Sweet barley-malted Scotch-grazed caramel frontage maintains syrupy creaminess. Bock-like in its full-bodied essence. Brewery defunct: 2001.
WOODSTOCK BIG INDIAN PORTER
Brewed with a combination of pale, crystal, chocolate, and black malts, this trusty porter retains sticky yeast sinew and bittersweet musty-grained mocha residue. Soft water fizz sops up creamy malt extract, endangering its appeal to stronger tastes. Not far removed from a dry oatmeal stout or lilting barleywine. Brewery defunct: 2001.
WOODFORDE’S NORFOLK WHERRY BEST BITTER
Satisfactory amber-clouded bottle-conditioned dry-hopped Bitter retains ripe cherry overtones, spritzy carbolic fizz, and fuzzy soft water flow. Sustained grain briskness, though moderated, recalls British pilsners.
WOODFORDE’S NORFOLK DARK ALE
Heavily carbonated, Scotch-wafted, bottle conditioned ale (a.k.a. Norfolk Nog) with foamy tan head creating web-like Brussels lace above amber body. Sourdough breading, toasted barley, earthen wild oats and bittersweet chocolate somehow form creamy soda-like consistency. Mild prune-fig coarsening settles above buttery bottom, countering fizzy flow. Problem: none of the assorted flavors maintain to informal finish.
WOLAVERS WILL STEVENS’ PUMPKIN ALE
Dry lemon-hopped souring disguises peppery pumpkin-spiced ambiance of ‘certified organic’ vegetable beer. Peculiar spoiled lemon frontage overwhelms sweet sugar-spiced cinnamon-nutmeg remnant and earthen fennel-carrot digression to metallic raw-grained finish.
WOLAVERS PALE ALE
First impression: lightly pined copper-hazed ale compared favorably to Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. Sinewy caramel yeast foundation provides perfect ‘tap beer’ essence while subtle nut bitterness firms up wheat-chaffed floral bouquet. Damp dry-hopped orange rind dankness envelops succinct mineral grain finish.
WOLAVERS OAK BARREL AGED INDIA PALE ALE
Tried on tap at brewery, this valiant limited edition oak-aged IPA offers dark-spiced citric setting, sugar maple sapping, and rum-soaked sherry finish. Bubblegum, banana, sliced peach, and cherry illusions round out full-bodied perfection.
WOLAVERS I.P.A.
Perfumed-hopped orange-peeled grapefruit tang and glutenous blackened mocha malts vie for dominance above neutral organic barley base. Closer, at times, to an Extra Special Bitter, with its sharp mineral graining.
WOLAVERS CERTIFIED ORGANIC PAT LEAVY’S ALL-AMERICAN ALE
Weary earthen-grained rawness and card-boarded barley-oats blandness slacken dried-out peach-tangerine astringency. Buttery phenol offing doesn’t help matters.
WOLAVERS CERTIFIED OATMEAL STOUT
Promising coffee-oiled cappuccino entry and transient cocoa-dried dark chocolate spell bring dissipating up-front pleasantry. But oats-charred hop bittering and ashen tar acridity subsume initial mocha bounty as well as ancillary dried-fruited cherry-fig souring and smoked nut segue, allowing musty earthen graining to relegate mushroomed piney bottom.
WOLAVERS BROWN ALE
Sweet yeast aromatics grace organic barley-hop palate, initiating elegant butterscotch mouthfeel complemented by silken crisp-watered carbonation. Only the quickly dissipating mocha finish keeps this from absolute perfection.
WITKAP-PATER ABBEY-SINGEL ALE
Yet another brew that rips us off for .8 ounces (11.2 oz. instead of 12). Smooth, somewhat fruity Belgium ale goes down like clove-spiced champagne. Musty apple-pear misting and phenolic lemony grapefruit dissonance reach ransacked doughy bottom. A tad too sudsy to fully satisfy the beast within, lacking body and character (especially when compared to finer Belgian ales).