Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Company
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Cleveland, Ohio USA

Clear, bright golden amber w/ frothy white foam. Nice lace. Sweet, malty, lightly toasty biscuity aroma w/ notes of caramel & herbal complements. Rich, chewy feel. Flavour is moderately sweet w/ a crisp, bitter, mildly acidic finish. Notes of caramel & honey linger as well.

Aromas are like a sweet pilsner with white grape notes. Color is a nice clear amber, and due to a mispour, I am looking at about a three inch head. As the head dissipates, it is lacing pretty nicely. Flavor is sweet and malty. There is definitely a fruity note to this one, but it is a sweet white grape/honey/citrus. Fairly light and not bad... but kind of blah.

On tap at Smoking Lizard in Akron, OH. This looks like decent lager. A crystal clear goldish tan with a nice white head. The aroma smelled like sour grapes, reminded me of a Bud light. The flavor did too, nasty corn flavor with no hops anywhere. I found this comparable to a BMC, I didn’t even finish it. I don’t think it was dirty lines either, because my previous beer was great. Aweful.

Rerate. 12oz, please enjoy by 10/24/07 clear yellow amber with a one finger white head. Aroma of sugar cookies, sweet biscuits, and light piney and spicy hops. Flavor is much the same with the hops doing a great job of keeping this from becoming very sweet, though if I were to describe this I’d say it was sweet. Bitterness peaks around a 3 or 4--closer to a 3. Light to medium body with moderate carbonation. Old rating follows. 12oz. bottle, enjoy by May 31/06. Aroma of hay, citrus hops with a biscuity background. Pours a clear dark gold with a moderate white head. Flavor of floral hops and biscuity malts. Sweet finish. Pretty good--the best lager I’ve had in recent memory. 8-4-8-3-14--3.7

Golden with a full white head. Fruity and hoppy with a it of citrus. Heavy and malty with a lingering sweetness. Just a bit too heavy for me.

Pours amber with a large white head. Subtle aroma of sweet malt and honey-like German hops. This one is advertised as a happy median between a German Pilsener and a Munich or Vienna Lager, and it certainly is. Not as thick and sweet as a Vienna and without the hoppy bite of a Pilsener. There are hops, though, and they come across as pleasantly subtle, their earthy spices blending very well with the bready and slightly caramel-ish malt. One of the most flavorful Lagers I’ve come across, and incredibly drinkable to boot.

(Bottle (best by 4/3/06) via trade with <A HREF=http://www.ratebeer.com/ViewUser.asp?UserID=2 target=blank>OhioDad, thanks Scott!) Drank from my new Ayinger willibecher! Pours a light golden amber. Foamy off-white head. Sloppy lacing. Smells pretty doughy, then as head recedes I pick up Belgian yeast-like aroma, maybe a little skunkiness too. Mouthfeel pretty light and clean, some prickliness. Tastes fairly bitter up front, then light maltiness. Also tasting the Belgian yeast I was getting in nose - surprising. A little tangy, citrusy. This is real refreshing and tasty but not as malty as I would have expected.

Clear gold. Frothy, off white head. Nose is perfume, fruit, and malt. Flavor is the same with a bit of piney hops in the finish. Light body, easy drinking. Crisp, refreshing lager.