Thursday, December 30, 2010

Day 30 of the 31 Beers of Christmas


So, a guy pulls into the parking lot today, Ohio plates and he's wearing a Great Lakes Brewing Company shirt. I had never heard of this outfit -- probably because none of their beers are yet available in South Carolina, but we talked for a few minutes about beer, and then he went on his touristy way. But later on, when he was leaving he handed me a bottle of Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold "A handcrafted Golden Lager From Cleveland, Ohio." A very friendly gesture and serendipitous because I hadn't decided what beer I was going to review tonight. From the label: Not as dry as a Pilsner or as malty as a Munich-style lager, our golden lager is a balanced beer named after Dortmund, Germany, the city where the Dortmunder style originated.
Sounds good. Let's go for it. By the way, my already puny taste buds are in worse shape than usual as I have a cold. Here's hoping I can do this beer justice. And thanks again, Ohio man.


APPEARANCE: Rich golden color with a hint of ruby. Inch and a half of white pillowy head. Not much in the way of bubble action. Lace from the top of the glass to the bottom.

AROMA: Sour with some citrus notes.

TASTE: Nicely balanced. I don't know what kind of hops they use but I like them -- although maybe it's just because the bitterness feels good on my sore throat -- subtle but pungent and the flavor lingers.

BURP TASTE: As might be expected from a beer with as few bubbles as this, there have been no eructions.

DRINKABILITY: As you may have noticed, I don't drink a lot of lagers, and I guess that's because lager to me means BudMillerCoors junk, but this I could drink -- well, if I lived in Cleveland.

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