Huge vanilla cake with almond frosting and fruity pear nose. The likes of which I have never smells from a beer before... Nuances of caramel and toffee; not a big as the vanilla, almond, pear notes... perhaps moderate or slightly lesser than moderate. Hints of dark fruits as well.

Taste: The beer opens up with a spicy quality that is black pepper and bourbon as well as general botanical and floral notes. Dry earthy oak and dry leathery qualities. Astringent bitterness mixing with evident minerality too. These flavors seem to dominate. Watery brown sugar, lighter yet toffee, light dark fruits, and light vanilla. You can taste the booze in the bourbon "esk" finish.

Mouthfeel: medium full body with low carbonation levels. Carbonation is adequate. Carbonation is more than you can usually expect from most Hair of the Dog beers with the extended aging time. Lightly creamy textured body, but not thick like syrup. Slightly more boozy than I would prefer for my personal tastes.

Overall: Wish the beer tasted like it smelled and that is my biggest take away. The nose / smell is really glorious and complex in this beer. It just falls a little short of my usual Hair of the Dog expectations because it is lacking the rich sweetness that I was anticipating from the smell of this beer. Regardless of what I said about this beer overall it is still a really complex and flavorful beer; just not in the way I was expecting & hoping it to be. I will add that you always get a really memorable and unique drinking experience from almost all Hair of the Dog beers that I try. This is my first "from the stone" beer from Hair of the Dog.

Sampling this cellar temp 12 oz bottle poured into my snifter. 2019 vintage.
The beer pours a murky copper to amber color, I tried to decant and not pour sludge but a little does get into my glass. A dense creamy eggshell white head of about 2 cm. This foam fades slowly to a strong surface layer and tight clingy lattice on each sip or swirl.
The aroma is rich and malty with bourbon notes strong up front, some brown sugar, and I get some candied orange note which I wasnt expecting. Also light vanilla, but no booziness or fusol notes. Impressive for a 12% ABV brew.
First sip reveals a medium to thick body and absolutely creamy soft texture. Carbonation is fine and only slightly fizzy, very gentle even after swishing in my mouth.
The flavor is what I would expect from the nose. I get rich malt notes of brown sugar and toffee mixing with a bit of bourbon and light vanilla, and then pow! boozy bite, black peppery and heat. it doesnt linger but does catch me with each sip. Slows down my rate of consumption with each mouthful which is probably okay for a big beer.
Very nice nose and solid flavor, the creamy feel is great. I enjoy this aged beer and look forward to the other treasures I picked up in my mix box.

 

2019

Clear golden color with hints of amber. Pours with a medium sized bright white head.

Wonderful aromas of soft bourbon, vanilla, gentle, floral warmth, cooked pears, and...more.

Taste falls a bit short but is enjoyable. The barrel notes are great, rich bourbon and mellow vanilla. I also like the boozy pear and brown sugar. There is an oaky bite that and a hint of mineral that don't jibe for me. Interesting.

2019 bottle. Poured 07/2021.

Pours a cloudy plum color with a short off white head that fades quickly. The aroma has notes of bourbon, brown sugar, and vanilla. Flavors of vanilla, cake batter, brown sugar, bourbon, hints if dark fruit. Full bodied and perfectly carbed.

Yea this is excellent.

 

 

12 oz. bottle. Deep golden. Smells very fruity with some bourbon. Tastes of bourbon and bright fruitiness. A little oak. Dries out in the back end. Lingering alcohol. Medium heavy. It's a sipper. But not a great one.

2019 vintage; consumed on 1/25/21

Pours a foggy, pale brown body with soft orange/amber accents and is capped with a quarter-finger of fluffy, dingy chalk-white foam, which in turn fade quickly to paper-thin islands of cap, a large, frothy/bubbly collar, and a consistent spatter of chunky, webby lacing strewn around the walls of the glass.

Aroma opens with earthy brown sugar complemented with a slick, barrel-tinged vanilla, while light caramel and molasses meld with an almost curried, syrupy apricot; the refined malt profile is airy and casual, yet hinting at a more fluid depth; hints of medicine cabinet into slightly more saccharine pear dessert on the back end of the bouquet soon find fresh grapefruit peel, musty moss, and spicy oak rounding out the close.

