Dogwood Winter Ale (2003 Whiskey-Barrel Aged)
Dogwood Brewing Company

As a whiskey barrel aged version, this beer goes from just alright to spectacular. Strong whisky nose and a dense dark appearance with almost no carbonation. The potency of the beer is something to be reckoned with in this version. It was like drinking a pint of Whiskey with a touch of beer. For those of you that were able to drink more than two in a sitting, I salute you.

I FINALLY tracked this one down. It took me a 9 days from the day the first keg was tapped, but I did it. A 12-page paper kept me back on the first two days I planned to try it (the first time because I was too tired after my all-nighter to risk a beer before the 45-minute drive home. The second because I slept until 3 p.m. the next day and had to work at 4 p.m.) The third day that I was able to and made an attempt, the bar I went to had just sold out, less than a week after the keg went online. That'll probably be their only keg of the stuff this year. Finally, I found an unemptied keg of the stuff at Brick Store pub in Decatur on Sunday, a full 9 days after Summit's was the first of the bars to tap a keg of it. It poured nearly black into the elegant long-stemmed tulip glass The Brick Store is serving this in. The head is thick and creamy, almost like it's nitrogen dispensed, but it's not. The too-light-to-be-cream-too-dark-to-be-khaki head lingers and remains thick throughout the experience. The aroma starts out a little weak (despite serving their beer warmer than Summits, the 40 or so degrees F it was served was a bit cool to start with), but opens up nicely as it warms, into an inviting whiskey and vanilla bouquet. The sweet, rich malts of the original beer (it was really more porterish than dubbel-like the first time around) meld nicely with the bourbon. The combination of the slightly Belgian yeast spiciness, bourbon and the malts send the olfactory region of the brain into fits trying to figure out what's going on and spits out all sorts of weird interpretations: bubblegum, cloves, vanilla, anise, chocolate. The body is extremely smooth and creamy. The odd thing is that my wife hates the dark malt flavors and whiskey, and yet, she actually liked this beer. Just amazing.