Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold - Great Lakes Brewing Company

spointon

Illinois

4.4/5  rDev +7.3%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

I snagged a growler of this while visiting Cleveland and then later another from a local grocery store near me that started offering growler fills.

Presentation: 12oz brown with a drink before date clearly marked.

Appearance: Bright gold with a exquisite white two fingered lace that stays for a long time.

Smell: Sweet and very clean malty aroma ... reminiscent of Portuguese sweet bread.

A= This lager poured a clear yellow color with a fleeting 1/4" snow white head. The head dropped in seconds to reveal some light sticky lace and not much else.

S= Smells like pils malt and hops. Slight hint of minerals in the nose too. Good balance.

T= Wow this is the closest you will come to an authentic German Dortmunder in the U.S. Starts off with a hint of malt sweetness, then brings a dry, herbal hop note that carries straight through to the bone dry finish. The mineral character of the water used in this brew is spot on. Delicious!

MF= Light in body with a firm carbonation level that is entirely refreshing.

D= Off the charts drinkable with a great (and authentic) flavor to match. World class and highly recommended!

Serving type: growler

10-17-2011 08:51:27 | More by spointon

papaglide

New York

4.22/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 5

Poured from a growler:

Looks-deep gold with a great 2 finger head that chased the beer down almost to the bottom of the glass.

Nose-sweet, malty with just a touch of hops to it.

The taste started out very sweet and malty. A small dose of hops balanced out the malt nicely. The beer finished nice and dry.

This beer is a great example of the style and comes highly recommended.

Serving type: growler

05-25-2008 18:29:48 | More by papaglide

Alextricity

Michigan

4.1/5  rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Enjoy by 7/27/13. Poured into a heavy ass 12oz mug.

Appearance: Appropriately enough, gold. I had virtually no head on my pour despite being aggressive with it, but there's a nice little white film that floats on top. Decent lacing.

Smell: I don't know... truthfully, nothing going on here. It's hard to say it smells good, and it's hard to say it smells bad. It almost smells like nothing, for me. Really, *traces* of malts, but other than that, I'd think I'm smelling water. I'm gonna have to bump up my taste/appearance/mouthfeel scores just to give a better impression of what I think of the beer overall. Damn lacking aroma!

Taste: Fantastic stuff, right here. This is the final year-round beer from Great Lakes that I've had, and like their others, this is great. There's virtually no bitterness to speak of with this beer on the front, and there's a very, VERY nice sweetness that lasts beginning to about the end. While there's that almost candy sweetness (probably from crystal malts) on the front, the finish mellows out a bit, and welcomes some pretty heavy biscuit flavors, with maybe a slight bit of hops. The slight hoppiness balances out the initial sweetness of the beer. I really enjoy it. Dortmunder Gold also has a solid body, but that's to be expected with the ABV %.

I've yet to have a beer from Great Lakes that I've been truly disappointed in. I wasn't overly impressed with Lake Erie Monster, but it still trumps a LOT of other beers that I've had. This is just a great beer, and would be a good choice to get somebody's feet wet into the world of craft beer. It has a nice sweetness, isn't at all off-putting, and has just enough hop flavor and subtle bitterness to let a newbie know what's to come in the future if they keep drinking craft.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2013 17:34:48 | More by Alextricity

IchLiebeBier

Virginia

3.75/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

Appearance: Orangish-bronze; medium frothy head, long lasting, good lacing

Aroma: Malty; biscuity; citrusy hops; light honey; strange, but very pleasant aroma

Taste: Hop bite/citrus right up front; hoppy bitter finish; hoppier than I normally like, but this one is pretty well balanced with juicy malt; not bad for such a hoppy lager

Remarks: Did not score A, T, S, M at that time; disregard those scores

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2013 12:26:26 | More by IchLiebeBier

JohnG190

New York

4.09/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.5

Best by June 30, 2013.

Appearance - golden amber with rich, white, two-finger head that dissipates to a lacy cap.

