Great Lakes Dortmunder Gold - Great Lakes Brewing Company

BierStein711

Illinois

4.78/5  rDev +16.6%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

This is a lucullan delight!

This is a outstanding lager! Two and a half finger head with a golden body. The carbonation is moderate, not overpowering like some carbonation.

Smells of wet grains, cereal, wheat, and alcohol.

Tastes: Wheat thins, crackers, medicinal herbs

Mouthfeel: Perfect, not watery like some lagers

Overall, this beer is a winner. Try it today!!!

Serving type: on-tap

10-15-2012 21:36:17 | More by BierStein711

kangarooAdam59

Wyoming

3.78/5  rDev -7.8%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Picked up a Great Lakes variety pack on my travels out to Michigan, here's the first one I had out of the pack:

Best by December 5:

Into a pilsener:

A: clear yellow colored body with a two finger white foamy head, a lot of nice spider web lacing left some rings around the pilsener. Some carbonation was seen rising, but ever so slowly.

S: malty with some light corn in the background and a slight breadiness came out as well.

T: brought all of these elements back and gave a slight hoppiness to it.

M: medium with a nice smooth aspect to it. Nothing felt bad on my tongue.

O: I'm impressed once I had it out of my pilsener. The first couple I had before I reviewed it I was thinking "uh-oh" not too sure about this one, but that was my fault for not having it out of a pilsener. Yes, this is solid for the style and solid for me. I would definitely have this again.

Serving type: bottle

10-15-2012 17:11:51 | More by kangarooAdam59

RescueKitty

3.7/5  rDev -9.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Had in the Cleveland airport on draft during layover. Scared to death I'd miss connector, so I had only on Great Lakes beer. Dortmunder was very clear, light amber beer with good head. nice yeasty smell. Very drinkable beer. Good balance, soft buttering, fairly clean finish. I hate I could only have one. Really wanted the Edmund Fitzgerald too. Maybe next time.

Serving type: on-tap

10-09-2012 23:18:41 | More by RescueKitty

Vixie

Illinois

3.9/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a nice clear orange-yellow color, with a bit of a white head.

Smell is very malty, with a hint of yeast.

Malty and sweet up front, it does remind me a bit of fresh bread. There is a bit of hops at the end, adding citrus and pine notes.

Nice smooth feel to it, just enough carbonation to be felt.

Not the most complex beer out there, but still has plenty of flavor. Very drinkable, the sweet malt and bitter hops are nicely balanced, nothing dominates, making for a nice easy to drink beer.

Serving type: bottle

10-08-2012 00:59:40 | More by Vixie

barczar

Kentucky

3.93/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Pours a deep caramel copper color with a half inch cream head that quickly dissipates, leaving sheets of lacing.

Bready caramel malt forms the backbone of the aroma, with floral hops closing out the finish. Notes of sweet toffee and hints of citrus add intrigue.

Flavor is slightly sweet, but bittering hops quickly add balance. The finish is dominated by toasted malt, fairly nutty and bready. There's a slight citrus undertone, and a nice floral and herbal hop presence. A cracker-like dryness at the finish keeps me wanting more.

Body is moderate, with carbonation drifting toward the high side. There's a bit of alcohol warmth that is not offputting.

Overall, a very well balanced beer, interesting in both malt and hop presence, but extremely drinkable.

Serving type: on-tap

09-29-2012 02:46:24 | More by barczar

barnzy78

Illinois

4.13/5  rDev +0.7%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

12oz bottle, pours golden with good clarity, some particulates suspended. Frothy white head holds good retention and leaves good lacing on the glass. Aromas are lager yeast, biscuit, grassy hops. Tastes are crisp and clean, biscuity, somewhat bready, grassy hop, straw, slight tartness on the finish. Mouth-feel is smooth and finishes exceptionally clean, while being lighter bodied. Overall, I love going back to this one time and time again. It's among the best in its style.

Serving type: bottle

09-14-2012 04:10:08 | More by barnzy78

jwhancher

Pennsylvania

4.45/5  rDev +8.5%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

Bought a Great Lakes variety pack during the summer. The best by date had passed, but still all the beers tasted great. This was one of my favs of the pack. Poured into a pilsner glass for review.

A: Pours a clear gold with nice foamy head. Good carbonation.

S: Bready notes with nice clean malt profile. A slight hint of malt syrup in the nose. No hop character.

