Dogwood Winter Ale (2003) - Dogwood Brewing Company

resirob

Pennsylvania

3.63/5  rDev +3.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Picked up this one up from rajendra82 – thanks!

Appearance: Deep brown with dark amber highlights. Small, rocky, dark tan head quickly settled to a thin, almost imperceptible ring. Small amount of thin lace.

Aroma: Complex mix of coffee, chocolate, and roasted malt aroma abounds.

Taste: Toasted malt and coffee start this one off. Hop and dark chocolate bitterness helps to balance.

Mouthfeel: Thin, oily. I agree with rajendra82 – I would like to see this one with a more substantial mouthfeel to it.

Drinkability: The complexity makes this one interesting enough, and the balance certainly makes it drinkable.

Serving type: bottle

12-15-2003 19:59:25 | More by resirob

Phyl21ca

Quebec (Canada)

4/5  rDev +14%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Bottle: Poured a dark colored beer with a huge off-white head with perfect retention. Aroma is a mix between roasted malts, sweet plums and strong malt. Taste is absolutely wonderful with some roastiness, sweet plums marinated in warm alcohol and a spicy finish. Overall, this is a greatly enjoyable brew while not exactly being rigorous to the dubbel style.

Serving type: bottle

09-07-2004 17:51:04 | More by Phyl21ca

ppoitras

Massachusetts

3.68/5  rDev +4.8%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12oz bottle obtained via trade with AragornUnplugged. Thanks for the opportunity...

Poured into an imperial pint glass, formed 2" of tan head over the almost opaque dark brown brew. Long lasting head, with lots of lacing. Aroma is deeply of dark malts, with associated bitterness. Taste is lightly of dark malts, but seems a bit heavy on the dark malts for a classic dubbel. But what do I know? Mouthfeel is good and smooth, and drinkabilty is easy-going as well. Not sure about what style it belongs in, but an enjoyable brew, no matter where it ends up...

Serving type: bottle

07-23-2004 04:33:06 | More by ppoitras

rajendra82

Georgia

3.8/5  rDev +8.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

This is an unfiltered Belgian Dubbel style beer brewed for this season. The appearance was completely opaque dark brown with a significant level of yeast sediment cloudiness. Brown rough head formed and dissipated quickly. The beer left clingy thin lace. It smelled of roasted coffee and chicory, with hints of chocolate. The taste was sweet caramel, toffee, and toasted malt, with a subtle hop spiciness. Very slick and oily mouthfeel. Somewhat thin and watery. A very tasty and drinkable beer that would benefit greatly from a more substantial body and a warming alcohol content.

Update:
I am glad to report that aging does this beer a lot of good. The 6 month aged version poured out very frothy and lively, and seemed to have opened up a vinous fruity character as the spices are fading. This one ought to get better with a few more months. I was doing a head to head with St. Bernardus Pater 6, purchased on July 1st., and the hometown brew is better.

Serving type: bottle

04-22-2004 16:57:06 | More by rajendra82

Southernbrew

Georgia

3.08/5  rDev -12.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3

Nice dark brown color, no head. Nice potpourri smell, very clove like, cinnamon too. Slight fruit scent mixed in as well. Moderate mouthfeel, very strong cinnamon presence. No other real discernable flavors, the cinnamon is all I'm getting. Not a bad brew but nothing I'd run out to get. I think I'll let this one mellow for a little while.

Serving type: bottle

03-01-2004 05:08:33 | More by Southernbrew

nomad

Kansas

2.38/5  rDev -32.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2

Dark with a thin off-white head, this beer smelled of dark coffee, predominantly, though was also quite nutty in a bare way. Fruity faint yeasty nips struggled to exist, as well. Tasted of pungent dark coffee (no cream or sugar) with creamy and bitter overtones, expanding in strength and breadth with warmth. For me, fairly distasteful and unlike any dubbel I've ever encountered. Good mouthfeel is full with a little slickness, though there was a little too much carbonation on top of it. Thank you aracauna for the bottle.

Serving type: bottle

01-08-2004 01:31:18 | More by nomad

aracauna

Georgia

3.98/5  rDev +13.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

I know dubbels are the darker of the Belgian strongs, but I wasn't expecting this. The body is very dark. Dark brown, almost black with bright amber notes (really quite attractive.) It's really lacking in the head department though. The carbonation was low and the head small and pitiful. There was a very thin layer of yeast at the bottom of the bottle and apparently none of it made it to the glass. Except for the fact I lose a bit of the yeastiness I love, the clarity makes for a gorgeous color. The aroma is moderate. The aroma is nice, a balanced mix of spice, alcohol and old fruit. That carries into the flavor and it picks up some maltiness. I swear I was picking up a little bit of burnt malt in the finish earlier, but that's mellowed out now. Just a slight hint of bitterness seems to balance this out. This isn't big and bold, but quite reserved, but there's an elegance to it that I'm really enjoying. If you serve this very cold at all, you lose a lot. Cellar temp seems the perfect temperature for it.

Serving type: bottle

11-02-2003 06:35:17 | More by aracauna