Dunedin Brewing Taste Test at the CFL Scottish Highland Games
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So, I’ll just let Jay Brookston take it from here. Not only does he sum up much of what I’ve been thinking over the past few weeks, but he is a much better writer than I. The latter should not be news to anyone but my mom: she thinks I’m special and would have chuckled at the “brewhaha” reference that I refrained from using.

According to Flying Dog (and I have no reason to doubt them), Dogtoberfest is a “traditional-style Marzen, brewed with 100% imported German ingredients”. This is a lager that uses Light and Dark Munich and Vienna malts and is hopped with German Perle and Hersbrucker hops. ABV is 5.3% and IBUs are 30.

From the first sip to the last, this was a really good beer. It isn’t as malty as some marzens like the Brooklyn Brewing Oktoberfest I had a few days ago, but it has a great flavor and is very drinkable. This is a good beer for tailgating, grilling out, or just chilling out. I’ll definitely be buying this one throughout the rest of the much-too-short Octoberfest beer season.

According to Beer Advocate, the Biere de Garde style:

[...] is golden to deep copper or light brown in color. They are moderate to medium in body. This style of beer is characterized by a toasted malt aroma, slight malt sweetness in flavor, and medium hop bitterness. Noble-type hop aromas and flavors should be low to medium. Fruity esters can be light to medium in intensity. Flavor of alcohol is evident.

I’d say that in this case, Flying Dog nailed it. This is a great, easy-drinking beer. It would be perfect for a party or to introduce someone who doesn’t normally drink craft beers to something that has great flavors without being too extreme in any direction.

For your video enjoyment, Flying Dog has put together an interview w/their Executive Brewer to talk about Garde Dog. I’m embedding it below, but check the link if you want the higher-res version or are seeing this in your feed reader.

Flying Dog Brewery Garde Dog Biere De Garde from Flying Dog Brewery on Vimeo.

The book begins with a foreword from “The Beer Hunter” himself, Michael Jackson followed by an Editor’s Introduction. Both set the stage for the philosophical questions brought on, related to, and maybe even answered by beer. From there, Part 1 is The Art of Beer, followed by The Ethics of Beer. Not to be outdone, The Metaphysics and Epistemology of Beer and Beer in the History of Philosophy round out Parts III and IV. With the exception of Part 1 which has six chapters, the parts contain three chapters each. Since the chapters are written by different authors with very different backgrounds and writing styles, you may want to treat this like a collection of short stories and read one and let it sink in before tackling the next one.

Since this is a beer blog, here’s a quick list of the chapters written by beer folks:

• The Beer Matrix: Reality vs Facsimile in Brewing by Garrett Oliver, the brewmaster at Brooklyn Brewery.
• Quality, Schmaility: Talking Naturally about the Aesthetics of Beer; or Why is American Beer So Lousy? by Martin Stack and George Gale. Martin Stack is an Associate Professor of Management at Rockhurst University who’s scholarly work is focused on the brewing industry.
• Extreme Brewing in America by Sam Calagione, the founder of Dogfish Head.
• Beer and Autonomy by Alan McLeod from A Good Beer Blog.
• What’s a Beer Style by Matt Dunn, a homebrewer who wrote his biology master’s thesis on brewers yeast and evolution and is now completing his PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science.

These were my favorite chapters since they were written in a more natural writing style about topics I’m familiar with. In contrast, the chapters that were heavier on the philosophy ranged from very interesting to unreadable for me. I don’t fault the authors for this since they were writing about what they know in a more academic style that they are familiar with and for their audience.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone even if you don’t think you’re interested in philosophy. Many of the topics brought up by the authors were likely thoughts you’ve had while enjoying a beer but may not have taken the time to think about so it is nice to see someone take the ball and run with it. You can buy the book at Amazon (referral link which I make a few pennies from)

First Up: Wild Dog Doppelbock

The Collaborator Doppelbock is the result of Flying Dog’s Open Source Beer Project. According to Flying Dog, this has a “full body with sweet malt profile and a slight roast character”. The avg. Beeradvocate rating is 4.05/5 with only four reviews so far and RateBeer has it as a 3.33/5 with six reviews. This was what I expected for a Doppelbock and I’d definitely drink this again.