T: Clean malty profile with nice upfront pilsner & seemingly munich malts. Very smooth and quite drinkable. Nice hop balance with what I'm guessing is a noble hop profile.

M: Clean, light, and very drinkable. Has a very nice balance between malt sweetness and hop bitterness.

O: An excellent beer by Great Lakes. I'm getting into this brewery's beers more & more and this one is a fine reason why.

Serving type: bottle

09-07-2012 22:21:03 | More by jwhancher

mcintire78

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev -8.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

A: Pours a pale gold to straw with a small amount of carbonation but A LOT of head. It dissipates fairly quickly, though, without much lacing.

S: Strong smells of biscuit malt.

T: Subtle malty, caramel flavors without much hop bitterness to balance it out. A tiny bit of hoppy bite at the end.

M: Very smooth, not much carbonation to speak of.

D: High drinkability, but only if you like the style. I find it a bit unbalanced, but in the right (Germany) mood, I'm sure this would hit the spot completely.

Serving type: bottle

09-01-2012 02:38:04 | More by mcintire78

Darkmagus82

Montana

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

Served on tap in a 10 0z chalice glass

Appearance – The beer is served as a golden colored beer with a two finger white head. The head fades in a few minutes to leave a nice level of lacing.

Smell – The aromas are of a biscuit malt as well as a light caramel. With these aromas is also a very light citrus hop aroma.

Taste – The flavor begins of a crisp buiscuit flavor. Soon however a light sweet honey flavor comes to the tongue. This honey flavor is rather short lived however and again is lost more toward the end as some light hoppy flavors of a citrus and floaral nature come to the tongue. These flavors bitter the beer slightly and give just a little bit of bite to the taste, leaving a rather crisp malt and lightly hopped taste on the tongue.

Mouthfeel – The body of the beer is on the average to crisper side with a carbonation that is rather average as well.

Overall – Crisp, flavorful, and easy drinking. A nice lager to go to again and again.

Serving type: on-tap

08-28-2012 00:29:56 | More by Darkmagus82

hosehead83

Ohio

4.33/5  rDev +5.6%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 4.5

Poured from a 12oz. bottle into a standard pint glass.
deep copper/gold in color, with a moderate head of bright white foam.
Aroma-Subtle Hawaiian sweet bread
Taste-Bready pilsner malt, crisp. Soft, subtle, floral hop bite, faint mineral note. Very well-balanced with lots of understated character. A perfect "entry-level" brew for those who want to get their feet wet on craft brews, without jumping into unfamiliar territory.

Serving type: bottle

08-27-2012 19:22:13 | More by hosehead83

dpasotti

Indiana

3.35/5  rDev -18.3%
look: 5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 3

They weren't kidding about the gold. This is one of the best-looking beers I've seen. Beautiful golden with a little orange hue. Decent head that leaves a lasting film and nice splotchy lace. Complex malty nose; lacks the characteristic German Pils malt presence, but has interesting notes of bready and sweet grain. Unique grape-like aroma that hints at an uncommon lager yeast strain.

This leads into a strong and distinctive white wine flavor that I find distracting. It's not a bad flavor, just unwelcome. Deep malty flavor with some caramel sweetness, but finishes on the dry side.

The body is excellent, at least medium. It manages to be refreshing and substantial at the same time. Overall it's decent, but I find the grape character takes away from what might otherwise be a very good malt-forward beer. The mouthfeel keeps this one alive. Not bad, but definitely not one of my favorites from this outstanding brewery.

Serving type: bottle

08-21-2012 00:36:19 | More by dpasotti

WastingFreetime

Wisconsin

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

Reviewed from session notes.

Poured out the expected golden color with a fairly stable two finger soapy frothy head and medium amounts of lacing on the glass. The aroma was just like smelling a handful of fresh clean malt, the flavor had some of that, but also had a kind of 'crackery' and cereal graininess to it than the nose didn't present to me. A touch of citrus and herbal hopping appears to punctuate the finish. Light and refreshing texture, medium-high carbonation levels.

This beer is similar to New Glarus's Naked in that it somehow magically manages to make a very simple and stripped down beer shine via fine-tuned balance and control of each element.

