The Hair of the Dog Brewing Company is a Portland, Oregon, based brewer specializing in "bottle conditioned beers which improve with age", and is a company "dedicated to providing the beer lover with new and unusual beer styles" (quotes from their label.) They are certainly doing a good job of it. Prior to Hair of the Dog's revival of the Dortmunder Adambier style, I had never heard of this German style brew in my twelve years of drinking serious beer. As it is obviously the only representative of its style I have ever sampled, I can't comment upon the beer's stylistic accuracy, but I can say it is one hell of a fine brew. Adam is top fermented and then has a cold conditioning similar to most German ales, and is also bottle conditioned.

Hair of the Dog lists a batch number on each bottle of their beer, and for this bottle of Adam the batch was number 21. As I poured, the deep brown to almost black color of the brew surprised me. I hadn't been expecting this from a German-style beer, albeit a seldom-produced one. The first whiff of the beer was loaded with rich Scotch ale like aromas. Upon sipping, the rich roasty-sweet maltiness blended with very strong notes of licorice and a warmly alcoholic mouthfeel, no surprise since the alcohol content is about 10% by volume. Licorice and alcohol linger with a slightly bitter hop presence in the finish.

You can buy this beer in 12 ounce bottles for about $3 a bottle, but you can also get it in gigantic one-and-a-half and three liter bottles too. Bring friends if you want to try that, or be prepared for a major hangover the next day. The brewery also makes Hair of the Dog JD.. Junior Dog? This tasted like Adam Lite to me when I sampled it on draft at Redbones in Boston. It was far too phenolic... a very good female friend (not a craft beer drinker but one whom I have recently turned on to pumpkin beer and especially gluhkriek) picked up big time on the phenolic band-aid notes when I described them to her. In all fairness this could have been poor handling by Redbones, as phenolic notes can be imparted to a beer by excess chlorine in the draft lines if they aren't properly rinsed while cleaning.

Adam is a sipping beer to be sure, before or after a fine meal. It's strength and flavor would also lend it to pairing with a cigar, though I don't do this as I feel the smoke detracts from the ability to taste the beer.

Update, May 21, 2007: Have you ever heard of Adam beer? Not many people have. Still, according to the Hair of the Dog brewery, Hair of the Dog Adam is a re-creation of a historic beer style once produced in Dortmund, Germany. Adam is an ale, a style not usually produced in Germany. Save for wheat beer, Alt, and Kolsch (which is actually more of a hybrid), most beers in Germany are lagers.

That in itself makes Adam something of an anomaly. There is not much information widely available as to the old German style, and we can’t know for sure what one really tasted like. Brewed in Portland, Oregon, Adam has more of a Pacific Northwest character about it than a Germanic one. Still, it’s a complex masterpiece of a brew that simply should not be missed. Add to that the fact that it is rarely made, and you have a beer worth scouring the globe for.

The brewery, of course, takes its name from the old adage that a bit of whatever you were drinking the night before might remedy that nasty hangover you have in the morning. “The hair of the dog that bit you,” as it were. Probably not a good cure in reality, but it makes for an interesting story after all.

Adam is sold bottle-conditioned with batch-numbered labels; my sample was from batch 67. It’s been a while since I’ve had an Adam, though I did jot down some thoughts on batch 21 in 2000. As you can see, this is a low-run brew with only 46 more batches made since then. Here’s what I thought then:

As I poured, the deep brown to almost black color of the brew surprised me. I hadn't been expecting this from a German-style beer, albeit a seldom-produced one. The first whiff of the beer was loaded with rich Scotch ale like aromas. Upon sipping, the rich roasty-sweet maltiness blended with very strong notes of licorice and a warmly alcoholic mouthfeel, no surprise since the alcohol content is about 10% by volume. Licorice and alcohol linger with a slightly bitter hop presence in the finish.

And now:

Hair of the Dog Adam pours to a rich brownish black color with a thick, creamy towering head of foam and a wonderfully sweet malty nose that hints at prune and fresh bread. Sip gently, because this is a monster: complex and rich with a full body, lots of hops, and 10% alcohol by volume. It’s more like a barleywine than anything else in all reality.

As soon as you sip, your tongue will be bathed in chewy caramel, chocolate, prune-raisin, black pepper, rum, soft fruit, lots of licorice, and bready yeast notes. Just sit back for a moment and enjoy the luxurious mouthfeel. There are citrusy notes of orange, too, that blend nicely with the chocolate. In the finish, the hops (50 IBUs of them) intensify, balance all that malt and leave you with a long lingering bitter finish. There’s even a hint of smoke too.

Adam is most definitely a sipping beer, a savoring beer, a beer to be enjoyed in moderation before or after a meal. It will age very well over the years, too. A little pricey perhaps at $4.29 a bottle, but it’s worth every penny. When you can find it.

And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.

*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.

(B)=Bottled

(D)=Draft

(G)=Growler

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