Dominion Gigi's Farmhouse Ale

13th July 2013
Light haze on this gold - amber beer. Good size pale cream coloured head. Palate is softish with mild fine carbonation. Soft malt, airy and a little sweet. Unusual pear ester. Light brandy and a touch of bubblegum ester creeping in. Sweetish generic fruits. Little sherbet candy before a smooth and semi dry finish. Very unusual and pretty drinkable.

Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy orange with a frothy head that laces nicely against the sides of the glass. Aromas are peppery (white pepper) with a little orange and other herbal notes. Flavor is alright... kind of a subdued orange and biscuit flavor with a little bit of white pepper to it. It’s a little sweet and sticky and finishes blandly.

Draft. Poured a hazy copper color with a small off-white head. Aroma is notes of hay, straw and yeast notes. Light lemon notes, barnyard notes, notes of light wheat notes. I’m going to remember this beer well, not because the beer itself was mind blowing but because the blind date I had this on ended up being a disaster. Thank goodness it wasn’t a Cantillon or something.

Bottle: Poured a dirty light amber color ale with a large foamy head with good retention and some pretty good lacing. Aroma of rustic malt ester and some solid Belgian floral malt is quite interesting. Taste is a good mix between some rustic ester with some floral Belgian malt and a light spicy yeast finish. Body is quite full with good carbonation and no apparent alcohol. Nicely brewed and something I quite enjoyed.

Bomber from Total Wine West Richmond. Pours a slightly hazy orange color with a large rocky off-white head that fills the glass very quickly, so watch out! Good head retention. Aroma of... OK I was just working with spices so I’m going to smell it now with the hand that DIDN’T make contact with Garam Masala and Chinese 5 Spice. Aroma of bready, slightly buttery malts, citrus and faint spice. The taste is citrus, spice, bread, caramel and an herbal note. Medium bodied, high carbonation. Pretty straightforward but a good beer. I think this is the second consecutive Dominion beer I actually like. I guess its time to revisit the regular beers.

From the 6/2012 3R6P tasting +++ Sampled from a 22 oz brown bottle this beer poured a hazy orange-apricot color with an enormous foamy off white head that left some lacing. The aroma was dry and bretty with faint citrus, wheat and clove. The flavor was dryish yet tangy with notes of honey, orange, nut and bread. The finish was long and tangy with lingering honey, orange and bread. Medium body. Interesting.

Very hazy copper coloured body with an orange tint and a thick, six centimetre tall tan frothy head. Aroma of yeast, coriander seed, corn, light spices, hay, grass and a touch of light hops. Medium-bodied; Chewy mouthful at first with a very yeastie flavour then rounding out with a hay, grassy, funky corn and basementy flavour with a decent amount of spices. Aftertaste is very flavourful and complex with some sweetness, a little curacao and lemons, some alcohol and a lot more yeast and saisony flavours. Overall, a surprisingly good beer and one that reminds me of the good ole’ Old Dominion Days when they produced quality beer like this in the actual Old Dominion State - NOT Delaware. I sampled this 65 cL bottle purchased from Connecticut Avenue Wine & Liquor in Washington, DC on 17-March-2012 for US$5.99 sampled at home in Washington on 16-May-2012.

Location: 22 oz bottle from State Line, 5/13/12

Aroma: The nose is Belgian yeast, lots of spice, and a little bit of funk
Appearance: It pours a cloudy orange color with a small sheet of lasting white head
Flavor: The taste is like the nose, lightly sweet, medium spicy, and with a little bit of funk
Palate: The body is medium, it is fairly tingly on the mouth, with a dry funkiness to the finish
Overall Impression: This was a pretty decent saison. I found it to be pretty enjoyable, and I'd drink it again. I'm surprised that the scores are so low, as this wasn't a bad offering by any means.

1 pint 6 fluid ounce bottle (what ever happened to the metric system, anyway??). Cloudy brownish golden color, gigantic cream-colored head with reasonable retention. Aroma of sweaty barnyard animals covered with black pepper and carrying lemons in their mouths, and drooling a bit. Taste is piles of hay and straw, covered with a light layer of dust after lying around in the loft for awhile. I’m not getting much Gigi. but the farmhouse is definitely there.