Review – Hair of the Dog Fred

From Hair of the Dog: Fred was created to honor beer writer and historian Fred Eckhardt. Fred is a big inspiration for me and many other brewers. Fred’s work in all-grain brewing and beer styles helped me become a better brewer. Fred the beer is a deep golden color. It is made with aromatic and rye malts and includes 10 different hop varieties in an effort to incorporate the whole world into this beer. It has 10% alcohol by volume and 65 IBUs. We hope that Fred will inspire you to share your knowledge with others as Fred has with us.

Hair of the Dog – Fred – 12 oz bottle poured into a New Belgium glass. 10% abv.

Appearance: A dull, dense gold with a tight, 1/2 inch bright white head.

Aroma: Breadiness, and some sugar sweetness. As it warms up a bit, you will notice a hop presence. A little bit of dry grapes or pear.

Taste: Caramel, bitter hops, some alcohol.

Mouthfeel: Very fizzy and active. That helps spread around the sweetness and hop bitterness all around.

Overall: Very carbonated, the bottle almost didn’t make it to my glass!  Very balanced in the flavor department. I can not pick out 10 different hops, but I am aware they are there.  I think this would age especially well. Not sure why some refer to it as a barleywine, only because that limits it. It is definitely a cousin of the barleywine and old ale varieties.