Dorothy Goodbody's Wholesome Stout
Wye Valley Brewery

Presentation: 1pt 6oz brown bottle -- fat with a long neck. Poured carefully (as to not disturb the sediment) into an Imperial pint glass.

Appearance: Pours a very black beer, near opaque with a massive, rocky creamy tan foam head, leaving stick on the glass and a thin cream lace. Very tight. As close to nitro as you are going to get I think, without actually being nitro.

Smell: Soft roasted malts, molasses, a touch yeasty.

Taste: A firm-bodied offering, with an impressive watery (not thin) smoothness. Immediate semi-astringent twang of citrus, salt and semi-acrid roasted malts. Suggestions of liquorice, burnt around the edges with a dry molasses in the background. This is a very dry and crisp stout with little to no malt sweetness. Flavours seem to quickly snap for your attention. Big grain/tannin flavours. Metallic hidden in with the grain. Finish is bone-dry with yeasty afters.

Notes: Quite the interesting bottle-conditioned stout. Bang-on for a the style, and one of the best for the style that I've had in a long time. And, this beer really seems to grow on you.

It would be a treat to have this on cask ... *dream*

(Cask conditioned). Sampled at the Wear Valley CAMRA beer festival. (Room temperature). Low (natural) carbonation, some lacing. Black. Surprisingly fruity and flowery notes in the aroma. Roasted flavour with fruity tones, nice bitterness.

Also sampled later from bottle in Norway.

 

 

 

Appearance - Dark with sticky CO2 almost like a black coffee in colour. One finger of beige head that has poor retention and dies to a ring of lace cover.

Smell - Burnt malt up font with a oddly sour yeasty smell. Some bakery malts up next; with breads and sweet buns. Some mild booze aroma, toffee, earth and coffee filters round up the aroma profile.

Taste - About on par with Guinness Extra. Light sour element that rides through the whole drinking experience. Plenty of burnt malt, light toffee and chocolate with bitter espresso.

Mouth Feel - Medium body and relatively smooth with light but constant linger. Still not what I would expect from the style.

Overall - Decent enough flavour But poor looks and aroma let this beer down. The so so mouth feel does not help it either.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A 500ml bottle with a BB of Nov 2013. Acquired some time back from Booths. Pin-up girls galore!

Poured into a straight pint glass. Bottle conditioned. A very dark brown that appears pitch black in the glass. Yields a large head of beige foam that lasts for a few minutes before subsiding. Aroma of roasted grain, dark malt, subtle molasses, a hint of dried fruit and earthy yeast. Good depth - very nice.

Tastes of roasted malt with a dry, bitter finish. Notes of dark malt, faint burnt grain, coffee, mild molasses, a hint of dried fruit, earthy yeast and a twinge of stewed hops. Well-attenuated, followed by a strident, dry bitterness upon swallowing. Mouthfeel is smooth, dry and tingly, with spritzy carbonation and decent body for the style. Slightly astringent, accompanied by an aftertaste of roasted malt, burnt grain, coffee and earthiness.

Lovely - a tasty stout that hits the spot. Looks the part, while the aroma and flavour showcase plenty of roasted malt and coffee notes. The body could be a shade thicker and perhaps slightly less carbonated, but it's none the worse for that. Goes down a treat - worth sampling if you come across it.

500ml Bottle: BBD 17 Nov 2013, poured into an Abbot Ale glass tankard on 14 Oct 2013, well in date! Bottled conditioned so, poured carefully.

Looked great, tanned head on top of a dark, dark brown with ruby edged body.

Chocolate and mild coffee notes in the aroma and taste. Nothing over stated, this chugs along nicely, a little hop bitterness mingles with the coffee and chocolate flavours to give a balanced, if slightly more malty feel to the whole of the beer.

I'd have preferred a little less 'fizz' in the body feel, but many would argue against that. Overall a fine beer by a brewery that blows 'hot and cold' for me.

500ml bottle, bottle-conditioned. appearance - dark brown with subsiding head. smell - faint roast grain. taste - medium sweetness and bitterness, slight molasses. mouthfeel - quite chewy indicating good body, average-lively carbonation. overall - the archetypal stout, like guinness ought to be.