Sedate buttery flow and casual spiced hop bitterness satiate floral yeast sweetening, but slight astringency at tempered finish knocks back initial warmth. Brewery defunct: 2006.
Category Archives: Beers A-Z
DESCHUTES MIRROR POND PALE ALE
Subdued Cascade hop bittering welcomes tangy citric-spiced spree above crystalline water. Fruited tartness never disrupts dry-roasted nut-grained caramel finish.
DIEBELS PREMIUM DARK
Pungent hop-grain confluence politely embitters single malt Scotch flow. Cardboard-edged wood tones half-sweetened by cane sugaring to thick black molasses finish.
DOGFISH HEAD BLACK & BLUE
Unassumingly heady pink-paled ruby-hued 10% alcohol ‘malt beverage’ ineffectively combines black raspberry with blueberry puree. Result: bitter blueberry-cranberry-boysenberry undercurrent nips at overripe blueberry-raspberry sweetness, causing negative vinous phenol souring to dislodge fruity frontage. Ultimately lacks overall depth, complexity, and resilience of brewer’s exquisite Red & White.
DOGFISH HEAD OLDE SCHOOL BARLEYWINE
Incredible 15% alcohol wallop, sweet sticky Scotch malt kick, and peach brandy warmth provide unmistakable complexity for fig-fermented barleywine. Cereal grains enhance lingered caramel-butterscotch permanence as seductively juicy mandarin orange, red grape, black cherry, and mango medley overlay earthy evergreen dryness and roasted nut bottom. On tap, tangy grapefruit bitterness and candied sugar splendor detected.
DOGWOOD SUMMER BREW
Crisp Belgian-styled witbier counters serene orange marmalade-grapefruit tang and spicy citric bitterness with complementary coriander bite. Herbal hops and piney nuttiness permeate oncoming banana-apricot illusions as bruised orange reminder kicks in nicely. Brewery defunct: 2005.
DOS EQUIS NOCHE BUENA SPECIAL HOLIDAY AMBER LAGER
Rigidly carbonated, fluffy white-headed, maroon-bronzed bock-like winter warmer places enticing cinnamon-nutmeg spicing below toasted caramel malting. Mild hop-bitten corn-sugared sweetness depletes wintry seasoning, but not ice tea-like sentiment.
(DU LIEVRE) LA MONTOISE
Fair golden-hazed medium-bodied Canadian fare. Fire-roasted barley surge depletes marginal dry-hopped spicing and latent grapefruit-pineapple fruiting reminiscent of less efficient India Pale Ale. In need of crisper bitterness.
(DUPONT) MOINETTE BRUNE
Strong up-front alcohol presence stimulates intricate brown ale. Candi-sugared yeast distillation animates floral hop eloquence, hazelnut-chestnut addendum and fig-date-quince whisk, countering less attractive musty herbaceous nature. Dank barnyard funk swindles earthen pinot grape souring and dwindled clove spicing.
EEL RIVER CALIFORNIA BLONDE ALE (CERTIFIED ORGANIC)
Floral dandelion-lavender-sunflower waft descends to musty earthen lemongrass dankness, bringing mildewed distraction to perfume-y citric-hopped rigidity. Weary barley-oats graining becomes diacetyl.
EINBECKER UR-BOCK
Alcohol-riddled Brussels lace-smitten port-like bock with butterscotch creaminess contrasting bitter cocoa and undefined spiciness. Dirty grains and roasted barley fill out background, but ultimate luster lost by strange brandy finish. Closer to a confused barleywine than intended.
EL TORO ORO GOLDEN ALE
Wafting grapefruit esters bleed into piney hopped frontage and secondary orange peel bittering. At terse citric finish, buttery grain-roasted malts linger.