Serving type: bottle

08-20-2012 20:46:36 | More by WastingFreetime

oldirtycaffrey

Virginia

3.93/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4

Pours a bubbly, crisp, dark golden color with an inch foamy, off-white head which remains throughout. Fair amount of lacing left on the glass. The excellent smell is slightly sweet, malty with heavy hints of hops & bread, and a slight touch of citrus/fruit. The taste is excellent as well -- basically a perfect combination of crisp refreshment with solid taste and body. The finish is a little dry, but I'd consider this a really solid session beer.

Serving type: bottle

08-17-2012 19:45:59 | More by oldirtycaffrey

secondtooth

Indiana

4.03/5  rDev -1.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a clean golden, with a nice tri-finger head white carbonation. Intricate, detailed, and opulent lacing. Magnificent!

Nose is grains, barley, yeast...pure and simple. An exemplary lager.

Taste is malty up front, with grains, hops, and yeast coming in very well-balanced and quite enjoyable. Superb!

Serving type: bottle

08-17-2012 02:25:11 | More by secondtooth

Hopdaemon39

Massachusetts

3.93/5  rDev -4.1%
look: 4 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a pint glass- pours a clear golden orange color, less than a finger of head, decent retention, nice lacing. Good lookin brew.

Smell is very balanced and appealing- nice German malt sweetness, a little citrus hops to balance.

Taste is maybe not as nice but still pretty good- German malts, some lager yeast, a little citrus and dry hops. Drinks better throughout the glass. Balanced taste.

Mouthfeel is very good- medium light body, light soft carbonation. This is a very nice beer but I'm not wild about. Very drinkable though and worth trying.

Serving type: bottle

08-10-2012 02:37:15 | More by Hopdaemon39

clemtig76

South Carolina

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

Had this at the Cleveland airport waiting on my plane for home. Pours a rich, transparent amber color with a decent-sized head. Aroma is pleasantly maltly with just a touch of citrus. Lacing rimmed the glass with every sip. Really nice carbonation. Flavor is very malty with just hint of the herbal and citrsy hops. This combination makes for an incredibly balanced and highly drinkable brew. Hops flavor is clean and appropriately present. Extremely well crafted lager. I am impressed. Just wish they sold it in SC.

Serving type: on-tap

08-09-2012 18:30:37 | More by clemtig76

5lat5ive

North Carolina

3.58/5  rDev -12.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bought a Great Lakes "Taster's" 12-pack. 1/4. 12 oz bottle into a pint glass.

A - Pours a dark, deep golden yellow. mild carb. 1/4 inch head and no lacing.

S - Sweet, a bit skunky

T - Sweet grass, buttery, slight bitter, mild citrus. Maybe a bit bready and a hint on honey.

M - tongue-tingly, crisp and light-bodied, but maybe a bit heavier for the style.

O - Good lager, but I'd prefer several others over this.

Serving type: bottle

08-05-2012 23:52:08 | More by 5lat5ive

keithmurray

New York

4/5  rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 5 | overall: 4

Appearance - golden color with white head

smell - wheat, grass, touch of honey

taste - this is good, wheat, bready cracker, pale malt, touch of honey in the back

mouthfeel - medium bodied, full carbonation, slightly sweet upfront and a good balance of sweetness and slight bitterness in the finish. This is crisp and clean

overall - this is a really good lager, this is the epitome of a gateway beer and good to have on those hot days when I'm in the mood for a refreshing brew

Serving type: bottle

08-03-2012 01:27:50 | More by keithmurray

Axnjxn

North Carolina

4.1/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4

on tap at hard times in Arlington VA. Pours a dark copper color with a very attractive white head. smell is quite mild...but the taste is so refreshing. great malty and bready flavor with a distinctly pleasant aftertaste makes this one a keeper. overall can't see anyone not liking this brew.

Serving type: on-tap

08-01-2012 22:09:13 | More by Axnjxn

tobelerone

New Jersey

4.15/5  rDev +1.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5

A clear, brilliant gold beer with a half inch head that dissipates quite quickly. Thin but attractive and sticky lacing.

A fairly mild aroma; very much balanced between a bready malt note and some light floral and citrus hops. A faint but persistent honey sweetness also continues in the flavor; it 's bready, a bit toasty, and dries up a bit in the finish, which also has a late emerging floral, grassy hop bitterness. All in all its quite well-balanced and tasty. There is also a hint of fresh apple lurking about underneath everything in both the taste and aroma.

Medium bodied with very lively carbonation and a supremely crisp overall feel. A really fine, highly refreshing lager. Goes down too easy.

