Old Dominion Millennium Ale, Baltic Porter & Candi Belgian Tripel – A First Sampling

Old Dominion Brewing has really been turning out some exciting new brews, so I was excited to get a chance to sample three of their newest releases tonight. 

Mrs. BeerBuzz and I decided to start with Candi Belgian Tripel, and we were both immediately impressed with the pretty golden & cloudy color and thick head.  Candi has the classic aromas of Belgian yeast, light citrus and even a little bubble gum and the flavor that follows was really nice.  Candi has the traditional flavors of bready yeast and the sweet & spicy finish we’ve come to expect in a Belgian Tripel and at 9.5% ABV, this one will get your attention.  All in all a nice beer and a pretty traditional slightly sweeter Belgian Tripel Ale.

Up next I simply couldn’t resist trying Old Dominion Millennium Ale.  This beer was originally brewed to celebrate Old Dominions 1000th batch of beer, and it’s a really nice brew.  Millennium leans a little more toward English-style Barleywine, but it has an interesting twist.  Millennium is brewed with honey, which brings the gravity up considerably.  The aroma of Millennium is decidedly caramel and toffee but for both of us, the honey did make it’s presence really known in the nose.  Millennium Ale has tastes of dark fruit, caramel, some biscuit and a hoppy and spicy finish.  Millennium finishes cleaner than I was expecting, and while the boozy flavors expected from a 10.5% ABV beer are there, the balance is nice and the mouthfeel pleasant.  Given everything going on in this beer, I’d love to cellar one for a year and see how much better it gets.

For our final sampling, we saved the Old Dominion Baltic Porter for last.  This beer pours dark as night and it has a wonderful chocolate, licorice & coffee aroma.  This Porter uses lager yeast so it was a little lighter bodied than I expected, but still good.  While Mrs. BeerBuzz noted an almost mint flavor, I thought the spicy Rye malt really stood out for me.  The flavors are rich & roasty with some cocoa and coffee notes and a raisin-y finish.  This is a nice but non-traditional Baltic Porter so be sure to try it for yourself.

Thank you to Old Dominion for allowing me the opportunity to sample these new beers.  I think there’s a lot here to like so be sure to check them out for yourself.
.