Mike Duggan #24 Altbier
Duggan's Brewery

On tap at the brewpub.

Pours a lightly hazed nutty amber colour, some orange highlights, very thin slightly off white head forms and quickly settles to a thin ring around the glass, not much lacing.

Smell is nice, malty, some caramel, nutty, a bit of biscuit, light fruit and some grassy hopping, a touch of floral, minerals, not a whole lot of character in the nose.

Taste is similar, pretty malty, honey sweetness, biscuit, lightly fruity, a touch of raisin, minerals, and as stated lightly sulfurous, decent bitterness in the finish, a bit of herbal hoppiness.

Mouthfeel is light bodied with medium carbonation, doesn't have a lot of punch but easy to drink.

A 'full' glass at Duggan's which is no pint, perhaps 14oz? Arrives a light caramel color with a thin finger of foam which dies quickly to a thin layer.

Nose has some biscuit, a hint of sulfur, thin caramel, light fruitiness, a touch of Noble hopping evident.

Decent floral, fruity sweetness with a pleasant noble hop bittering, some biscuit and caramel, a touch of mineral, a light grassiness. Too thin body but pleasant enough carbonation which provides a bit of bite on its own. Not a bad drinker but too thin and light to be anything special.

New beer from Duggan, and the better of the two latest German offerings. This is a pretty decent rendition of an altbier - a touch hoppier than most, and perhaps only marred by a light smokiness.

Poured a rich auburn with a foamy off-white head that settled to a film and left a few spots of lace. Fairly standard for the style. Nose has some sulfurous notes mixing with brown bread, nuts, caramel and a distinct hop character which errs to the floral. Certainly a touch more bitterness than the standard alt. Quite floral with a surprising bite, which is only tempered by a big malt body that brings bread, biscuit, nut and earth to the table. Reasonably sweet with a pleasant bready finish. Some sulfurous notes almost pass off for smoke. Moderate body and carbonation.

Surprisingly similar to the homebrewed alt Derek and I brewed up earlier this year. Duggan must have had the place bugged. I wouldn't put it past him...

Edit: On a subsequent visit I felt this tasted merely 'meh'. It was okay, but a little boring, so I've readjusted some of the scores accordingly.

Experienced at the brewpub. A little cheesy sulpheric aroma detracted. Slightly brown toasty colour, with a little white head and lacey. Better as it warmed, average mouthfeel and toasty peaty. Reasonable complex to finish a half pint. Decent experiment.

On-tap at Duggan's Brewery, in Toronto.

A jazzy display of tawny is made slightly dull by a haze that, although translucent, blurs the sharp strokes of auburn and dims the bistre accenting, largely preventing either from really being teased out by the light. Its soapy head homes a mosaic of bubbles, each one of a different shape and size, each with a unique signature for the side of the glass.

The aroma travels in waves, a tide that begins with a rather sulphuric whiff that quickly folds under a stream of dark caramel and after is breaded in a wash of toasted, whole-wheat crumbs. The surface heaves and swells with ripples of bitter, flowery hops that crash against the nostrils, their gritty resins surge the sinuses like a corkscrew.

The flavours are numerous and knotted about as tightly as a Friday afternoon traffic jam. A sort of graham cracker-like maltiness leads the pack, dark toffee, a sprinkling of dry breadcrumbs, a tinge of copper, and finally those bitter, grassy Hallertau hops finish a respectable and closely contested fifth. There is a long, biscuity finish.

I don't pretend to be an expert on Altbiers, but this strikes me as being more hop-forward than most. Although the malts induce a sweet, nutty, praline-like profile, it is the bitter herbals that really anchor to the tongue. In typical German engineering, this one has been outfitted to suit a long night of drinking. Too bad I can't stay for another.

Mike Duggan seems to have an innate ability to replicate the beers of just about any and every major region; how he has managed to capture the nuances and subtleties of hundreds of years of brewing in a matter of months is beyond me. I spent one afternoon at the brewpub and I feel as though I've drank all throughout Germany. Prost!