Dogwood Excellent Adventure

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 7

Poured a hazy brownish color with good head. ARoma was lots of floral and tea bags. Flavor was of light fruits grapes and pears some apple some hops in there. Very nice beer.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 7

Thanks to eaglefan538 for sharing. Pour was a dark orange color, with a surprising little head and good lacing. Flavor was a mish-mash of fruit, mostly overripe grapes, but pear and other fruities and some floral notes that didn't mix well as well over a caramel malt base. A touch of teabag was present as well. The mouthfeel was a bit thin and hollow. Okay, but nothing earthshattering.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 7 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Bottle from CaptainCougar. Pour was hazy orangey-brown, nice initial head (great pssst on bottle opening, was expecting a little flatter), good lacing. The aroma was fruity and floral some caramel and faint tea bags (the latter worried me). The flavor was grapes, pears, strawberries, caramel, gentle floral hops, slight hop-spicey finish too. No signs of oxidation, fairly smooth and drinkable, odd floral and fruity combo, yet decent. Mouthfeel moderate, short of sticky, moderately carbonated. Thanks, Tom, a nice one.

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

Sampled August 2007
Quite rich smelling, clearly starting to age a bit, but it does not seem to be detrimental yet. The hazy, concentrated amber colored beer is topped by an initially, fat, one-finger thick, tan colored head. Aromatic notes of concentrated fruitiness (raisins & prunes), herbaceous & fruity hops (both citrus notes and a berry character) as well as aged malt notes of sherry, caramelized malt and significant brown sugar are all quite noticeable here. Some light oxidation notes have added a complex, almost meaty (really more umami like than meat like) quality to the aroma that really integrates quite well and makes this all that more complex. This still has a fairly vibrant malt and hop character to it; the age has muted these notes for sure, but not yet suppressed them and it has added other layered aromatics to the nose.

Creamy feeling as it hits my mouth, the carbonation is fairly light, but still adds a touch of a prickly sensation to the tongue. The oxidation / aged notes are not quite as present as in the aroma, and they certainly were not dominant there, but they do adds some dustiness to the malt character, a touch of sherry and it definitely seems to amplify fruity notes of prunes and raisins (all of these notes are more noticeable towards or even well into the finish). The hop character still has a vibrant edge to it (this must have been quite hoppy when fresh, because it is still quite hoppy); notes of candied grapefruit, orange zest, tangelo, a backdrop of menthol and pine as well as a solid, yet in no way dominating bitterness. Thick and chewy without being sticky; this is definitely a sipping brew as the malt and hop character demand that you savor each sip.

This beer might be at its peak right now; ample fresh hop and malt notes are still quite noticeable, but these are tempered by an almost perfect amount of age and oxidation that is not yet dominating the flavor profile, instead it is accentuating & adding to the complexity of this brew. This is one of those beers that seems to grow on me; dissecting the flavor components and aged components is such an enjoyable task that this beer only get better with each sip. It is surprising at times how well integrated and how much the aged / oxidation character add to this brew; with the big caveat that I have not had this beer when it was fresh, I think that this really might be peaking right now. This reminds me a lot of the balance, if not necessarily the specific flavors, of that magical time for every vintage of Sierra Nevada Bigfoot when it is between 2 and 4 years of age. This ends up being so tasty, such a consummate sipping brew, I can’t help but thoroughly enjoy this brew. My enjoyment of this is certainly a bit situational, but regardless this is one impressive brew. I see that the early ratings state that this was sort of an English balanced Barley wine, if this is true then watch out, because this might still improve for another 10 years

Aroma: 9 | Appearance: 9 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 10 | Overall: 9

NorCal tasting June '07 - It had been awhile since I had a barleywine of this caliber, so this was a real treat. An excellent aroma of caramel, cedar, vanilla, bourbon, and apples. Appearance was like melted caramel with a small off-white head. Mouthfeel was sticky, chewey and oh so nice. Flavor was just a complex blast of flavors to rush from your tongue to your brain. Caramel, apples, brown sugar, light oxidation, vanilla, and creme brullee, which mingles all together incredibly well. Easily one of my favorite b-wines ever. Outstanding.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 7 | Overall: 8

Pours with a deep amber body topped by a medium thick head with a good amount of lacing. The aroma slightly sweet and malty with a note of oakiness and some caramel. The flavor is sweet and malty with lots of caramel and cady sugar. Ful bodied and smooth.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 9 | Overall: 8

This was excellent. This was not your typical barleywine, which i loved. I love imaginative beers. lots of citrus and carmel and yeast and maybe even a touch of malt. nice alcohol aroma that gives it a sweet warm flavor. haha, i remember drunkenly RAVING about this beer. :) it was sooo excellent.

Aroma: 10 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

07.08.05 RBSG Finally I get to try this stuff. Light amber pour, little head. Aroma of bubblegum. Lots of booze despite age, brown sugar has held up without getting tired or cardboardy. So soft on the body. Big, big, big. So fruity, candied fruits. It’s such a monsterous and yet balanced brew. So sad about this brewery.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 8 | Mouthfeel: 9 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

This was a very nice beer. This seemed to me to follow more the English style of barleywine than the American style. The hops were strong enough to support the sweetness and alcohol, but not overpowering or harsh like many of the popular American Barley Wines when they are this young (I think this was brewed this year). Big barleywine fruitiness, big alcohol (although held in check enough to not become offensive) and a nice malty body made this an excellent barleywine. I really hope the Georgia alcohol limit on beer is raised this time so Dogwood can start selling this in state. I wonder if it will age well. The beer is already perfectly balanced (in a big way of course). Usually the hops are hugely out of whack in young barleywines. I'm not sure that aging will make it any better. Hopefully I'll get a chance to find out.

Aroma: 8 | Appearance: 7 | Mouthfeel: 8 | Flavor: 8 | Overall: 8

Home bottled. Thanks to KP for sharing. Dark orange gold color. Medium sized white foamy head. Aroma is fruity and sweet. A medium to full bodied Barley Wine. Malts are fruity and sweet. Very sweet malt and fruit flavors. Nice balance. Smooth taste. Nice warming beer. Mouthfeel is full and round. Finish is clean and crisp. Aftertaste is sweet.