GLB Dortmunder lager

Could they make that any more confusing, even deceiving?

 

Great Lakes make fantastic malt-forward beers (Eliot Ness, Dortmunder, Ohio City, Blackout). Unfortunately, like a lot of brewers, they seem to be abandoning what they do best to follow trends because their lagers are getting harder to find here (although some fantastic, locally brewed lagers are available around Chicago).

Around me, Weihenstephan, Ayinger, Hofbrau, and Urban Chestnut are some of the best lagers I get regularly. If you can get Pivo Pils, I’d buy up plenty of that. It’s nothing obscure, but I think Sam Adams Boston Lager is one of the best lagers you can get anywhere in the country, seriously. I’d try that if you haven’t.

 

I don't disagree, but at least they now put a code on the bottles and were responsive to my inquiry. I'll take what I can get.

 

True.

Now I can roll my eyes at so many dusty six-packs around here with solid evidence.

 

Thanks for that. I feel much better now. I took a look at a Maximator I have in the beer fridge- same date as yours. November 7, 2019.

 

As a local NE Ohio native and resident - I can say that Great Lakes considers their Dortmunder Gold their "flagship" - been drinking it since they started in 1988 - great beer, and great local brewery! Esp. now in cans!

 

Dunno, goin' by this: https://www.binnys.com/flagship-february

But they also say the EF was first brewed in 1990, but GL says the DG was first brewed in 1988 -- so I think I'd defer to that too.

 

We need to put together some sort of database for all of the dating code translations we know. There used to be one out there on the interwebs, but I think it fell to disrepair.

BA would be a perfect spot to have this info.
@Todd @FBarber @Snowcrash000

 

Yeah, they could have, but when they asked for his input, Fritz Maytag emailed them back: "Sorry, I'm retired."

 

For me, the best recent craft lagers I have had are some Great Lakes beers I was able to try: Dortmunder Gold, Eliot Ness, and Edmund Fitzgerald. Their products haven't been distributed on Long Island of late, and the potential replacements don't compete. I see the Great Lakes lagers as throwbacks to the better German imports of 50 years ago (anybody remember Ritterbrau?). For an 80's era craft brewery lager, I had the opportunity to have Widmer Brothers maibock, which was excellent.

 

Yeah, I think I would go with the original source here in NE Ohio, not a retailer in the Chicago area....Dortmunder was their first brew, first flagship etc....nothing against Eddy Fitz, love that beer too, but it is not considered the GLBS flagship by people who live here in their backyard

 

Well, to be fair -- GL doesn't really refer to a "flagship" anywhere on their site, so we'd have to get a direct answer somehow.

And don't discount Binny's, they've been a leader in championing good beer around Chicago for longer than a lot of BA members were old enough to say beer.

 

https://www.origlio.com/brewery/great-lakes-brewing-co

This article (sorry for the lack of paragraphs, I think this author posts on BA a lot ) actually says GL's Flagship beer was called Heisman. Go figure.

(Read deeper, you'll find Heisman was renamed Dortmunder Gold. )

Still not direct info from the brewery, but it makes sense. Of course, it is just a distro from Philly.

 

Going by memory Great Lakes pushed Dortmunder Gold because it won a lot of early festival prizes. It was fairly ubiquitous at local watering holes on tap. I always preferred Eliot Ness which was usually only available in bottles, if that.

 

I really like GL Dortmunder. I get excited when I see on draft, but it's rare for me to find fresh bottles/cans on shelves.

I am fan of DAB Dortmunder Export. It's a bit lighter than Great Lakes Dortmunder and priced competitively. A case of 24 16oz cans is ~$24 at my local distributor and it sells pretty quickly, so it's usually fresh, typically fresher than the Great Lakes beer I see, despite DAB crossing an ocean.

 

Well, let's have a look... Dortmunder Gold has won 16 medals in the World Beer Championships, has been made since 1988, and is listed first on the GLBC "Our Beer" web page. I'd call it their flagship.

I have bought Dortmunder Gold in Michigan from time to time, but I'm not sure I could run out right now and easily grab a six pack of it. I recently found some in a variety pack and it was very good.

I agree that Sam Adams Boston Lager is the closest style of beer that is widely available. It is also very good and found everywhere.

 

What store do you find the Augustiner brand? I'm in Battle Creek and neither of my stores has much of an import section, so I'll have to go to your store to find it.

 

https://petersgourmetmarket.com/

Grandville, near Cabela’s, Target. 44th Street and Ivanrest.

 

I disagree about Sam Boston Lager... it's fine a beer, but it's typically classified as a Vienna Lager, which is typically darker, maltier, and bit sweeter than the Dortmunder style.

 

A buck a pint can is a hell of a deal. Here DAB is $2.25 per can.