Alcohol Content:  8.3% ABV
IBU’s:  24
Specialty Malts:  Munich “Type I” 2240 75, Munich “Type II 550 19, Cara-Munich 55 2, Cara-Amber 55 2, Melanoidin 55 2
Hops:  Warrior, Mt. Hood

Next: K-9 Cruiser Winter Ale

According to Flying Dog this “is a dark, sweet and malty ‘Winter Warmer’ that will captivate any adventurous microbrew drinker”. RateBeer gives it a 3.21/5 with 336 ratings and Beeradvocate gives it 3.41/5 with 136 reviews and a score of 80.

This was hands-down (whatever that means) the crowd favorite. I wanted another sip as soon as I put my glass down. We ended up roshamboing for the rest of the bottle (Julie won).

Alcohol content:  6.4% ABV
IBU’s:  30
Specialty Malts:  50/60 Crystal, Chocolate, Oats, Munich Malt
Hops:  Millenium, Saaz

Finally: Wild Dog Barrel-Aged Horn Dog

Again, from the Dog’s mouth: “this is a completely expirmental beer. We took our Horn Dog Barely Wine and aged it in used Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey barrels for 13 months to give us a Barley Wine with a very distinctive flavor.” This was brewed in limited amounts (725 12 oz. bottles) and they can only be purchased at the brewery. RateBeer gives it a 3.75/5 with 15 ratings.

Wow, this is one powerfully flavorful beer. Definitely more like a fine scotch that you sip than a beer you swig. It is sweet like a barley wine but packed with oak flavor. At 10.5% ABV, this is a beer you’ll want to sip and between that and the sweetness, one should be all you need. If you like barley wines and get a chance to pick this up, go for it.

Thanks to Flying Dog Brewery for sending these to us for tasting and for including a nice writeup on them that I could crib from for the descriptions.

[tags]beer[/tags]

Luckily for you, dear reader, I do remember that it was good. A very nice beer that I would have liked having again–probably even a couple in quick succession. Now, I know what you’re thinking (and frankly you should be disgusted) so I won’t leave you hanging with just my “buy it/try it” recommendation. Instead, I’ll point you to The Brew Site’s tasting notes on it which are very nicely done.

[tags]beer[/tags]

First up is the Dortmunder Gold. Before cheating and looking at the Great Lakes Brewing site, I had a feeling that this beer got it’s name from a gold medal at the Great American Beer Festival. How, you ask, was I so prescient? Behold:

OK, enough blathering Chris, how was the beer? I like it.

OK, you want some details. Here they are from the source:

• Description: A smooth lager that strikes a delicate balance between sweet malt and dry hop flavors.
• ABV: 5.8%
• ABW: 4.3%
• IBU: 30

Ratebeer.com shows it in the 88th percentile with a rating: 4.23/5 with 423 ratings. I’d definitely drink this again–and likely will since I have two more in the sample pack. I leave you with a couple more pics:

[tags]beer,great lakes brewing,dortmunder,cleveland[/tags]

The commerical description from ratebeer.com is:

Duchesee de Bourgogne is the traditional top fermented reddish-brown ale from the West-Flanders region of Belgium. This refined ale also known as "The Burgundies of Belgium" is a blend of 8 and 18 months old ales following careful maturation in oak casks. 100% natural and unpasteurized.

OK, but what does it taste like? Well, like a belgian ale but a bit sweet and a sourness that most describe as being like balsamic vinegar. While this may not sound good, it makes for a very interesting and complex flavor that gets better with every sip.

If you see this, be sure to try it. I don't think you'll be disappointed. 

[tags]beer[/tags] 

I had some help drinking these since a friend stopped by for happy hour with my wife and I the same day these arrived. My favorite beers are typically stouts, porters, and highly-hopped beers. My drinking companions were of the fairer sex (actually they still are) and they usually go for lighter ales and lagers.

All three of us liked the Haymaker. The hops gave this beer a hint of fruity flavor that was a bit bitter like grapefruit and the crisp finish was as BridgePort says, "sunshine in a bottle".

For me, this is a great beer that I think would satisfy a wide range of beer drinkers. It would be perfect for a cookout, beach day, or happy hour. I'd recommend checking this out if you find it in your area.

[tags]beer[/tags]