Hair of the Dog Made a Maple-Vanilla-Bourbon Barleywine With Swedish Brewers. Why Don't I Care?

Beer hype is a funny thing. A few years ago, Hair of the Dog's big annual dock sale drew hundreds. I remember showing up a half-hour before sales started and waiting toward the back of the line. Top Dog Alan Sprints is a legend, but so many new breweries have opened, and all Hair of the Dog beers are now regularly available at the tasting room.

So I was excited when another local paper breathlessly reported on the release of Maja, a collaboration with Stockholm's Omnipollo. Pronounced "MY-yah," it's a 10.8 percent ABV barleywine that was brewed with maple syrup and spent a year aged on vanilla beans in bourbon barrels. "Expect a line," another paper wrote, which honestly sounded like fun.

Sadly, I couldn't get there until the afternoon. There were still plenty of $16 bottles available, as there were 10 days later, when I called again. Sprints says the beer cost a mint to make, but it's relatively straightforward—a sweet barleywine spiked with maple and vanilla, plus a little oak. I recently had a vanilla bourbon cream ale at Sasquatch that scratched the same itch, and for one-fourth the price. The world spins fast these days.

Not recommended.