Aroma - sweet malt and fresh baked bread with a hint of earthy hops.

Taste - floral, earthy hop bitterness perfectly balances the sweet, bready malt backbone.

Mouthfeel - Moderate carbonation and body, crisp dry finish.

Overall - a well crafted lager, nicely balanced and highly enjoyable.

Serving type: bottle

06-15-2013 00:47:46 | More by JohnG190

nbaeteer

Pennsylvania

4.54/5  rDev +10.7%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.75

Appearance: Bright, polished, transparent penny color with a surprisingly dense one finger head

Aroma: Mild malt and faint hops (noble?) earthy citrus in the background.

Taste: snappy slightly sweet citrus taste. very clean and balanced interplay between hops and malt

Mouthfeel: Slightly dry with just enough of an alchohol taste to let you know it's there

Overall: All the qualities of this beer come together perfectly as a team to form a balance that's extremely hard to find. For a beer that is almost completely naked and doesn't hide behind any dominant flavors from hops, malt or yeast it shows very few worts, if any. A great interpretation of a classic from maybe the best lager brewers in America.

Serving type: bottle

06-12-2013 21:17:01 | More by nbaeteer

DrinkSlurm

Connecticut

4.09/5  rDev -0.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Poured from tap into pint at the tap and mallet in Rochester ny. Nice golden pour with a finger of head. Not much aroma...very subtle...maybe a hint of bready malts.
Taste is crisp hop meets light malt. One of the most balanced beers I've ever had. The fruity hop really meets the malt perfectly. Smooth and refreshing.
Awesome brew.

Serving type: on-tap

06-06-2013 23:06:46 | More by DrinkSlurm

MustaPekka

Norway

3.99/5  rDev -2.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Great beer. In Europe you can hardly find Dortmund style beer (or Munich style for that sake) anymore. This beer was very good - nice foam, lot of taste, but not too bitter. Bitterness is of course a matter of preference. Munich style is more bitter and other end of the scale is Paulaner Pilsner. I love this beer.

Serving type: bottle

06-06-2013 17:10:25 | More by MustaPekka

BeerYoss

Pennsylvania

4.96/5  rDev +21%
look: 4.75 | smell: 5 | taste: 5 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 5

goblet

Appearance: Gold, nice full head. a bit of carbonation

Smell: very crisp and inviting smell

Taste: This is what a lager should taste like. crisp and refreshing, a touch of sweetness (apricot maybe) with hops laying underneath to give some great depth.

Mouthfeel: light-medium. some carbonation up front. coats and lingers in the mouth just a little bit, really the perfect amount. slightly dry finish

Overall: almost perfect, everything goes together so well. drinkability is 100/100. if I had only one beer to drink for the rest of my life this may be the one

Serving type: bottle

05-26-2013 02:07:46 | More by BeerYoss

boilermakerbrew

Indiana

4.46/5  rDev +8.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A- Pours a clear, pure golden-orange. Very small head that only sticks around a short bit before turning into a little bit of foam on the edge. Lacing is just ok with such a small amount of head.

S- Semi-sweet malts and a slight hint of hops. Somewhat faint in the scent, but a decent amount of caramel malt mixes in with lighter malts scents. Slight bready/biscuit scents kick in towards the end.

T- Complex blend of primarily caramel and light malts. Somewhat sweet, but lots of bready flavors dry it up a bit. Very slight hops bitterness at the end. The overall combination of flavors gives the beer a somewhat dry and brown sugar like flavor.

M- Medium body, medium carbonation, and classic lager smoothness makes this one an immensely drinkable beer. Complex flavor might keep you from quaffing it, but it could be enjoyed at about any pace.

