Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Lager

Brewed by Flying Dog Brewery
Style: California Common
Frederick, Maryland USA

(Bottle from 1828 Vintage House) A nice little malty treat...Pours darkish burnt orange/auburn, fairly clear. Two fingers of biscuit head. Aroma initially of malty egg and vanilla, and as head recedes there is some slightly burned caramel and light pine hoppiness. Mouthfeel is light-medium full and with a touch of pebbliness but a good kind of roughness giving it some texture. Some light broken rings of weepy lacing. Flavor is fairly malty, kind of dominated by the toasty, lightly burned caramel with some light biscuit notes along with egg and vanilla. Light biting hop bitterness with a touch of pine. Kind of like a Vienna, only a little more burned and toasty and with a bit more hop presence. Not bad.

Cloudy amber pour. No real head to speak of. Malt and quite a bit of floral hop characteristics. A bit of a dry bitter finish for an amber. Not bad, I’m just not sure it fits with the style. I think the things that make their high gravity beers excellent might be working against them in this. Not to say I wouldn’t drink it again though.

(Bottle). Reddish amber color. No head. Interesting balance of fruits and maltiness. Very dry finish. Refreshing. Different.

Copper color with a medium, off-white head. Malty and fruity tones. malt and hops. High carbonation. Medium body with a dry aftertaste.

bottle, red amber color, with lasting head, malty nose, bread, coffee and nuts for flavors, slightly watery but nice finish

12oz bottle at Annie Bailey’s Irish Pub, Lancaster, PA...amber color, off-white head...smell of malts, fruits...kind of toffee-fruity-nutty flavor with some dried apricot and hops...different...pretty good.

pours murky amber with small head and no lacing. aroma of malt, hops, and some citrus, along with some sweetness. Flavor is dry but malty. nothing special , but ok. decent mouthfeel. decent brew.

Poured from the bottle into a double-walled pint glass. Pour produced a clear, reddish-amber body topped by a mostly diminishing head of tan foam with light lacing. Light malt aroma is evident after the first sniff, which took some coaxing, due to the temperature of the beer. Flavor is well-balanced, favoring the dry, bitter side, but switching over to a sweet note here and there. Carbonation was crisp and the body was medium. As the beer warmed, some caramel notes came out in the aroma and the palate, along with a certain amount of "offness." I really wish more breweries would have "born on" dates stamped on their bottles as this seems to be the second beer from my local store which has gone South. Regardless, I think the flavor of this brew is well-balanced and deserves a second chance. "Second Chance" Geeze! I didn’t realize that I rated this beer before. Well, I picked this up from the same location and it seems to have gone further South this time, bleagh! I wish I could take my notes with me, so I don’t make this mistake again... (Ratings adjusted from 3.2)