Serving type: bottle

07-29-2012 02:53:36 | More by tobelerone

Grohnke

Illinois

4.5/5  rDev +9.8%
look: 3.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.5 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.5

(BA / BJCP)

Very clear gold. Moussy off-white head that forms well and is extremely persistent. Light lacing.
( 3.5 / 2)

Medium light grainy sweet pils malt. Medium noble hop, lends to a floral, spicy, herbal aroma. Clean, no esters. Well balanced.
( 4.5 / 11)

Medium high toasty, sweet bread malt. Medium high noble hop flavors (same as nose). Moderately dry finish. Supporting bitterness makes the beer very well balanced. Both hops and malts have an equally prominent showing. Aftertaste is fairly hoppy and bitter, with the malt here taking a back seat. No esters, clean.
( 4.5 / 18)

Medium body, medium carbonation. No warmth, no astringency.
( 5 / 5)

Bold showcasing of toasty/bready sweet malt, and fresh noble hop flavors. Incredibly balanced. Head is a tad dark for style, and after the finish, the hop presence threw off the balance just a bit. Wonderfully smooth, easy to drink, packed with flavor.
( 4.5 / 9)

( 4.5 / 45)

Serving type: bottle

07-28-2012 20:01:32 | More by Grohnke

4DAloveofSTOUT

Illinois

3.73/5  rDev -9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4

bottle date of 7/4/12.

poured into glass stein.

Appearance: Golden bodied beer with 2 fingers of frothy white head. Spotty lace.

Smell: Mostly getting grainy malts with a touch of honey to add to the slight malty sweetness. Corn and rice hulls. Almost has a smell of a helles bock, but a bit lighter.

Taste: Nothing overwhelming for the taste. Slightly sweet grainy malts, butternilk biscuits, and some corn. Also has that "lagered" flavor to it from the middle to the end of the beer. Getting a mild bitter aftertaste thats hinting at grassy and floral. Does well to balance out the malts, but the malts seem to creep back with a mild sweet after taste of honey sweetness.

Mouthfeel: light bodied beer with moderate carbonation. Crisp and clean lager. Crazy drinkable; reach for it during the dog days of summer!

Overall: Nothing to crazy here, but it probably appropriate for the Dortmunder beer style. This is only my second beer sampled from this style. Hoptonius Union was the first and that beer was outstanding. This beer is probably truer to style. It a german lager no doubt. It reminds me of New Glarus Cabin Fever.

Serving type: bottle

07-22-2012 00:36:51 | More by 4DAloveofSTOUT

srv33

Michigan

3.88/5  rDev -5.4%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4

Pours a golden amber, bright white head with fine bubbles, good lacing. Scent of bread, light citrus, and granny smith apple. Taste is much the same, nice hop balance, with a very clean aftertaste. An interesting brew as its not quite a pilsner and not quite a lager. Thick mouthfeel for the style. A solid beer especially for the style, though not as good as the ratings suggest

Serving type: bottle

07-06-2012 21:15:18 | More by srv33

thecheapies

Pennsylvania

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

A little late on this one: Best by 06/19/12.

Pours a light amber with cascading bubbles and a coarse top of head. Lingers more than it retains.

Smells of grassy hops, husky pale malts, and skim milk. Very benevolent nose.

Prominent citrusy hops and husky cereal grains. Balances just fine. Light fruity esters play about. Notes of apricot and faint apple.

Drinks pretty easily. Sudsy/burpy carb and a medium-thin body.

I wish I had a fresher bottle to review. This is perhaps a placeholder review to be amended in the future... or maybe, this beer doesn't go downhill so quickly. As always, time will tell.

Serving type: bottle

07-03-2012 02:31:03 | More by thecheapies

williamjbauer

West Virginia

3.9/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Bottled served in a weizen glass

A - Clear golden amber with a 2 finger bubbly white head with good head retention and good lacing

S - Pilz, malt, metallic, bread, pine

T - This beer is like a pilsner for weenies like myself. It starts off with that bold dry pilsner cut but smoothly finishes with sweet malt notes rather than the harsher bitter finish of some pilsners.

M - Light body, moderately carbonated, crisp

O - Very good for the style, but I wouldn't drink this often only because I don't care for for the pilz/lager hybrid

Serving type: bottle

06-30-2012 09:08:54 | More by williamjbauer