Dominion Winter Brew (Biere de Noel)

Formerly brewed at Old Dominion Brewing Company (Coastal Brewing Co.)
Style: Bière de Garde
Dover, Delaware USA

Serve in Snifter, Tulip

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Golden, amber body with a nice off-white head. Aroma is malty, lightly spicy, touch of vanilla. Tastes malty, a little bready, a little sweet, faint alcohol, some spicy hops.

Pours mahogany with a thin tan head. Smells of caramel, vanilla, some light fruity hints, some floral notes. Tastes dry with some fruity hints, some raisins creeping in and a touch of vanilla on the finish.

Crystal clear ruby tinted copper body with almost no head at all and a nice glow. Aroma of alcohol, raisins, pit fruits, oak, vanilla pods and a bit of scotch. Medium-bodied; Completely still (five years old) with a pungent alcohol, oak and vanilla flavour with a good amount of malt and a lot of sweetness still remaining. Aftertaste shows a lot of sugars, some pungent alcohol and a potent oaky and bittering flavour. Overall, a strong and potent beer that still holds up okay, not great after a few years. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle (bottled 09-November-2006), about five years ago [with proper cellaring] sampled today (to drink a beer from Washington) on September 11th, 2011, the ten year anniversary, after visiting the Pentagon, at home, two blocks south of the Pentagon.

Jan. 2007 - Ick. Not good. Beer poured a watery color version of a typical caramel...virtually no head even with a vigorous pour. Aroma was of wet sweat socks. The flavor was malty sweet, some honey and a thick mediciny vanilla like from some dollar store creamsicle. Really not good.

Enjoyed as part of a New Year’s Eve vertical tasting, which featured 3 years of Winter Brew. Aroma is malty, with notes of honey and vanilla. Body is a little thin. Flavor is sweet, juicy malt with notes of crystal malt and minimal hop presence. Balance is pretty good. Tail is sweet malt but not cloying.

Bottle. Pours a hazy orange copper with no head, no lace. Nose is very sweet and malty, light vanilla (but that may only be cause they told me it was in there), dirty hops, and nutty. Flavor is very malty as well, with a suprising balance of spicey hops and a little diacetyl in the finish. Alcohol pretty well hidden. Pretty easy drinking and not as offensive as the aroma suggests.

Poured a clear copper color with a thin off-white head. Malty with some caramel notes. The flavor was malty with light notes of fruit. Spicy finish. Light to medium body.

Name: Winter
Date: 05/21/2007
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting
Vintage: 2006

clear dark amber, wispy beige head, sweet fruity spicy aroma, big sticky body, lots of sweet malt flavor, lots of fruity character, bitterness comes in to balance and lasts through a long bitter finish mixed with the spicy character,

Aroma: 7/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 8/10; Overall: 15/20
Rating: 3.6/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: **4

Bottled. Copper, large, off-white head. Coffee and caramel in the nose... sweet cherryish in the nose as well. Sweet, slightly malty mouth... kinda plain.

Bottle: Orange color pour with a white head. Aroma, caramel, spice, floral notes. Flavor, caramel, vanilla, some spices, sticky full palate. Nothing special.

12 oz bottle from dickinsonbeer (thanks!). This one is a hazy orange color with a medium sized beige head. Nose is vanilla, malt, and some mild floral hoppiness. Taste is the same with subtle pine in the finish, a little butter, some mellow spiceiness (perhaps ginger) and the vanilla is just a tad overdone. Carbonation is a bit high, body is thin to medium.