Review - Coastal Brewing Company's Dominion Spring Buck Blonde Ale
"... a refreshing Belgian-style Blonde Ale, flavored with honey, and if you have a discerning palate, a hint of chamomile and orange. The wheat malt gives the crispness of an early Spring day, and we think you’ll find it every bit as enjoyable." -- Dominion Brewing
Pours a light golden color out of the bottle, settling a medium gold hue topped by a white, fizzy average sized head with faint lacing. Body clarity is slightly hazy and has little activity. Head has almost completely dissipated. Light fruity banana esters were the first flavors that were detected by the nose. The aroma was not too powerful but a light malt presence stood out as time went on. The malts were lightly sweet and sugary. We were not able to detect any hop presence. Initial taste is alcohol forward that is a bit too harsh. Towards the finish, a ton of dense malts come to the front as the alcohol taste wears off and leaves a moderate sweetness Light to medium in body, the Spring Buck has a soft carbonation presence - not over powering. The sweet and creamy body left a oily mouth-feel. As previously noted, the 7.5% alcohol is very noticeable - it is very warming.
This is a very tasty beer. We were surprised to see that this Spring Buck Blonde Ale was a Belgian dubbel - it was a pleasant surprise. The alcohol warming does not ruin the drink-ability of this beer. If you didn't know about this beer, it could quickly sneak up on you - and give you quite a wallop.
Reviewed on August 20th, 2009.
