Great Lakes Imperial Dortmunder - 20th Anniversary Beer

Brewed by Great Lakes Brewing Company
Style: European Strong Lager
Cleveland, Ohio USA

<b>In short: </b>A overly sweet golden lager. Disappointing
<b>How: </b>Bottles 12oz, consumed fresh soon after purchase. Tasting session with Montreal crew
<b>The look: </b>Clear dark golden body topped by a white ring of foam
<b>In long: </b>Nose of sweet pineapples. Taste is toasted bread with a lot of sugary honey. The honey flavour felt sugary like old honey turning into sugar. Light fruity notes of ripe fruit salad. Body and carbonation are comfortable. Hops are on the floral side and add a flower juice element but not much dryness/bitterness to balance out the excessive sweetness. Long after-taste of honeyed flowers. Not a bad beer but I much prefer a smaller and more drinkable regular Dortmunder. Lagers and oil rich countries are two things Americans are failing miserably to imperialize.

Bottle. Clear, golden body with frothy off-white head that is mostly diminishing. Fruity sweet aroma of apricot jelly with notes of grain, caramel and alcohol. The flavor is moderately sweet and lightly to moderately bitter. Dry, bitter finish with notes of peppery alcohol. Medium body with a smooth texture and somewhat muted carbonation. The extra hop presence is nice, but the alcohol is too forward. The dortmunder gold is preferable.

Bottle 355ml,
Appearance: light amber with hint if gold. Large, presentable large mid dense cream tanned crown. Carbo sparkle at base. 4-
Aroma: Solid nose. Balanced blend of golden malts with grassy, citric hops. Crisp and refreshing in short. 7+
Flavour/Palate: medium bodied, slightly oily, smooth and clean. Lighter pale malts noted frontally, toasty bready character of pale bock followed. Slight bitterness sitting on top but that was only frontal as well. Alcohol well build in. carbonation level was fairly low for style. Imperial Dortmunder reminded me of better Mocnes but with dry hop feel to it. Highly recommended.

Bottle courtesy of CrazyMacHarris99 poured into a pint glass. Pours a crystal clear golden orange with a small off-white head that dissipates quickly to a small ring. A few bubbles rise to the top and the lacing is minimal. Toasted malts are the most dominant aroma with only hints of grassy hops. Bread also plays a big role in the aroma. The taste has a hoppy tingle up front before being taken over by the bready malts. The toasted character lingers throughout the finish and between sips. The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied for the style with decent carbonation and fairly sticky. I don’t have a lot of experience with this style but definitely enjoyed this one. Might have to check out a few other dortmunders for comparison.

Bottle. Pours almost a golden tan. Head is a little soft. Smells very malty and some hops in there, too. Tastes very strong, a little too much malts for me. The flavor is corny, grainy, but sort of balanced by the hops. Not too bad.

clear golden color, medium white head, strong lacing. earthy and sweet notes in the aroma, malty. flavor is earthy malt, slight citric sweetness, grassy notes. medium bodied, kinda weird bitter finish, with sweet note that sticks around. that would be bittersweet, right? if you ignore the aftertaste, it isn’t that bad. thanks to cornfield for the sample

12oz bottle, thanks to my Cousin and his wonderful wife in Cleveland. Dark gold pour, white head. Hard to put my finger on the aroma, kind of grassy with a slightly acidic aroma. The flavor is a little buttery, slightly bitter. Overall not to bad.

12-oz bottle received via trade with fiver29. Pours clear dark yellow with a large, fizzy, white head, somewhat lasting with fair lacing. Aroma is heavy malt (grain, hay, straw, meal), light hops (grass), heavy yeast (sweat, musty) with notes of pear and vegetable. Medium bodied, oily texture, average carbonation, and a bitter finish. Average duration, light sweetness and acidity, moderate bitterness.