Dominion California Double Brown Ale

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

Dark brown. Nose sweet, maple syrup. Quite malty and a bit spicy. Big maltiness, some rasin and cola-sweet. Vaguely smoky and a bit acidic. A mite overhopped. Decent brew, but tasted a bit like two different beers. Didn’t blend the flavors together particularly well.

Growler at jeffc666’s Birthday Gathering. Courtesy of jeffc666. Very dark brown body. Small tan head. Aroma is hoppy with light caramel and a nice malt backbone. Taste is roasted malts with some sweetned malt notes. Lots of hops in this along with light spice and caramel. Body is medium with moderate carbonation and light bitterness. Finishes with roastiness and more big hops. Light sweetened hints in this as well.

OD got this one right. Double Brow ale is what I consider it but balanced with spices. Excellent offering and very drinkable.

Bottle sampled at jeffc666’s B-day gathering 2/6/05: Dark brown with ruby tints, small tan head, somewhat clear. Aroma: malt, tea, light fruits, light grapefruit. Flavor: chocolate, hops, sweet caramel, coffee. This was much more hoppy than the average brown, and I thought it would make a great session beer. Light-medium bodied.

Sampled at jeffc666’s gathering, poured out of a growler. Clear dark brown with a light brown head. Interesting aroma; a blast of fresh pac nw hops and chocolate. Taste has notes of chocolate, coffee, roasted malt and very heavy on the hops, which is fine with me but can understand the point that it detracts from the beers other qualities. Very full and malty. Moderately sweet, bitter aftertaste. Medium body but the overall feel is full and round. I want more of this.

(growler) Medium beige head, clear mahogany body. Aroms is medium sweet, nutty, chocolate, some caramel, light anuse. Taste is medium sweet, chocolate, nutty, some cherry, faint anise alcohol. Also moderate bitterness (Simcoe?) -- earthy, citrus, bit of mint. Medium body, some resin. Improved once it warmed some.

Pours a dark brown. Aroma is very hoppy. Flavor starts out with a very large hop kick and is then backed by a nice mildly roasted slightly nutty maltiness. I actually think the malt profile is superb but its hard to really get to behind the ever present hop curtain. This is a very good beer but I think it would be near perfect if the hops where toned down just a bit so that the malt could show through a bit more.

Dark almost opaque ruby/brown body topped by a dense creamy tan head. Glass lace is superb. Fruity citurs hop aroma followed by a nutty bit of roasted malt. Smells very fresh and enticing. The flavor is citrus, grapefruit hoppiness followed by medium sweet nutty roasted malt. Not overwhelmingly a brown ale, much hoppier. Medium dry palate, alcohol comes forward towards the end. An interesting beer. Here’s to O.D. doing more "excursions" in this vein.