Dragonmead Breath of the Dragon

Brewed by Dragonmead Brewery
Style: Bitter
Warren, Michigan USA

Serve in English pint

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Tap at D’Mead. Banana taste similar to the aroma. Sweet initial taste. Average amount of hops.

Draft… RBSG 2010… Clear, brilliant amber ale with a small, creamy, white head. Good retention. Even after several healthy swirls of the glass and much agitation, the aroma remains a near-mystery. I am finally able to pull some biscuit, pale and medium-roast malts from the glass – just too faint to really enjoy. Medium to full-bodied with a creamy mouthfeel and stinging carbonation. The flavor is bittersweet – honey and toffee sweetness countered by woody and tannic bitterness. Lengthy, bittersweet finish – the bitterness lingers much longer than the sweetness.

Not much of a bitter beer. Certainly not awful (this is one of the worst beers I’ve had at Dragonmead, and it’s still better than many beers I’ve had elsewhere), but definitely not very bitter. Fairly smooth.

not bad...............................................

On tap at the Dragonmead Brew Pub. Poured a medium orange color with a smaller sized off white head. Aromas of caramel, and some citrus. Tastes of the same caramel and some citrus. Both the aromas and tastes on the non-descript side. At 4%, definitely a session ale but a boring one.

This beer is pretty much my idea of an English bitter beer. It was a light tea color with almost no head. Aroma was weak but nice. Both malt and hop characteristics make for a multi faceted tasting experience.

Solid copper, with an off-white head that sat and stayed. Complex nose of earthy hop, treacle and crackery malt. Classic best bitter here. Everything is so well balanced, and seamlessly integrated. Beautiful beer. Medium in the mouth, with the malt leading the parade. There is some caramel, but it distinctly lacks the caramelly sweetness that plagues so many attempts at this style. Great depth of malt, deftly balanced by hop bitterness. Very well-composed. Low level of carbonation was much appreciated, though this might be even better on cask. Eminently sessionable and enjoyable. On tap at the brewery.

Light orange with creamy lace. No smell detected, and malt taste dominated, despite the style. Caramel and maybe some sugar. One of the weaker ones at the brewpub, and not a good eample of the style,and they keep doing this. Maybe a transition to bitterness.

Cask conditioned. Slightly cloudy golden pour with a medium bubbly white head. Weak aroma and flavor of hops, there’s a fruity thing going on too. The body is light and the texture is smooth and creamy, the carbonation is low. Ordinary.

I see that I’m not alone in getting no aroma from most anything at Dragonmead. Pale orange, off white foamy head, very mild taste, an average bitter, I guess.