Day 68, 3.9.11., Hair of the Dog - Fred

Here's a beer from Portland Oregon Hair of the Dog Brewing Comany's Fred.  The bottle tells me it's a 'golden special ale' that's 10% alcohol by volume.  It's 65 IBU.  Hair of the Dog also seems to take a lot of pride in making bottle conditioned beers, meaning that a secondary fermentation happens in the bottle and carbonates the beer naturally.  It shows in Fred, with a little sediment.  It's cloudy and pale golden with a big fluffy white head that lingers.
The bottle also tells me that the brewer uses pilsner malt and rye as well as Belgian candy sugar and northwestern hops in this beer.  The hops are immediately evident on the nose.  The come through fruity and herbal.  There are citrus notes as well as some banana.  The palate is, for some reason, nothing like I expected it to be.  Firstly it's quite sweet, definitely a result of the candy sugar.  There are caramel notes as well as some subtle spice.  This is all backed up by some really delicate hop flavors and some bold bitterness.
Fred has quite a full, rich body too.  It's a little decieving for this pale beer.
They call it a 'special' beer, and it certainly is.  It's very unique, and there is a ton going on.  There are lots of interesting subtle flavors.
Definitely not a daily drinker for me, but a fun study in beer.  I'd give it a 7 out of 10.