Overall, this is a great everyday beer. I can't even imagine the feel of this on tap, but out of the bottle it's pretty damn good. Easy to drink and pretty complex and refreshing.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2013 02:29:25 | More by boilermakerbrew

JerzDevl2000

New Jersey

3.98/5  rDev -2.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

Picked this up at the recently renovated ShopRite Liquors in Little Falls last week, having never had a Dortmunder before. This reminded me a bit of a Munich Helles Lager, but this wasn't as bright and had a bit more bite and biscuity malt to it. It took a bit of getting used to, but this was quite enjoyable and the alcohol wasn't detectable at all, leading this to be a beer that I had to pace myself drinking instead of downing it too quickly!

The pour to this was a dark golden with a frothy head and some lacing the slid down the sides of my pint glass after each sip. However, I wish the aroma was a bit stronger, as it was the only subpar feature of this beer. There was a bit of grass and bread to the nose, which was stronger in the taste. The mouthfeel was quite soapy and with lots of carbonation, led this to finish relatively clean after each sip. Because this beer had the look and feel of brass, it finished richly and the cracker-like malt here felt a bit burnt as it lingered well after the suds went down.

Thankfully, the alcohol was spot-on but I wish this had a bit more hops here or some wheat to fill this out a bit. While this wasn't an empty-feeling taste, this wasn't what I was accustomed too and it was a bit darker than the average lager in a few ways. It's probably me, as there are so few examples of this style on the shelf these days but on its own, this is an enjoyable beer that deserves a wider audience, since it's quite enjoyable and likely to not offend anyone.

Serving type: bottle

05-20-2013 09:01:48 | More by JerzDevl2000

superspak

Michigan

4.23/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12 ounce bottle into lager glass, best before 5/8/2013. Pours lightly hazy golden amber color with a 1-2 finger dense white head with great retention, that reduces to a nice cap that lingers. Spotty soapy lacing clings down the glass, with a moderate amount of streaming carbonation. Aromas of pear, apple, grape, pepper, floral, grass, bread, cracker, honey, and herbal earthiness. Very nice aromas with good balance of hop, malt, and moderate ester notes; with good strength. Taste of bread, toast, cracker, pear, apple, pepper, floral, grass, light honey, and herbal earthiness. Lingering notes of light fruits, bread, toast, pepper, floral, honey, and herbal earthiness on the finish for a good bit. Fantastic balance of bready malt and spicy hop flavors; with light-moderate fruity ester notes and zero cloying flavors after the finish. Medium carbonation and body; with a smooth and crisp mouthfeel that is very nice. Alcohol is very well hidden with only a slight warming after the finish. Overall this is a highly excellent Dortmunder as expected. Great balance of hop and malt flavor; extremely smooth and crisp to drink. A highly enjoyable offering.

Serving type: bottle

05-17-2013 04:26:41 | More by superspak

Bitter_Echo

Michigan

4.25/5  rDev +3.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

Pours a clear, crisp, polished bronzy prismatic beauty! A real looker! Fine foamy and prominent lacing throughout with large oceans of clear glass. Smells bready, earthy, hidden, sweet notes. A great, fine smeller, some pine notes too, fine, hidden. Tastes lager all the way...a rich, malty, cleansing, fizzy, foamy, slick drink with a good high note and the finest piney hoppiness that lingers like a mild IPA. Bolder for the style, for sure. You'll drink this fast. I like this one. I'd heft six for sure. A buy again.

Serving type: bottle

05-14-2013 01:06:03 | More by Bitter_Echo

TeamMathis

West Virginia

4/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Appearance: Clear. Yellowish gold.
Smell: Honey.
Taste: Honey biscuits.
Mouthfeel: Spritzy and carbonated.

This is perhaps the best of this style that I've ever had. The smell and taste is nice honey, but the taste presents that familiar biscuit goodness. The spritzy carbonation almost burns the tongue (obviously not burns, but a strong tingle). This is excellent. I would probably get this again.

Serving type: bottle

04-30-2013 03:39:03 | More by TeamMathis

Thaddeus

Michigan

3.61/5  rDev -12%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75

Appearance: Bright golden-amber. White head, bout a finger in size.

