Dogwood Winter Ale 2002

My favorite of all the winter ale series. One of my favorite beers of all time.

Name: Winter
Date: November 06, 2002
Mode: Draft
Source: Twains, Decator, GA
Vintage: 2002
Appearance: Opaque orange, thin white head
Aroma: robust aroma with lots of spices, citrus, and hints of sweetness
Flavor: light malt flavor, deceptive, very complex, lots of wheat chahacter upon warming, cloudy but not yeasty, the hefe yeast character does not show until the very end with only the slightest hint of banana or clove

Name: Winter
Date: November 24, 2002
Mode: draft
Source: summits
Vintage: 2002
Score: iii
Appearance: fine frothy head
Aroma: light sweet citrus aroma
Flavor: much richer malt flavor, good dose of belgian character

Name: Winter
Date: December 11, 2005
Vintage: 2002
still sweet, not too much oxidation, complexity fading

Name: Winter
Date: November 22, 2006
Vintage: 2002
Appearance: clear dark amber, scant head
Aroma: big sweet caramel and fruit aroma
Flavor: lots of sweet flavor, nice over ripe banana character, touch of earthy bitterness comes in to add balance, actually quite nice especially for a four year old weizenbock

Aroma: 8/10; Appearance: 6/10; Flavor: 7/10; Palate: 5/10; Overall: 16/20
Rating: 3.7/5.0
Drinkability: 8/10
Score: **4

12oz bottle via trade with goldtwins - thanks Larry! - Poured cloudy light brown with a short tan head and some lace. Aromas of lots of yeast, some bubblegum and a little clove and bannana. Flavor is fruity with bannana, raisin, clove, and some plum. Palate is rather smooth with medium body and a good amount of balance. This is drinking pretty well almost 5 years later.

Dark, cloudy gold with a yeasty aroma with hints of bubble gum. Lots of complex flavors on parade here from dark fruits to grains to chocolate to caramel. A fair amount of alcohol in the finish, but pretty balanced overall.

Deep brown in color, with nice tan head and light lace. Sweet malts upfront on the nose and slightly phenolic. Rich, sweet malts than a nice chocolaty lingering. slightly spicy on the finish and very clean.

Poured a clear light copper color. Aroma of golden raisins and plums. Sweet and fruity flavor with some more plum and a light citrus fruitness. Medium body.

I enjoyed this fine brew at kp’s tasting. Had an orangish tint upon a base of brown. Bananas were present and some spices, very smooth and well done.

Many thanks to KP for letting me sample this from the cellar. An orange appearance with a moderate head. The flavor had some citrus and a doughy presence was there. Some bananas in the finish. It was complex but well balanced.