Dogwood Excellent Adventure

Formerly brewed at Dogwood Brewing Company
Style: Barley Wine
Atlanta, Georgia USA

My Bottom Line:
Profound fruity caramel maltiness delves into J.W.Lee’s Harvest Ale territory, an impression increased by the evolving maderization. Its intense resinous hop bitterness aims at balance within immensity, and it still succeeds, amazingly enough. A stupendous barley wine, no doubt about it.

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A ring of foam circles the dull red.
-The malt’s sweetness is slowly losing composure (not as tight as it once was, I’m sure), but it’s still lip-smacking great.
-Cherry fruitiness stems from the deep maltiness.
-Yeast appears somewhat dirty after these few years aging.

Unlabeled bottle; at least 3 years old. Thx Jacob!!

22oz unlabeled bottle, thanks to beercellar2. pours a dense orangey amber with very small white head around the rim, that dense color is really nice. nose has an instant sherry-like quality and a fruity bouqet of plums and oranges, cotton candy, a really impressive aroma. flavor has nice subtle oxidatized notes creating a sherry quality to the flavor, with caramel, loads of tobacco, brown sugar, chocolate (i love chocolate in an aged barleywine), and toffee. pretty sweet but never gets cloying or overwhelming. alcohol is well hidden and body is medium. this has improved in the last year but oxidation is settling in so i think this may be peaking now and may only 6-18months left tops.

(BIG THANKS TO GOLDTWINS FOR THE HOOKUP ON THIS RETIRED GEM)murky orange in color,with a head that tried to foam up but just couldnt do it.aroma is a nice blend of oranges,cotton condy,and a bourbon-esque type finish.flavor mixes up most of the same.you can tell this puppy is a few years old for sure,and its age has surved it well.brown sugar and caramel malts are also picked up in the flavor.all i can really say at this point is that this is outstanding.

22oz unlabeled bomber courtesy of Boboski. WOW. Thanks Jason this is good stuff.

Poured hazy orangish brown with tan head that receded to a ring in about a minute. Fruity aroma with wine grapes, dates, plums and a hint of sweet orange juice. The flavor is smooth. Just after this viscous nectar hits the tongue the medley of fruit flavors show up in force with dates, plums, slightly tart wine grapes and a hint of orange. Beyond midway a slight caramel maltiness peaks out for a quick glance and then just as quickly recedes into the thick fruity under brush. If I concentrate I can just pick up some alcohol that is providing a slight warmth to the experience.

Another from TheBeerCellar2: Deep mahogony color with a quickly diminishing tan head. Nice nose--a touch of oxidation at first quickly dissipates, giving way to sweet, vinous notes, toffee, carob, and walnuts. Exquisitely creamy mouthfeel. Quite sweet, with a lot of dry almond notes, reasonably bitter, some alcohol hints, a touch of red wine. Fantastic, on a par with vintage Lees Harvest or Thos. Hardy’s ales.

Bomber from TheBeerCellar2. Pours a murky light brown with a small head. Big sweet nose from carmel, dried fruits, brown sugar, and raisin. Similiar in taste with hints of either sherry or bourbon. Very rich in flavor and nice belly warmth from the alcohol. Nice barley wine.

22oz bottle, courtesy of TheBeerCellar2. Thanks, Matt! Pours a cloudy, orangish brown appearance; light, off-white head formation. Generous, chewy aroma: loads of caramel, oranges, and maple syrup. Full, slightly viscous mouthfeel: matches up nicely to the aroma (caramel, slight oxidation, oranges, brown sugar); light carbonation; well-balanced and drinkable. Long, orange and maple syrup finish. Tasty stuff.

22 oz aged bottle. Nice nose. Thick body. Caramel sweet. Nice balance. A good BW.