Dogwood Pale Ale
Review Date 9/24/2002
Try?
Re-buy?
The other night,
I was watching the film Frequency in which a father and son
communicate across three decades via a fluke temporal HAM radio connection.
The two manage to save the father’s life and solve a murder mystery, and at
the same time they got me thinking about beer (no big surprise there).
That’s because there are several scenes in a bar, and plenty of others where
characters are swilling bottles of Miller beer.
How limited were beer choices back then, I thought, and what dark days they were in America for those who yearned for bolder, more flavorful brews. Though Anchor soon after began to receive better distribution for its revived beers under the loving care of Fritz Maytag, it would be more than a decade before Bert Grant would open his first brewpub, Sierra Nevada began its inexorable march across the country, and Jim Koch exhorted us to declare our independence from foreign beers.
Today, fortunately, we have a veritable plethora of craft brewed beers from which to choose. Sometimes, I think, we’re spoiled. We complain at times that this pale ale or that amber is so much like 100 others of a similar ilk. And while that may be true, I am glad of it. I’ll take those 100 beers of comparable character over the situation beer drinkers faced 30 years ago.
Then too, of course, there are certain beers that distinguish themselves from the pack. It’s always a pleasure to come across one of these and enjoy something a little different. To my mind, it doesn’t always mean that such a beer is by definition better or superior to the others; it’s just, well, different. In the pale ale category, Dogwood Pale Ale is such a beer.
Dogwood Pale Ale has become my staple pale ale from the south. To be sure, were you to inspect the contents of my beer refrigerator you would certainly find pale ales from Grant’s, Sierra Nevada, Samuel Adams, Sweetwater, and many other brewers. More often than any other, though, you will find a Dogwood Pale or two kicking around.
There’s good reason for this. Dogwood Pale Ale has won numerous awards (as have many other Dogwood brews). From Dogwood’s website:
·Voted "Best Craft-brewed Beer" and "Best Southern-Brewed Beer" by Southern Draft Brew News First Annual Readers' Choice Awards.
·Bronze Medal Winner at the 1997 World Beer Championships.
·Silver Medal World Beer Championships 1999.
Only the finest ingredients are used: crystal and two-row barley malt along with Cascade, Nugget, and Willamette hops. The beer is dry hopped with whole-leaf Cascades for extra hop character. Despite all those hops, bitterness is not to such a degree as to alarm the uninitiated in the ways of beer.
Dogwood Pale pours to a bright orange color with a huge rocky head formation and a thick fruity nose. There is a smooth and quenching malty palate to this beer that is tangy and refreshing. Pleasant fruity esters of apple abound and are accented nicely by aromatic hop notes. The finish is nicely balanced with a touch of bitterness and more fruity hop character. A delightful pale ale with a bite that sets it apart from the pack.
I like it with a rare ribeye steak and baked potato; it goes equally well with baked fish or chicken.
How limited were beer choices back then, I thought, and what dark days they were in America for those who yearned for bolder, more flavorful brews. Though Anchor soon after began to receive better distribution for its revived beers under the loving care of Fritz Maytag, it would be more than a decade before Bert Grant would open his first brewpub, Sierra Nevada began its inexorable march across the country, and Jim Koch exhorted us to declare our independence from foreign beers.
Today, fortunately, we have a veritable plethora of craft brewed beers from which to choose. Sometimes, I think, we’re spoiled. We complain at times that this pale ale or that amber is so much like 100 others of a similar ilk. And while that may be true, I am glad of it. I’ll take those 100 beers of comparable character over the situation beer drinkers faced 30 years ago.
Then too, of course, there are certain beers that distinguish themselves from the pack. It’s always a pleasure to come across one of these and enjoy something a little different. To my mind, it doesn’t always mean that such a beer is by definition better or superior to the others; it’s just, well, different. In the pale ale category, Dogwood Pale Ale is such a beer.
Dogwood Pale Ale has become my staple pale ale from the south. To be sure, were you to inspect the contents of my beer refrigerator you would certainly find pale ales from Grant’s, Sierra Nevada, Samuel Adams, Sweetwater, and many other brewers. More often than any other, though, you will find a Dogwood Pale or two kicking around.
There’s good reason for this. Dogwood Pale Ale has won numerous awards (as have many other Dogwood brews). From Dogwood’s website:
·Voted "Best Craft-brewed Beer" and "Best Southern-Brewed Beer" by Southern Draft Brew News First Annual Readers' Choice Awards.
·Bronze Medal Winner at the 1997 World Beer Championships.
·Silver Medal World Beer Championships 1999.
Only the finest ingredients are used: crystal and two-row barley malt along with Cascade, Nugget, and Willamette hops. The beer is dry hopped with whole-leaf Cascades for extra hop character. Despite all those hops, bitterness is not to such a degree as to alarm the uninitiated in the ways of beer.
Dogwood Pale pours to a bright orange color with a huge rocky head formation and a thick fruity nose. There is a smooth and quenching malty palate to this beer that is tangy and refreshing. Pleasant fruity esters of apple abound and are accented nicely by aromatic hop notes. The finish is nicely balanced with a touch of bitterness and more fruity hop character. A delightful pale ale with a bite that sets it apart from the pack.
I like it with a rare ribeye steak and baked potato; it goes equally well with baked fish or chicken.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box.
*Pricing data accurate at time of review or latest update. For reference only, based on actual price paid by reviewer.
(B)=Bottled
(D)=Draft
