Dominion Ale

Brewed by Old Dominion Brewing Company (Coastal Brewing Co.)
Style: Amber Ale
Dover, Delaware USA

Serve in English pint, Shaker

From a 12 oz. twist off bottle with a bottling date on the upper right side of label. Poured a slightly hazy amber with a foamy, creamy head that settled into a thin bubbly lacing. Aromas of fresh, sweet melted caramel, floral and fruity hops. Nice moderate carbonation overall and crisp, dryish, smooth full bodied mouthfeel. Pleasant tasting, buttery caramel, a light toasted grainy, earthy spiciness and floral hops that have a nice soft bitterness and a dry grainy, floral with a touch of spiciness finish. Good drinkability, tasty and balanced, well worth trying.

Clear copper body, frothy small off-white head. Light flower, perfume and caramel sugar aroma. Okay aroma, but very light and basic. Flavor is crisp hops and light caramel sweetener. Too fizzy kills the deal.

This one’s crystal clear and a bit more orange looking then amber. Large tan foamy head. Caramel, orange nutmeg aroma. Wow, very smooth, caramel malty sweetness with a gentle bitter warmth that disappears quickly. Goes down easy. Good one to have hanging around to impress your unexpected, non-beer enthusiast company.

Draught at Old Dominion for breakfast - RBSG DC 06 Amber, light head and lacing. Nose of caramel and pale malts. Light hop. The flavor is thin, fairly boring. Typical "ale", like a watery amber or an underhopped pale. Maybe a caramelly blonde? The finish is toasty. Eh.

Pours a very light, clear amber. Almost orange. Aroma was not strong, mostly hops. Malty and sweet, some caremle tones, some very light bitterness at end. Not bad, and can get it cheap locally.

Not a very complex offering here. Pours amber into the glass, lightly retentive head and lacing. Starts from the bottle with an initial sour nose, but once open, the bouquet shows a clear tendency toward caramel. The flavor is very unilateral, a hollow caramel sweetness, devoid of real substance. I was hoping the sweetness to derive from malts, but it feels more like a diluted honey. The finish, for a brew with 4 hop contingencies, doesn’t particularly exist.... same hollow sweetness. The nose is honestly the best portion of this beer, as a quite thin mouthfeel rounds out the offering. All in all, certainly not the first brew I’d have..... oh well, it tacks on another rating at least.

Clear copper body with a small creamy white head. Aroma of hops and roasted malt. Sweet malty flavor, but fairly flat.

UPDATED: JUL 23, 2006 Bottle - from sampler pack. OK, but not great. A bit too sweet and could probably use more hops. A bit under carbonated.