Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbodys Country Ale

Brewed by Wye Valley
Style: English Strong Ale
Hereford, England

Pours a cloudy reddish-brown with a small light brown head that doesn’t last long, no lacing either. Bready and caramel aromas, sugary caramel and sweet honey flavors, medium bodied with a lightly carbonated almost watery mouthfeel. Finishes with a lingering sweetness, gets better as it warms.

Mine was one of the "Our Glass" bottles. It’s a muddy reddish-brown with a wee white head and, luckily, tastes better than it looks. The aroma is a nutty roasted malt with dark, dried juicy fruits (prunes, raisins) and an earthy hop bitterness. It’s a thick drink with dark sweet malt, a bit of rough smoke, dried fruits, nuts, and hop bitterness. Nice dry finish. Good, but not special.

From A Bottle.Reddish brown in colour with a small head, aroma is of light hops,taste is sweet with malt,dark fruit and a dry sweet finish.

Bottle. My 100th English beer. Poured a very dark amber color with a thin tan colored head. The aroma is plums with some raisins and toast. There is also some walnuts and milk chocolate. The taste is roasted walnuts along with a little smoke and a slightly salty finish. Thick mouthfeel and some woody character make this feel like a proper winter beer.

Draught @ Falling Rock (year or two ago). Body is medium brown. Aroma is moderately malty (toasted bread, cookie, caramel), lightly hoppy (flowers), with notes of plum, toffee/diacetyl. Flavor is moderately sweet, lightly acidic. Finish is lightly sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Medium body, watery texture, soft carbonation. Pretty uneventful in the mouth, sweet without much else to balance.

Cute pun, all right..."Goodbody", "(H)our glass (figure)" so, jokes aside, is this rather pricey beer worth it? (a whopping $5.29 for a 16.9 oz bottle where I bought it). Appearance: deep, dark brown body, clear in the light, with a small, faint head. Aroma: all fruit, sweetness and yum, but rather quiet. Taste:...and terribly mild on the palate, too, with a thick malty feel, and an oddly short finish. Strangely flinty. Mouthfeel’s actually heavy, although the flavor it carries is nothing to sing or shout about...nothing about it is...incredibly ordinary,,,speaks softly and carries a nerfbat. Although the taste is nice, bright, fruity, tasty, it’s nothing you can’t find better represented in other beers. I’ve got one more beer left in the fridge to try from this line, and I’m still wondering why they exist. Or are so damned expensive. I definitely don’t need another of these.

Earth and plummier fruit in the aroma than in the flavor. Mineralized, very softly carbonated water with fresh watermelon malt accents and herby, vegetal hoppi ng make this very nice up front. Some lasting bitterness. Reduced fruitiness compared to some other ESAs, which are not my fave style. Also, a bit thin. Miles away from the rich dark plumminess of a Fuller’s Strong, but still pretty yummy.

Bottled conditioned from Wycombe Wines, High Wycombe, Bucks. (500ml). A decent ale with a variety of flavours, and some underlying roastiness.