Dominion California Double Brown Ale

Brewed by Old Dominion Brewing Co.
Style: American Strong Ale
Dover, Delaware USA

Sampled from a big ornate growler. Great big head. Settles beautifully. Thick and dense. Dark brown in color with hints of red along the edges. Great lacing. Roasted malts and fruity hops with a little spice. Light to medium bodied , roasted malts, nice bitterness from a generous helping of hops. A little chocolate in there also. Creamy, roasty and bitter finish. Decent.

Sampled from a growler. Citrusy, resiny hops right up front in the aroma, followed by subtle caramel, chocolate, and coffee notes. Dark brown color, frothy light tan head. Flavor definitely has that big American brown ale thing going, lots of hops, lots of rich and dark malts, lots of bitterness - Pete’s wicked ale (the original version) on steroids. Medium-full body, medium carbonation. REading other ratings, there is a split on this beer - some people like the dark malt-american hops combo, others don’t. I think it works pretty well here.

dark brown color. dark tan foamy head. golden-red at edges. very hoppy nose, some chocolate malt too. flavor is very hoppy, grapefruit and roasted malt. medium mouthfeel and carbonation. hoppy finish.

Great malt backing, brown sugar, praline pecans, bread, nuttiness, even a bit of toffee, but come on--CASCADES? DOWN with grapefruit, dammit! Everyone loved Alpha Klaus for the same reason--dark hoppy beer, but cripe, there’s more to hops than Cascades. Has this been more subtly hopped, it would have been superb. As it is, the instrusion of nasty citrus throws this janglingly out of balance. So-so.

Tasted from Growler. Poured a dark reddish/brown color with larger sized off white head. Aromas and tastes of nuts, caramel, and citrus. I never would have guessed it was 8%. This beer was very easy to drink.

Poured a reddish, mahogany color with a medium sized tan head that left nice lacing on the glass. Aroma of roast, caramel, nuts, light chocolate, cognac, and possibly some port as well. Taste of caramel, toffee, nuts and roast, with a pleasant hoppiness. The alcohol was there but for the most part it was hidden very well.

Sampled from a growler from the brewery. Pours a nice foamy tan head even after sitting overnight in the growler. Has a malty scent with a trace of green tea. Nicely hopped and well balanced flavor of malts, chocolate, nuts and very light coffee taste. Nice bitter finish. Another very good beer from Old Dominion, but then again, do they every produce bad ones?

Growler... Very dark ale (dim lighting, but no penetration) with a small, creamy, well-tanned head. Evergreen, grapefruit, chocolate and a dash of mint in the nose. Chocolatey and moderately to highly bitter... too bitter for a brown ale. Kisses of alcohol and salt. Medium-bodied and resiny with medium carbonation. Long, bitter finish. Not really true to the style, but enjoyable. An India Brown Ale maybe? Thanks go out to Growler for the growler!