Dominion Millennium Oak Aged

Brewed by Old Dominion Brewing Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Dover, Delaware USA

2004: Poured nice hazy orange amber with a nice tan head...smell is caramel, bourbon, vanilla, prunes...wow, sweet caramel, thin bodied...sharp alcohol...but not painfully so...this one needs a lot more time...

Head is initially small, fizzy, off-white, fully diminishing. Body is dark amber. Aroma is moderately malty (cookie, caramel), with notes of sherry, corn-whisky-alcohol, vanilla, wood, raisin. Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, moderately bitter. Medium to full body, watery/syrupy texture, lively carbonation, moderately alcoholic. Pleasant aroma for the most part, but damn that infernal corny bourbon smell to hell, I’ve had quite enough of the stink of corn in otherwise nice beers. The 11% definitely shows, but isn’t annoying. Fairly well balanced for a barleywine, but that residual bourbony character just won’t go away, and I’m sorry but it’s just not that enjoyable. The regular Millennium is easily the winner.

Clear rufous. Fine, tight bubbled rim of foam fully dissipates. Rich aromatics of honeycomb, buttery yeast, pefumey whiskey, and well-developed cakey malts. Hint of vanilla toffee and salty tannins. Fuzzy, semi-prickly carbonation. Soft body. Immediate onrush of salty tannins compounds the sharpness of the alcohol. Clean, perfumey whiskey profile, but not at all restrained. Lush malt notes yield a datelike sweetness and attempt to soften things, but the forceful tannic bite is completely overwhelming. Crushed melon seeds and trace huskiness lend some slickness, but the sharp whiskey continues to run rampant. Vague hop bitterness clashes with the brisk tannins, which sweep the palate dry while simultaneously inhibiting the thickset malt underlay from fully developing. Currently this is hot as a firecracker, has an unexciting aroma, the bourbon-barrel conditioning is overdone, and the prickly carbonation disallows the richness of the malts to cling to the palate. Same old whiskey-barrel monotony, here.

Hazy amber body, thin white head. Orange flesh aroma: banana peel, pale malt and some spicy yeast. Big hoppy flavor - peppery spruce, vodka too. Buttery caramel malt in the finish. A good beer but the alcohol hurts it for me.

Thanks Chuck! The aroma is sweet malted fruits, cherry, molasses/brown sugar, oak barrel, mild hints of dark fruits. The appearance is a copper/gold colored body with a thin white head. The flavor is bourbon barrel aged cherry flavored malts and vanilla. I think the palate comes off as too much alcoholic sugars. Kinda like Samiclaus (which I don’t really care for).

Smells strong a big blast of malts and hops and sweet wine and whiskey aroma. Pours a cloudy copper color w/ a nice appearance of carbonation. Palate is smooth and lightly carbonated very creamy and warm. Big sweet malts very sweet light hop and a big alcohol kick to it. A nice fruity mix in the finish plums and pears. A definate bourbon/whiskey kick in the finish. Damn good stuff.

Oh dear, what an alcoholic mess this is. Yes, there’s a ton of fruit and malt hidden in here, but hidden is the operative term. You have to fight your tongue through layers of oak and bourbon to find it. I like my barley wines a little more subtle than this, thanks. Looks great, nice thick mouthfeel...but no cigar.

This can in a 12oz bottle with a bottled date of July 22, 2004. This was only available at the brewpub. This poured out a clear black cherry juice color with an inch of tan head sitting on top. Good retention for a barley wine and it left decent lacing. Aroma is of sweet malt with fruits. A bit of molasses and alcohol are in the mix as well. The flavor starts out with a sweet maltiness and a touch of syrupy molasses. A slight alcohol bite comes after that with a finish that has an oak and cherry flavor that lingers. This is less sweet than the none-oak barrel version, which in my opinion helps a lot with the taste. Almost full-bodied with a creamy coating flavor and texture. Also warms you up quite well. Good drinkability here as it seems a bit more balanced in the sweetness department. The alcohol is less prominent than when I first tried it very shortly after it was bottled. Great stuff if you can get a hold of it.