Dogwood Winter Ale (2003 Special Edition)
Dogwood Brewing Company

A deep brown color, starting with a nice even head that quickly disappears to absolutely nothing. This beer shows not much else, either. Smells like potpourri - literally, like the bowl of fresh but cheap potpourri my aunt used to have. Clover-laden, rosy, herbal and softly sweet, its a strange smelling beer. Taste is a muddle of malts: black, roasted, chocolate, and not much else. Despite plenty of warming it never went anywhere. Decent thin-to-moderate mouthfeel.

A strange beer to say the least, taste goes nowhere besides confusion while the smell is potpourri.

Dark brown body. The head is average size and fleeting, fading almost entirely. The aroma almost scorches the sinuses with cloves. I think I can pick up a hint of cinnamon, maybe nutmeg and it could be a little ginger. Crawford won't tell us the spices so it's all a guess. The flavor is more clove underneath which I get a little brown sugar, raisins and melon. If you gave it a year to mellow the spices, I could see this becoming a nice beer, but they went a little crazy with the cloves.

Picked up a sixer of this tonight on my way home. I'd been meaning to get some earlier, but just never got around to it.

This latest offering from Dogwood was poured into the ol' standby Chimay goblet. It was a deep mahogany brown that hit you with ruby highlights along the edges of the glass. Head was very effervescent, and disappeared very very quickly. The fizziness and color reminded me of Coca-Cola, actually. Sounded exactly the same. A little Belgian lace sticks around and peeks out at you from the center of the goblet. Smell is quite complex, but overly dominated by spices - cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and clove? It's a very thick coat, but underneath it lies hints of plums, raisons, and something akin to a citrus-spiciness. Almost like a lemon zest, I'm guessing. The taste is also dominated by the aforementioned spices. After a few sips, the tip of your tongue begins to numb. Alcohol notes don't really present themselves, but so much is hidden behind the spices that it's really hard to distinguish anything at all. Rich malty flavors try to break through to the surface, but they end up suffocating. Mouthfeel is very dry, but not astringent. You keep drinking more to keep your mouth moist, though, moreso than because of an interesting flavor sensation. Drinkability is average. It's interesting, but I could only drink so much of it before my mouth feels like I've been sucking on Ricola cough drops all day.

Honestly, I'm disappointed. A lot. However, I also feel that this beer has the potential to become much much better once the spices calm down. So, I plan to buy another sixer or two and store them at cellar temps, drinking one every 6 months. I've got hope, and I'll re-review the beer later after it has had some time to mellow.