Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold

Brewed By: Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, Ohio
Purchased: Single bottle (12oz) from Jewel-Osco in Chicago, IL; 2012
Style/ABV: Dortmunder Export, 5.8%

Let's talk about Great Lakes Brewing Company, since tonight I am continuing my journey with their beer.

Great Lakes Brewing Company was founded on September 6th, 1988, brothers Patrick Daniel and Conway Daniel. It became the first microbrewery in the state of Ohio. The brewery expanded both in 1992 and 1998, and in 2010 and 2011 the brewery spent over 7 million dollars to improve their brewery and brewery equipment. The brewery produces over 100,000 barrels annuals, and serves 13 states and Washington D.C.. According to the Brewers Association "top 50 breweries list" from 2010, Great Lakes Brewing Company is ranked #22 for beer sales as a craft brewer, and #31 for beer sales in general (in America). You can take a stroll to the Great Lakes Brewing history page to get the full story about the brewery.

The Dortmunder Gold is in fact a "Dortmunder" beer. If you check out Great Lakes' Dortmunder Gold page, you will see that this beer is named after the Dortmunder style, which originated in Dortmund, Germany. This style originated during the mid-19th centruy when several breweries in Dortmund, Germany began breweing beers in the same manner; these beers became known as "Dortmunder" beers. This beer is described as a smooth lager with a balance of sweet malt and dry hop flavors. The beer uses Harrington 2-Row Base Malt and Caramel 60 malt; and the beer is brewed with Cascade (bittering hop) and Hallertau (U.S. version of the German noble hop - mild bitterness, aromatic) hops. This beer clocks in at 5.8% ABV, and packs 30 IBUs. 

If you consult the BJCP, you will see that this beer is actually an example under the Dortmunder Export category. Dortmunder Export appears to be the BJCP's categorization for Dortmunder beers. The BJCP describes this beer as balanced, smooth, and malty like a Helles, hoppy like a Pils, and slightly stronger than both. Hell is a German adjective for "light," and Helles is a noun used to describe "a light one [beer].". The Helles style is only light in appearance, and not in flavor. The style is known to have a definitive mild malt-forwardness, a satisfying palate, and light hops in the mix. A Pils or Pilsner is a blond, clear, effervescent lager, with noteable hop flavor, that originated from the Czech city of Pilsen in 1842 (Source 1, Source 2).

In case you are wondering why any of this matters, it doesn't. Ratebeer has pegged the Dortmunder Gold as a "Dortmunder/Helles". So now that you are a savvy beer drinker, you know that a Helles beer (or Munich Helles) is a light-colored, German beer, with nice supporting malts. BeerAdvocate has pegged this beer as a "Dortmunder / Export Lager," which is basically equal to the BJCP with a "/" thrown in because they are going through some sort of rebellious emo phase. Let's see how this beer stacks up. 

Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold

This is a beautiful looking Lager. The beer poured with 3-fingers worth of super creamy, foamy head. The head is made up of tiny bubbles, and has that creamy consistency of a Guinness head. The head is white with hints of gold or orange. The body of the beer appears to be golden/bronze/orange/amber color, well-carbonated, and transparent in lower light. When held under a bright white light, this beer is a beautiful golden-orange/yellow color, with a ton of carbonation. The head is maintaining like a beast.

The aroma is grainy, and hoppy. You pick up on the Hallertau, with that mild, earthy, pleasant, spicy, herbal, English hop note. Really nice clean graininess, a touch of honey, a touch of bread, sweet (caramel), sweet bread, and maybe some DMS.

The taste on this is really, really good, with huge palate depth and a medium-full body. After my first two sips, I can say for sure that there is a lot of carbonation, quite a bit of malt, quite a bit of grain, and some mild and spicy hop balance. There is almost a dry complexity that drives this beer, and the finish is malty and super dry, with tons of lingering malts. I'm tasting grain, sweet malts, biscuit, and 30 IBUs worth of surprisingly bitter (but pleasant) spice, hints of citrus (lemon), and herbal/earth. There is also a ton of lacing on my glass.

This is incredibly easy to drink, and super refreshing despite the sort of drying finish. The finish is drying, but there is a ton of lingering malt and grain that you just want to go back for another sip, or a 6-pack. The 5.8% makes this an extreme session beer; this will get you drunk. And maybe, just maybe, cheers to that. The palate depth on this beer is "get da fuck outta here." It's that good. This beer just bombs your palate with that whirlwind of malt presence and hop balance. The hop bitterness is perfect at 30 IBUs, and you still feel like you are drinking a Lager. This is smooth, well-carbonated, and medium-full. Complexity is high. On the front you get crisp hops and sweet malts; this rolls into sweet malts, hop balance, and grain; this rolls into that drying back end of grain and malts. I'm sad to see the bottom of my glass right now, but isn't that the best kind of sadness? 

Rating: Divine Brew 

Score: 97%

 

Well, I guess this is the bar. Say "hi bar," because bar just got a raise. This is a fantabulous beer, and I just want to drink 12 of them right now. You might think that is my crippling alcoholism talking, but in fact this beer is actually delicious. Okay, so maybe this beer is delicious and my crippling alcoholism is talking. This is a splendid display of balance, and the palate depth is spectacular. This beer grabs your palate and demands attention. I feel like I could pair this beer with pizza and die a very happy person. And that is where I will leave that.