Dominion Spring Buck
Fordham & Dominion Brewing Company

 

 

 

 

 

Consumed on 1-22-11.
Brewed with honey, chamomile, dried orange peel and wheat malt.

Enormous off white head that just keeps on rising! This was actually a bit of a gusher, truth be told. So, fair warning!! I very carefully poured this beer into a tapered tulip glass and the head would just not stop rising. I had to shave the top off twice! The beer truly has a beautiful presentation. Orange-gold color, cloudy body, and TONS of rising bubbles to support the massive head. it is hard to imagine a better looking Belgian-style ale in the US.

The aroma seems to favor the chamomile up front, with a minor waft of oranges here and there and a soft sweetness in the background from the honey, I suppose. This beer definitely captures the Belgian spirit.

The taste is unfortunately lacking in the same spirit. A little bit of bitter oranges, fruity, and yet dry. Sadly, this is a bit one-dimensional. Belgian-style ales should have more going on in the flavor, maybe with some funk, ya know?

Highly attenuated and the carbonation is a crazy mess. Is that the price you pay to have such a wonderful head? High alcohol but without the heat, so that is good.

Refreshing despite it's best efforts. I have another bottle in the fridge and I plan on drinking it, but seeing as they are switching their spring seasonal to a maibock, I am not sure if I will ever have this beer again (that is, after my fridge beer).

Picked up a 6 pack of this over the summer at Total Wine in Alexandria Virginia. It was on sale for $3.99, and at that price point I was expecting problems but grabbed it anyway.

Every one of these bottles I've opened has overflowed, literally spilled out of the bottle. Once you let the beer settle, it's decent, but I certainly grabbed a batch that was WAY over-carbonated. The mouth-feel backs this up as it stings the tongue and mouth.

If you open this beer, let it settle, you'll see a pleasant amber beer with a nice spicy smell. Decent taste if you can get by the carbonation.

Might be a good beer otherwise and maybe I just got a bad batch, but, I'd ask for a sample before I ordered it at a bar if I were you.

Served in a Dogfish Head shaped pint glass.

I loves me my "malt beverages". This one pours a cloudy golden amber topped by a stiff finger of white suds. The nose is rather soapy, with some light coriander, flowers, jasmine, and a slice or two of banana floating in the shadows. The taste is richer, with notes of Belgian yeast, honey, orange peel, coriander, pepper, flowers, and a bit o' rye bread. The body is fairly light, with a moderate carbonation and a somewhat crisp finish. Overall, a decent brew, but not something I'd necessarily grab for in the future. Worth a shot, though.

Went to my favorite beer store and picked up a six pack of this. Noticed the high ABV on this, was interested. Drank straight from the bottle, tastes like a wheat beer that I had before, very tart, chamomile will perhaps calm me down once the alcohol kicks in. Not disagreeable at all, would try this again!

Pours a typical clear amber with a thick but not persistent white head. Does have a little carbonation in it. Aroma is not strong but has good malty/wheaty crispness and just a touch of honey sweetness. Flavor is quite strong and satisfying, making up for the wan aroma - not complex, but mouth-filling, wheaty and crisp with just a hint of hop bitterness and whispers of honey and citrus. Texture is quite fizzy and lively.

Neighbor somehow got a case for $13 and raved about the value - gave me this one to sample.

Pours with a crisp, effervescent white head that drops to a light film over an opaque golden body. Plenty of noticeable carbonation up the sides.

Syrupy citrus smell with some honey, lemon zest, and herbal phenols. Smells like spring!

Taste is slightly more subdued - some bitter lemon, wheat, rose petal, and touch of spices. Unfortunately, the mouthfeel really takes away from the flavor... far too much carbonation rips through the flavor profile and prevents it from getting through cleanly.

Drinkability is distracted by the crisp, biting MF, but if this beer regularly goes for <$15/case (heck, even $20), I would not hesitate to pick one up.

From a brown 12 oz. bottle. Pours a cloudy brown color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is mild, some hints of malt and citrus. Taste is a bit tart, citrus with malts. Feels creamy in the mouth. Drinkability is so-so. Overall this is a fairly decent beer.

Bought a 12 ounce bottle at State Line in Elkton, Maryland. Image of a male deer with horns on the label (i.e. a buck)

The appearance is a light yellow color with a one finger head.
Smell is is of corn, a light smell, some sugar also comes across.
Taking a sip, I taste malts and some vanilla. This taste is good, but by no means very good or great. Mouthfeel consists of lemon zest, like it is cleansing your palate, a little too much like a lemon zest cleaning solution though combined with malt liquor. This was an interesting beer, but just a bit above average.

