Hair Of The Dog Blue Dot

Review # 8

Brewer: Hair of the Dog

Beer: Blue Dot

ABV: 7%

Location: Portland, OR

Style: Double IPA

Even though I picked up this beer in San Diego, it comes from a brewer just north of California – in Portland, OR. Hair Of The Dog doesn’t produce a huge line up of beers, but from what everyone I spoke to in San Diego told me, everything they do make is fantastic. I saw a couple more of their line down there, but most of them seemed like beers that didn’t really fit my mood, I guess given the warm weather down there. I actually intended on drinking this down there, but ran out of time to drink all of the beers I greedily grabbed. Oh well, I could have worse problems to deal with. All I know about this beer is that it seems to an ode to the Planet, and celebrates Earth Day, even though every year they release it during a different season… I don’t get it, but they don’t pay me to. In fact, they don’t pay me at all; I paid them for this beer. My particular bottle just says summer 2011 on it, so I guess it can’t be too old. As for its looks, it pours a crazy hazy light orange color. I just had an apricot, and it looks legitimately like that. Like it is totally opaque, nothing is visible through it. Kind seems like what would be produced if apricots could lactate… yum. Smell is a lot of sweet tropical fruits. Not much in terms of pine. It has some pineapple and tons of peaches going on. Very light citrus, maybe a sweet kind of orange, not much to be said in terms of grapefruit though; nothing really bitter coming at me. I found somewhere that its 100 IBU’s and I really hope that comes through on taste. Slight perfumy kind of smell, like a potent flowery hop sort of smell. I have to say that the beer looks weird though. Smells a lot like those dried apricots too actually. Even though the smell is rather one-noted (lots of sweet hops), the taste really delivers. Definitely it’s the apricot juiciness and a little bit of pineapple that hit me up front. It mixes with that strange perfume, kind of flowery hop. Those flavours hit up front, and then I get a swift but smooth shift to pine and grapefruit flavours. That said, they don’t dominate, because the bitterness from those hop flavours really start to move in quite strongly. I was worried that it would be too just light and sweet, and have no bitterness because of the aroma, but the flavour on that first sip puts this beer where I was hoping it might be.  Yeah it’s sweet at first, and then slight citrus sour flavours, then I get some bready malt briefly before that grapefruit and pine bite comes in. It really doesn’t look like a carbonated beer at all, but the bubbles really feel nice on the palate. That’s one thing I’ve found with every West-coast IPA that I’ve tried thus far, is that they use the perfect amount of carbonation to play off that intense hop bite. I was surprised that this IIPA was 7% when I read the bottle, but the taste definitely supports that. There’s no alcohol flavour, or burn, but this thing definitely has flavours as big as any other IIPA. It’s medium bodied and the finish is bitter, but not dry; it’s really enjoyable. Yeah this is a really great IIPA, I know it’s good, and it’s not that I’m underwhelmed by it or anything, because if I saw it on the shelves again, I would buy it, but I still can’t help but feel like I am underwhelmed. It’s really stupid I know. Like this thing is really delicious, maybe I need more time with it, or maybe it’s just because my stomach is a little queasy from earlier today. Let’s see I guess. Yeah I mean this is a great IIPA. I really can’t complain, there is nothing wrong with anything in the taste. I’ll admit the look of it, and my slight nausea, is putting me off every time I bring it up to taste it, but the flavour is just really nice. Lots of peach and grapefruit and a slight caramel/malt sweetness near the beginning. I feel like a bastard for not feeling as enthusiastic about this beer as I know I should. But oh well, still a great beer, with cool bottle art, and wish I grabbed more of their stuff. 

Rating: I would bet it tastes better than this.