Hair Of The Dog Brewing Co. Fred Batch #71
I’ve written previously about my adoration of Hair Of The Dog Brewing Company (HOTD), and have been lucky enough to taste a couple of their beers before this. Well, in a couple of weeks we’ll be leaving for a cross-country road trip, taking us to see many a cool city, brewery, campground, minor league baseball park, and several very cool friends (two of whom are getting married during our visit!).
A brief part of our trip will have us staying in Portland, where I’m hoping to at the very least be able to find a couple of other HOTD beers that I haven’t tried yet. Doggie Claws is right up there, but my real (probably totally crazy ridiculous) hope is to find some Adam or Fred From The Wood. Yes, I realize that there is essentially a 0% chance of my finding any of these beers (especially since we’ll only be in town on a Sunday, and I am assuming that HOTD will not be interested in having visitors on that day), but a man can dream, right?
So anyhow, that’s my Portland pipe-dream for this trip, to be able to visit HOTD. I figure that I’ll try to get in touch and see what happens, but will hold out no real expectation of seeing the brewery, or finding any of these rare versions of their beers. But like I said, you gotta have hope!
But, on to Fred! This is a strong ale that was initially brewed in honor of beer writer, historian, and Portland beer-scene institution Fred Eckhardt. In fact, you can read a really good article on the subject by Eckhardt himself here. The first batch was brewed on April 28, 1997 to an original gravity of 1.104, using pale malt, Belgian malts, and rye malt along with dark Belgian candi sugar. 10 different hops varieties were used to reach 65 IBUs. Fermented using the same Scottish yeast strain that HOTD uses for their other beers, the result was a beer that became an instant success as a draft-only release, and soon appeared in bottles. The rest, as they say, is history, and here I am, 12 years later, drinking a bottle from Batch #71.
In the article linked above (written in 1997), Eckhardt speculates about the brewery’s future:
The brewery has had a good reception for its beers, but production is complicated and expensive, bottling is labor intensive (by the use of dedicated volunteers), and drinking a six-pack while watching football is out of the question. It’s a tough market…
The beers have to make up for this limited appeal by widespread cross-country marketing management. H.O.T.Dog has a cult appeal wherever it appears, but it remains to be seen whether that will be enough. Can a small brewery in Portland, OR, ship enough beer to the great population centers of America to survive?
Over a decade later, HOTD and several other breweries throughout Oregon have proven that that state, and the city of Portland in particular, fosters a beer culture like no other in the country. A wealth of breweries not only thrive in that state, but do so while distributing little if any beer beyond its borders. Where else could a company such as Green Bottling survive?
A brewery such as HOTD for instance distributes to only a couple of states beyond Oregon, and some brewpubs in Portland itself only bottle small batches and distribute these locally. And yet, one could easily spend a week visiting brewpubs and breweries between Portland and Bend, Oregon, and still only scratch the surface.
So, the answer to Eckhardt’s question has been answered. But perhaps the answer is somewhat unique to that area of the country.
Anyhow, on to Fred. The label says that the beer is now brewed using Pilsner and rye malts, Belgian candi sugar, and “a unique blend of intense Northwest hop varities”. When Eckhardt wrote his article in 1997, the hop varieties used in Fred included: Progress, First Gold, Crystal, Fuggles, Northern Brewer, Willamette, and Tettnang for bittering, and Chinook, Spalt, Saaz, and Strisselspalt for aromatics. I suspect that some variety of these are still used in the beer today. It is fermented using their house, Scottish yeast strain.
The beer’s appearance is a hazy, amber, orange, with a very thin head. The nose carries rich notes of candied orange peels, meyer lemons, citrusy hops, layered on top of a deep malty base. The palate is lightly carbonated with a heavily textured malty body. Luscious sweet flavors of candied pears, lemons, oranges, and apricots, coexist with some herbal and spicy hop flavors, unfiltered honey and lemon meringue. The hops are muted by the the sheer power of the malt and candied fruit flavors. The finish is interesting, with slightly tangy, sticky sweet flavors and textures coating your mouth and lingering, spiked by herbal hop essence.
A very good beer, with layer upon layer of flavor. I found it to be somewhat overwhelming, simply because the body of the beer was so strong and hearty. But flavor-wise, this is quite good.
And, as with my previous taste of Adam, Fred has really fueled my hopes of someday being able to try other beers from this fabulous brewery. Really, if you ever have a chance to try any of their beers don’t hesitate, and if you have a chance to lay down a bottle or two of either Adam or Fred, I suspect you can’t go wrong there. Even better, if you’ve seen any bottles of Cherry Adam From The Wood or Fred From The Wood that I can snag – let me know!
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