Dogwood Youngbloods Imperial Porter

Also thanks, SuzyGreenberg! And thanks after4ever for bringing me the glass of this while I was busy running around. Looks frigging black, with a tiny amount of khaki-colored head. Smells severely chocolate-y with hints of toast and hazelnuts. Seemingly a little thin-bodied but that doesn’t really matter. Mellow- not a punch in the mouth, and I’m a dude who is all about subtleties. Magnificent!

22. Thanks, SuzyGreenberg! Holy cow, what a treat! Pours jet black, laceless. No legs. Virtually headless, maybe a couple filmy bubbles at first. Huge and beautiful dark chocolate nose. Still. Light, feathery body. Rich, roasty, chocolatey mid-palate. Doesn’t have the hop bite, funky prune, or teriyaki overtones so common in big black beers like this, especially when they have some years on ’em. Big, bold, flavorful, but has a mild and gently sweet finish. Amazingly well-balanced and proportionate all the way through. Astonishingly good.

Big thanks to Adam at Green’s for this gem. Pours a viscous, oil slick black right out of the bottle. I wasn’t sure if this one would have much life left in it, but it produced a 2-finger mocha head that lingered as a cap throughout leaving good lacing. Possibly the best looking porter I’ve ever seen. Huge dark chocolate malts and licorice in the aroma with some wood showing up as well. Taste is massively complex for this style with the aforementioned chocolate with lots of dark fruit and brown sugar. Hints of wood and booze notes in there as well finishing slightly bitter. Only the slightest bit of oxidation in the smell and taste. The mouthfeel is spectacular - silky smooth with strong carbonation. I love this beer, and considering it’s the first Dogwood I’ve had, it makes me even more disappointing that I missed out on this gem of a brewery. Great, great beer.

An interesting offer from Dogwood, makers of one of my favorite barleywines ever. I’ve had the bottle for about 6 months and my neice’s graduation party was a fine time to crack ’er open. The aroma on this was really tempting. Dark chocolate, roasted malts, black licorice, oxidation, molasses, and suprisingly plummy. Thick, black and coating would be a good description, which a 1" thick brown head. The flavor of this was a smidge oxidized, but not bad. What I got was a fantastic combo of peated malts, chocolate malts, molasses, coffee and very light rum notes. It was all very tasty and I’m happy that I got to share this with a few others who really enjoyed it too.

Thanks Matt -- Perfect black body with a great yellow head. The bottle exploded on opening... got to love carbonation. Sweet aroma, caramel and dark fruits. Perfect caramel mats with some dark fruit accents. Smooth ending with a light spice accent.