Dogwood Youngbloods Imperial Porter

Formerly brewed at Dogwood Brewing Company
Style: Baltic Porter
Atlanta, Georgia USA

Dec. 2006 - Thanks to eaglefan538 for sharing! Pour was dark as night with red highlights, no head. Aroma was STRONG from even a few feet away...deep rich coffee and chocolate. Smell was also sweet from alcohol and fruits. The flavor was rich, deliciously dominated by coffee, good coffee (Peche Mortel...take notes!). The sweetness wanted to come out, but was rather subdued. An oak barrel taste was underneath, which was pleasing. Also a strong burnt flavor, but in a great way. Nice, nice beer.

22 oz. bottle via trade with kenb - Pours a dark brown color with a thin light tan head. Aroma has a touch of chocolate and light roasted malt. Flavor is much of the same. Light to medium body. Dry mouthfeel. A good beer that has held up well to age. Thanks Ken.

Pre SAF 07 in Goldtwins Room at the Extended Stay along with beeryum, weeheavySD, wetherel and others. deep brown beer with no head. Roasty aroma. Flavor was dry bitter coffe cholate. smoky and a little bit fruity too. interesting, but not a stand out for me, but wiht the number of things I drank at the SAF, it was hard to stand out.

22 oz bottle

Thanks to Tom for sending this to me from Atlanta a year ago. I’ve been waiting for the right occassion to crack it open and decided just to go for it. This beer is not going to improve with anymore age though it might hold up for at least another few months. I wish I could get more because this has entered my personal Top 10.

Aroma / Appearance - The pour did not result in much head or carbonation at all. The lifeless black body was inky black (though not the darkest beer I’ve ever seen). Thick lacing clung to the sides though as I finished the bottle. The smell of rich baker’s chocolate, roasted coffee, smoke and anise straddles the line between baltic porter and imperial stout. Blackberries pop out after a while along with charcoal and plums. The entire aroma is thick and complex enough to spend a long time enjoying.

Flavor / Palate - After ten minutes I finally took a sip to discover the experience was not limited to the nose. Dark chocolate, plums, straight black coffee and smoky notes unfold slowly over the tongue. The creamy mouthfeel then drops a load of cherries and chocolate truffle. Finally a dry vinous finish lingers in the throat for seemingly forever. This is one of the best beers I have ever tried. Anyone who brought this back without changing the recipe would have a winner on their hands.

Bottle courtesy of cbkschubert. Rich chcolate candy aroma. Black body with daek tan head. Thick body texture and a real good dose of chcolate flavor. Good brew.

Finally got a bottle from zathrus13. 22oz bottle, 3+ years old now. It pours a completely black color and completely headless. Takes some extremely vigorous stirring to get any lacing, which is beautifully dark brown. But that literally dissipates as soon as you stop stirring, unfortunately. Aroma is strong on tobacco, and an syrupy, roasted molasses. Age is showing with some cardboard coming through. And some sweet burnt sugar at the end. Taste is getting a bit thin. Age is leading to a loss of flavor. Has a lightly bitter finished and diminished aspects of the nose. Nice but already starting to go downhill.

Many thanks to Ughsmash for this rare find. Pours a nice hue of used motor oil with no visable head nor carbonation. A bit of oxidation on the initial sip, but considering the age - makes sense. Slick and tongue coating cappuccino flavours with an ever present bit of Godiva Chocolate liquor. The hop profile is gone on this one except for a light bitterness. Nice round mouthfeel as well. Makes me think this was a great time to open this as waiting for another year probably would mean this takes a sharp downward turn.

Bomber. Poured thick deep brown with very little head sticking around.. left a light ring of deep brown around the edges. The aroma picked up deep, almost burnt dark chocolate and darker fruity notes upfront, and this aged gracefully.. syrupy, warm molasses and caramel follow.. not much hoppage remaining, but some herbal and oaky accents come across quite nicely. The flavor was on par, but showed a little more age.. burnt dark chocolate, caramel, and molasses at the core with sticky herbal and warm notes on the finish.. mild oxidation apparent on the back-end, but this still held up nicely. Heavier-bodied and slick on the palate.. sticky, warm, and satisfying on the finish. Great stuff!