A 12 ounce bottle poured into my Sly Fox shaker glass. The ale appears a hazed pale yellow color with about two fingers of quickly fading bone white foam. Aromas and flavors are of sweet honey, oranges, biscuits, slightly spicy with a dry finish. Smooth bodied with ample carbonation. The alcohol is well masked making for good drinkability.

a hazy orange champagne color with a nice sized head and good retention. leaves an okay lacing. heavy carbonation rushing to the top and almost sustaining the head by itself, rather than the head retaining itself.

very yeasty and wheaty smell with an orange undertone and hints of spice. some banana hints as well.

the taste mimics the smell, with a lingering yeast and orange taste on the back of the tongue. for all of the elements stated on the label (honey, chamomile, orange peel), it seems to lack complexity.

medium bodied, and can tell by the feel that it is an unfiltered beer. way too much carbonation, lots of big bubbles that pack a very strong and simply unpleasant presence.

not so drinkable, im struggling to finish this six pack, almost forgot i even had it. i wouldnt have another, other than to finish this. sounds good, but simply just isnt good at all.

A: Poured into a Delirium Tremens snifter, somewhat hazy blonde. A very robust head forms on top... creamy with a little shimmer to it.

S: Both the honey and the chamomile make themselves known. Somewhat floral and sweet apple notes with some hints of pear.

T: Green apple, orange zest, some alcohol flavours, and a herbal and somewhat pungent flavour post-finish. There's a bit of a canned fruit flavour in the aftertaste that's a little peculiar.

M: Sparkling mouthfeel, with a softer carbonation and a bit of dryness on the finish, though there are also some little 'sticky spots' that keep it from being as dry as it could be.

D: A decent brew, and one I'd look towards again when in the mood, perhaps. It's got some nice qualities to it that manage to maintain an "American identity" in a Belgian style.

***I have had this beer in both a nonic and a wine glass and it has much better flavors and aromas in the wine glass.

A - Very cloudy light orange body with some noticeable carbonation rising up the sides of the glass. A wonderfully fluffy white head at 2-3 fingers after the pour and great retention. I had at least a 1/2-finger head all the way to the end. Great sticky lacing on the glass.

S - Sweet pale malts with citrus notes and some herbal tones. No noticeable hop aroma. More honey shines through as this warms.

T&M - Crisp mouthfeel from the carbonation yet smooth due to the wheat and sweetness. Not overly sweet pale malt, but a nice flavor. Orange peel is the citrus flavor and can be a bit tangy at times. This beer balances more as it warms. Alcohol becomes more evident as well after some warming. Definite herbal notes and I can really taste that chamomile. I'm not sure I'd have picked this out as chamomile w/out reading the bottle, but that's exactly what the herbal flavor is. I don't sense too much honey.

D - A very nice-drinking beer. I would really think of this more as a summer beer than a spring beer but it was a nice change from the heavier beers I've been drinking all winter. This would be a nice go-to beer and I'd love to have it around.

Appearance: Pours a hazed, golden body with a small-sized, white head.

Smell: Lightly malty aroma with supporting notes of honey, floral chamomile, and orange rinds.

Taste: Honey-coated maltiness with a middling amount of sweetness and hint of crisped grains. Floral, herbal chamomile and just a hint of fruity orange. This one's certainly deficient in hop flavor and bitterness. Ah well. Some peppery alcohol notes as your near the finish. Further appearance of sweet honey on the finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation.

Drinkability: Perhaps it's the calming properties of the added chamomile, but I just can't get too excited about this one.

a: foamy white head over a hazy pale golden beer, good retention for awhile but it eventually fades

s: bready yeasts ride a wheat malt backbone, aged hop aroma, a touch of sweetness from some pale malt and bland honey in the background, a well-played mild orange peel and dried chamomile, pear

m: full, prickly carbonation overwhelms the light body

t: wheat malt with a chalky yeast presence dominant, flavors of dried chamomile and orange peel provide the only point of interest, the honey doesn't really show, dry finish

d: pretty good, especially given the abv...not bad overall, but this is a relatively bare-bones example of the style

single bottle from Total Wine, Newport News, VA

A - Cloudy gold with a rich, white colored head that hung in there well and receded to a fine layer. Not much lacing.

S - Wheat, yeast and the honey.

T - Honey and a touch of chamomile and citrus. Has a slight sweetness to it.

M - Crisp and somewhat silky; smooth drinking.

D - The alcohol is well concelealed, and coupled with a nice mouthfeel this makes for a respectable ale. I'd buy it again, especially in light of the fact the brewer is 12-minutes away. :)