Wye Valley Dorothy Goodbodys Wholesome Stout

Brewed by Wye Valley
Style: Dry Stout
Hereford, England

Not much in the aroma, looks nice. I was very pleased with this beer. Quite heavy for 4.6%, but a great bit of hops and just a nice solid stout.

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.

Good mild coffee taste to this stout.Mile coffee aroma.This was a stout that I truly enjoyed every taste that I took and that's saying something about this stout as I do not enjoy the extremely strong coffee taste that is typical of stouts.Give me a mild tasting stout and I am happy!

Garnet black, lovely colour. Sweetish nutty roasty nose with an intense roast barley flavour married with sweet maltiness, a full body and rich fruitiness. Pipe tobacco, tar, toast - loads of mingling flavours here. Bitter, roasted, fruity and very long finish - excellent beer, this shows the difference between cask and bottled versions of the same beer - just read the rates of the bottled version!!! (Cask @ Wetherspoons, Wigan)

Best before 8/12/03. This brew poured a small light brown head of large bubbles. It has a opaque dark brown/black body as a stout should. It has a mild nose of coffee and malt. I sensed a strong coffee flavor typical of a good stout. This brew is smooth and leaves behind a clinging vine lacing. A rather nice stout.

Deep dark beer, nearly black, topped by a thick head of brown sudsy foam. Good head retention and lacing. Roasted malt, stone fruit, and mild chocolate in the aroma. Delicious bittersweet chocolate, roasted barley malt, and strong coffee flavors. A lightly sweetened coffee aftertaste is interesting. Medium body, lots of gentle carbonation. Smooth - nearly silky. Good body fer sure.

Body was dark (although I’ve seen darker) with hints of mahogany highlights, topped with a holding, rocky tan head. The hot pin-up on the label bumps the appearance rating from 4 to 5. Initial "new carpet" smell gets covered quickly by roast, smoke, caramel and coffee. Head is quaffable but slightly metallic. Slight raisin/prune-fruitiness to flavor resting on a solid bitter base. Great body, not too thick, not too thin. Nope... nothin’ really wrong with this one.

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Quite the Guinness clone. Some ashy notes of roasted bittersweet chocolate. Virtually no sweetness, a drying finish, somewhat astringent. Nice palate from the bottle conditioning, a refreshing departure from the trend of nitro-widget bottling. A recommended choice when one wants a nice, non-nitro’d authentic dry stout. Reddish, almost purplish tinged brown to opaque black. Foaming stiff head.