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It was a sad day when Portland’s famed Hair of the Dog Brewing closed up shop but that news has been tempered by the fact that a new brewery will take up the space and now CopperWorks Distilling is upcycling used oak barrels from HotD for a cask finished Single Malt Whiskey and a Cask Finished Gin.
There is a Matt and Adam expression of both so you can compare and contrast.
Hair of the Dog Brewing is slowly shutting their doors. Before they and brewer Alan Sprints fade into beer history, I wanted to try (again) two of IPA’s. These were both canned in mid November of 2021 so they were just outside the recommended IPA freshness date.
Polka Dot – very earthy. pours a hazy light orange. big, real big for a 5.5% IPA. some candied orange hiding underneath the quite harsh bitterness.
Green Dot – pineapple is the dominant flavor. this has held up better, probably due to the higher ABV but it still is pretty harsh in spots, which is more a feature than an issue. there is an alcohol burn here that other TIPAs mask.
Looks like Alan Sprints has decided to retire which means that Hair of the Dog Brewing, the much lauded Portland brewery will be retiring as well.
From a video that Sprints posted, he will be done in the summer, there will be a few more new beer releases but mostly, it will be selling what is in stock until the last bottle is sold.
This is a legendary brewery and I highly recommend snaring a bottle or two to have for special occasions.
Hair of the Dog has a new stout to release to the world, Opia.
Chocolate, cherries AND bourbon. Sounds like a decadent treat from the Portland brewery.
I don’t normally do the cut and paste for an entire press release but this is momentous for beer geeks everywhere…
Bend, Oregon (April 2010) – Deschutes Brewery and Hair of the Dog Brewing Company today announced that they are working together on an exciting new beer. These two Oregon companies have taken a completely different approach to developing their companies since their founding, and are looking forward to blending their two styles together for a new beer to be released in 2011.
“When we started talking about collaborating on a project, Alan Sprints at Hair of the Dog was the first person I thought of working with,” said Gary Fish, president of Deschutes Brewery. “We’ve known each other for a long time and partnering on a project like this was the perfect way to be able to do something original and unique together. When you have two creative companies embarking on a creative project together, something fun is bound to result.”
Sprints came over to Bend in early March to brew two of his beers at the Deschutes Brewery brewhouse. Then it was Deschutes Brewery brewmaster Larry Sidor’s turn to brew two of his own beers. These four beers (which will remain unnamed as yet) will be aged in various wood barrels and then blended together sometime in early 2011 in a ratio yet to be determined as part of the creative process. Over the next several months, Hair of the Dog and Deschutes Brewery will be meeting to sample the aging beer and contemplate the blending process.
Sprints said, “This partnership was born in an effort to express the vitality of today’s American brewing community and push the boundaries of what is commonly known as beer. Both of our companies share a pride in Oregon products and I have long admired the level of professionalism that Gary brings to the brewing industry. My idea was to do a blend of beers that we already produced, merging our products and passion for beer, hoping to create a beverage that will be deep, complex, earthy and beguiling.”
This is the first collaborative beer for each of the companies, and everyone is excited to see how the new beer will develop. Fish continued, “We have no idea how these four beers will taste blended together, but we do know that the total will be greater than the sum of its parts.”