Dogtoberfest
Review Date 9/25/2004
Try?
Re-buy?
It’s that time of year again. Fall has fallen, the weather
is cooling off, and across the pond in Munich they’re swaying to oom-pah-pah
tunes, downing bratwursts and roasted chickens, and of course swilling lots
of beer. Once again, it’s time to celebrate Oktoberfest in Germany. But even
if you can’t make it to Munich for that revered annual event, you can still
appreciate Oktoberfest beer.
This year, there’s another beer to sample amidst the crowd of imported German and microbrewed domestic Oktoberfest brews. The beer I’m talking about is Flying Dog’s Dogtoberfest. This is only the second lager to be offered by Flying Dog, a Colorado craft brewer best known for its large assortment of ales. But hot on the heels of the spring, 2004 release of Heller Hound , a Maibock in style and another German inspired brew, Flying Dog has another bottom-fermented brew to offer.
Like the Heller Hound, Dogtoberfest is a seasonal brew, only around for a short while. The Oktoberfest style is also known as Vienna-Marzen, though beers carrying the latter name can sometimes be found year-round. These beers are usually a russet, reddish color with a distinct nutty malty sweetness and a balancing hop finish. They are not exceptionally strong in alcohol. Dogtoberfest clocks in at around 5.1% alcohol by volume.
Let’s try a bottle, shall we?
Flying Dog Dogtoberfest pours to a deep orange amber color reminiscent of the brightly colored leaves that scatter about to ubiquitously this time of year. Head formation is light and slightly creamy, while the nose is enticing with sweet and soft notes of caramel. Upon sipping, I get a good dose of caramel malt flavor with just a hint of nuttiness, a citric orange character, and a subtle sweetness up front. In the finish, the beer is slightly balanced with a lightly grassy hop bitterness, but finishes just a tad sweet.
Overall, a nice enough brew I think. What I’m looking for here and not finding, though, is more of the nuttiness and toasted character common to this style of beer. A dash more Munich malt (maybe two dashes) would definitely improve Dogtoberfest. Again, this is not to say that this isn’t a tasty beer. It certainly is.
But for my taste I’ll stick with the originals, like Paulaner and Spaten . I think Sam Adams is even a bit better.
This year, there’s another beer to sample amidst the crowd of imported German and microbrewed domestic Oktoberfest brews. The beer I’m talking about is Flying Dog’s Dogtoberfest. This is only the second lager to be offered by Flying Dog, a Colorado craft brewer best known for its large assortment of ales. But hot on the heels of the spring, 2004 release of Heller Hound , a Maibock in style and another German inspired brew, Flying Dog has another bottom-fermented brew to offer.
Like the Heller Hound, Dogtoberfest is a seasonal brew, only around for a short while. The Oktoberfest style is also known as Vienna-Marzen, though beers carrying the latter name can sometimes be found year-round. These beers are usually a russet, reddish color with a distinct nutty malty sweetness and a balancing hop finish. They are not exceptionally strong in alcohol. Dogtoberfest clocks in at around 5.1% alcohol by volume.
Let’s try a bottle, shall we?
Flying Dog Dogtoberfest pours to a deep orange amber color reminiscent of the brightly colored leaves that scatter about to ubiquitously this time of year. Head formation is light and slightly creamy, while the nose is enticing with sweet and soft notes of caramel. Upon sipping, I get a good dose of caramel malt flavor with just a hint of nuttiness, a citric orange character, and a subtle sweetness up front. In the finish, the beer is slightly balanced with a lightly grassy hop bitterness, but finishes just a tad sweet.
Overall, a nice enough brew I think. What I’m looking for here and not finding, though, is more of the nuttiness and toasted character common to this style of beer. A dash more Munich malt (maybe two dashes) would definitely improve Dogtoberfest. Again, this is not to say that this isn’t a tasty beer. It certainly is.
But for my taste I’ll stick with the originals, like Paulaner and Spaten . I think Sam Adams is even a bit better.
And remember, try a new beer today, and drink outside the box