Taste shows soft pear, light ginger, and splintery oak easing through upfront as a taut malt profile develops notes of baked toffee and almond; orange zest and pear compote meet creamy caramel candies over the mid-palate and into the back end, while vanilla cream and bourbon-soaked pear finish; tinges of medicine cabinet and spiced oak form a unique harmony to linger past the swallow.

Mouthfeel presents a medium body alongside a fluffy, rounded carbonation, dissilaying methodically to a touch of grit prickling the mid-palate, peaking with a lightly discernible creaminess as a subdued char eases along the back end, exceedingly delicate yet entirely unwavering through the finish; an airy, warming booziness is acclimated the palate upfront, quickly establishing a more comforting character as it over time.

Enigmatic; funky fruits married to an evolving barrel presence atop an ultra-refined malt foundation, inspiring the type of sensational curiosity which leaves me so consistently embracing the variations of strong ale style; a subtle, reflective gem.

A big thanks to Jeff for this one.

12oz. capped bottle into a Brooklyn Brewery snifter.

Nose is molasses, brown sugar, maple syrup, and resin. Hints of oak and booze with a touch of anise and custard sweetness. Deep, rich, and very aromatic. Beer opens pine, brown sugar, and sweet soy sauce. There's almost a sweet tartness reminisent of brown sugar covered pears. I get more brown sugar, leather and syrup in the middle. Boozy sweetness with oak, tobacco, brown sugar, and sap at the finish. Real nice complexity. Body is medium to full with low carbonation. Slick and oily on the palate and goes down boozy with a long, lingering, sticky aftertaste. A pleasure to drink.

Nobody does the strong ale style quite like Hair of the Dog. Beer's like this really showcase that.

A year old bottle. Poured into a Fremont small snifter. Pours a medium, slightly reddish orange with very little sign of carbonation; nearly still, but with a thin ring of bubbles around the glass. Aroma of dry caramel malt, light stone fruit, raisins, figs and light apple juice; no bourbon. Flavor is dry caramel malt, figs, raisins, light apple and pear juice; mildly earthy. Lighter fruit notes linger in the finish. Medium bodied with little creaminess due to the low carbonation. There is adequate, but subdued carbonation, which is better than the pour promised. I'm a big fan of Fred and Adam, two of my earliest introductions to strong ales. This is easily identified as Fred, but the flavors are bit more muddled and lean more towards the lighter fruit end of the spectrum. I'm not getting much bourbon, but it may be a component of the fruit notes. There is a light earthiness, probably from the barreling, but no wood, which seems appropriate for this concrete barrelled ale. Interesting and drinkable, but I guess I like the wood flavors from traditional barrels better. The (fairly common for this brewery) low carbonation may take some brightness from the flavor. An uncommon variant I'm glad to have had the chance to try.

As with the original old mutt, this Fred pours a murky malt-extract looking amber. Slightly darker perhaps, but just a hair. The smooth mass has a very thin white foam lying around the ring of the surface, but as these beers are rarely expected to have carbonation, it suits the bill just fine.

Much less bourbon than expected on the sniffer, barely any at all in fact. Sweet golden raisins and fig mostly tease the nostrils with minimal amounts of earthiness and herbal nuances in the end.

Oh shit. There's the bourbon. Again, raisins and fig, or even dates carry the load, but a boozy influenced vanilla comes in strong. An unexpected nuttiness hangs in throughout each sip, and a herbal finishes doesn't disappoint.

Sweet, rich, and chewy. The booze is warming and intense at first, but once this has some time to breathe, it mellows quite a bit. It's lip smacking sticky and ends wonderfully bitter, and demands to be taken in slowly, one wonder sip at a time.

The Concrete Egg versions of the HotD classics have never really blown me away. Given the choice, I'd always take a "From The Wood" over a "From The Stone" anyday. This one falls right in line with that, but is still one damn fine experience.

Cheers.

 

Bottle cap came off with a fizz; a surprise in a HotD beer. Actual carbonation is mild but present. Smell is excellent with lots of bourbon. Taste doesn't come together quite as well, the bourbon isn't quite as strong as it is on the nose but the stone is far more present than I expected given the barrel aging. There is a whole lot going on in this beer and I'm not sure it all goes together or melds very well. This one might benefit from some additional aging to smooth out the rough edges and help it all meld together better.