Aroma & Taste: Round maltiness with roasted straw. Slight hops to it, but barely. Also had slight caramel notes and a nuttiness to it.

The hops mixed well with the malt, added a slight dryness to the beer, but not to much since it still had a refreshing mouthfeel.

Serving type: bottle

04-26-2013 13:44:59 | More by Thaddeus

gr0g

New Jersey

3.44/5  rDev -16.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Golden-amber in color with high clarity. About a finger of foam caps it off, leaving some ragged lacing on the glass. Faint aroma of grain and floral hops. A swirl of the glass is needed to rouse any character. Bready, with floral overtones. Not much here.

Crisp, malt-forward flavor profile. There's a pretty good malt backbone here, but it's not as malty as say, Eliot Ness. Bready, cracker-like notes dominate. Hops add a moderate bitterness, but otherwise don't contribute much.

Great Lakes has done a good job with an admittedly boring style. I've not met a Helles or Dortmunder that really interested me all that much, but if I had to pick one, this would be on my short list.

Serving type: bottle

04-24-2013 23:14:04 | More by gr0g

jtierney89

New Jersey

3.65/5  rDev -11%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Gold indeed, bright brassy golden hue with brilliant clarity and a bright white head. Toasty biscuity malt on the nose.

Clean tasting with a buttery rich character up front, toasted bread character. Faint hop character tries to come through the malt but doesn't incredibly and instead clashes with the malt flavors in an off way. Finishes with a lingering toasty and bitter flavor. Drinkable but not crazy about it. Perhaps if it was a touch hoppier it might work a bit better for me but overall pretty nice toasty lager.

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2013 20:03:31 | More by jtierney89

armiakhe

Michigan

2.83/5  rDev -31%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Overall, when i saw this beer the appearance was very nice with a Gold/Brown Appearance. The aroma was a little grainy and bready with a tad bit of bitterness to it. The mouthfeel was very heavy in my opinion and it tasted very thick and bitter. Overall i thought it was average.

Serving type: bottle

04-23-2013 18:54:18 | More by armiakhe

mecummins

Illinois

4.2/5  rDev +2.4%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4.25

A- poured a true, deep golden yellow with a 2 1/2 finger off white head. Billowy foam settles to a thick layer for almost all if the drink

S- light smell with grainy and yeast notes. Sweet but balanced nicely by the earthy hops

T- sweet (but not too much) with yeast notes abundant. A bit of citrus (lemon) brightness and the earthy bitterness from the hops really balances this lager

M- moderate mouthfeel with a crisp, not exactly dry, medium finish

O- very well done, easy to drink lager.

Serving type: bottle

04-21-2013 23:33:47 | More by mecummins

Durtdiggler

Illinois

4.13/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

Poured from 12oz bottle into Pilsner glass. A more amber hued gold with alot of effervescence and a 2 finger head with alot of retention, lacing covers the glass from top to bottom as you finish. Extremely clear.

Aroma is slightly grainy, bready with some sweetness and typical contentental hops. Hops are very forward. Definitely has that pungent noble hop malt aroma.

Taste is not too grainy and a bit sweeter, which I like. All balanced with hops but real nice sweet bread malt backbone. Not too much Munich malt versus others.

Mouthfeel is medium, very rounded and fulfilling. A sessionable lager but statisgying feel.

I'm not a huge lager fan, more into APAs, IPAs but this is probably the best that I have tasted. Most lagers are too grainy and biscuity with no hops but the hop profile is more pronounced and has a nice sweetness to it as well. The aroma is outstanding for this type. I'll be keeping this on hand for summers.

Serving type: bottle

03-29-2013 23:33:02 | More by Durtdiggler

Beerandboards

New Mexico

3.6/5  rDev -12.2%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

12oz bottle

A - looks quite nice. golden color, dense white head, leaves large amount of lacing.

S - smells like... a lager. Nothing interesting or wow, nothing bad.

T - again, tastes like a lager should. Clean and crisp, little depth. Creamy in a way. Lagers just dont do it for me.

