Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbodys Wholesome Stout

Brewed by Wye Valley
Style: Dry Stout
Hereford, England

Bottle from Premier Gourmet, Buffalo. Pours a dark ruby-brown with a large, frothy tan head that leaves a good amount of lacing. Aroma is quite roasty, with hints of coffee and smoke. Mouthfeel is a touch thin, but suitable for a dry stout. Flavour is very roasty off the top, with a mellow chicory note in the middle, and a dry, moderately hopped finish. A good session stout, and rather underrated in my opinion.

Dorothy Goodbody is one beautiful girl, and it starts with the package. The label on the bottle features the legendary Dorothy Goodbody, a voluptuous blond daughter of a hop grower, in a beautiful black dress sitting in a barley field. Wye Valley founder and head brewer Peter Amor, knows a thing or two about stout. He was a former shift brewer for Guinness, and says the secret to the success of his stout is the use of Irish grown Northdown hops. Dorothy Goodbody’s Wholesome Stout pours to a beautiful, deep ebony color with a thick, rich, creamy tan head, and a moderate amount of carbonation. When held to the light, you can see brilliant hues of deep ruby coming through. The nose on this beer is wonderful, with lots of good chocolate, and dark malt aromas paired with slight touches of roast, and fragrant/spicy hop aromas. The palate is soft and full on the tongue, packed with big flavors of dark chocolate, coffee, roast, and light undertones of black currant. Dorothy Goodbody’s finishes with more coffee and roast up front, the ends with a dry, slightly roasty, and spicy hop bitterness that balances this beer out to perfection. This is an outstanding example of Irish (dry) stout, and one that should not be missed by any stout or beer lover. Coming in at a modest 4.6% abv, it makes for a perfect session beer, and would work well with a number of dishes. I would match this one up with ice cold oyster on the half shell, roasted lamb or beef, as well as a rich chocolate desert.

Pours a deep dark brown color. Aromas of coffee, hint of chocolate, and some smoke. Flavor was espresso like with some smoke lingering on the finish. This was a lively beer, lots of carbonation.

Pitch black color with a quickly fading medium head. Coffee and milk aroma. Bitter taste with not much malt body, just a little barley finish.

Bottle. Jet black beer with a fizzy head. The aroma is milky coffee and the flavour is very bitter with a long lasting expresso dry finish. Overall quite a basic but very dry stout.

Sampled from a bottle and having never heard of "Dorothy" had no idea what to expect. I’m always cautious of English beers with cute names and slick labels. Stout poured flat which had me thinking my prediction was coming true. Dorothy had a full flavor, coffee and roasted malts flavor. Much better than I assumed it would be.

Not bad but it’s missing something.Creamy, longlasting headwith coffee flavor. This one doesn’t have a lot of body, also,it’s kinda of bitter at the end.

Bottled @ Fynske Øldage: Brownish red coloured. Off white head. Coffee, roast and some sweet notes in the nose. Flavour as well is light roasted with some coffee notes in the background. Has some light bitterness in the roasty end. Is a little light bodied and not so interesting compared to other british/irish dry stouts.