M - good, medium carbonation. Again, creamy type feel.

O - Lagers just dont do it for me. As lagers go, this one is good, but I just dont like it. I know that ratings are supposed to be based on the style, based on that, this rating should be rated higher. However, I cant depart from the ultimate arbiter of the rating being, would I order this again, and I just wouldnt. A reflection of my personal taste, not any knock on the beer.

Serving type: bottle

03-26-2013 21:38:02 | More by Beerandboards

SportsandJorts

Michigan

3.58/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Type: 12 oz bottle
Glass: Pint

Appearance: a yellow/ dull gold color. perfect clarity. a finger or so of almost white head. leaves a touch of lacing behind

Smell: grassy, lager yeast

Taste: yeast, touch of wheat, some sweet malts, light hops, definitely grassy. nice complexity but overly grassy and doesn't balace quite right

Mouthfeel: light, crisp, refreshing.

Overall: This one doesn't do it for me. I expect a lot from Great Lakes and this one let me down a little. but hey not all year rounds can be above a 4. still nice and drinkable but much better offerings from great lakes.

Serving type: bottle

03-23-2013 00:00:41 | More by SportsandJorts

Abbbp

Texas

4/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.25

First of all, Lakes makes some dang good beers. Awesome awesome selection in Cleveland (obviously), and because I was here on a conference I couldn't help but splurge.

This and another were on tap at the hotel restaurant I was drinking at, and even though everyone else was ordering the watered down standard, I jumped on this Gold.

Head was good and foamy, decent lacing all the way down. The color was oaky burnt orange, with an old wood smell. The taste was crisp, which to me was very surprising for a Lager. Nonetheless, by the end of my time, and fifth one, I had the whole group drinking this brew. Good times, definitely a recommend, am gonna try to procure some for my journey back to Texas before I leave.

Serving type: on-tap

03-10-2013 12:56:17 | More by Abbbp

FosterJM

California

3.85/5  rDev -6.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75

1751st Review on BA
Bottle to Bavarian Lodge Tulip
12oz

Best by 3/26/13
Purchased at Binnys Forest Park, IL

App- A deep and rust colored brown with a bit of gold and amber mixed in. A lot of bubbles coming up from the nucleus on the bottom of the glass. A big and puffy 2 finger head that was pure white. A great amount of cling and lace.

Smell- A bit too grainular for me. A bit of corn intermixed with some sweet malts and then balanced out by a bit of earthy bitter hops.

Taste- A nice and crisp lager. Drinks a bit fuller than I thought. A little bit of caramel. Balanced out by some corn and a little bit of bitter hops. A nice well rounded beer with a little bit of a grassy yeast flavor.

Mouth- A bit of a creamy full medium body with a medium carbonation. A bit full and thick. A fuller corn and yeasty grassy flavor on the finish.

Drink- This was good. Im not a lager guy by any means. I enjoyed it. Full, thick and a bit malty. Great Lakes makes some good beers.

Serving type: bottle

02-22-2013 04:03:14 | More by FosterJM

TastyAdventure

Kentucky

3.28/5  rDev -20%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.5

Appearance - glowing gold around the edge with close to an extremely light amber in the middle. nice 1 and half finger head that is lacey and sticks beautifully to the glass all the way down.

Smell - nothing too special here. at first I thought it was any old lager, but upon second sniffing found a tasty lemon pasta smell.

Taste - seems like an average lighter lager, just brewed by someone who put a little more love into it. nice balance of hops. no particularly special tastes of malt detected. slight dry finish. Not a beer I would drink for the sheer enjoyment of it. Nor one I would buy a six pack of, regardless of intentions. I'd definitely take one if offered to me though!

Mouthfeel - slightly velvety smooth. very pleasurable.

Overall, an average lager with not much to offer except for the surprisingly velvety smooth mouthfeel

Serving type: bottle

02-15-2013 23:10:56 | More by TastyAdventure