Saranac Dry Hop Lager - Matt Brewing Company

GarthDanielson

New Hampshire

3.43/5  rDev 0%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a bottle into a tumbler pint, the beer is a bright, copper-brown coloring with a thin, filmy, bright white head. Clean and crisp on the pour. Aromas of honey sweet, floral highlights, and a subtle, peppery hopping. Very clean and crisp in mouth, with a mid-bodied that is a little more full than a typical lager, but suits the palate of this brew. Roasty, with buttery overtones and a floral ribbon throughout. Light and smooth. Hoppy character comes through in the aftertaste, with a peppery and bitter profile that cleans everything up, leaving only a hint of honey sweetness behind. Slight effervescence continues clean-up patrol, giving the beer a light, crisp, clean finish. Tasty brew.

Serving type: bottle

03-12-2013 23:28:16 | More by GarthDanielson

WesWes

New York

3.71/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 3.75

The beer pours a beautiful golden color with a thick frothy white head that slowly fades to lacing. The aroma is decent. It has a bone dry pilsner malt scent along with a touch of bitter hops. There is a slight bready aroma as well as a hint of yeast esters. The taste is good. It's a full bodied lager with excellent mouthfeel and a nice bitter hop flavor. This isn't your typical fizzy macro lager. The malt flavor adds a good deal of balance and taste. This is a very enjoyable American lager. It's not light on malt or hop character.

Serving type: bottle

06-09-2013 22:22:50 | More by WesWes

Johnnyv310

New York

4/5  rDev +16.6%

05-30-2013 05:31:26 | More by Johnnyv310

nebula1999

Connecticut

3.25/5  rDev -5.2%

05-26-2013 23:22:23 | More by nebula1999

CHickman

New York

3.18/5  rDev -7.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

Pours clear copper color with a thick 3 finger foamy beige head that faded slowly with tons of all different sized bubbles in the head, leaving decent foamy lacing.

Smells of toffee, roasted grains, smoked malts, herbs, toasted wheat like a crisp and almost burnt cracker, and some floral hops. Not the hop profile I was expecting, and yet not smelling like a typical lager either – kind of strange overall.

Tastes malty up front, with caramel, grains, sweet malt and toast or a burnt biscuit followed by a wave of hops which have a mix of lemon, piney hops, floral hops, tea leaf, herbs, and light spices like coriander and pepper. The malt sweetness overpowers the hops mentioned on the label and the bitterness is minor, yet somehow this beer seems balanced from the malt and hop union.

Mouthfeel is smooth, with a medium body, very mellow carbonation, and a smoky finish which I assume is from the malts.

Good for a new beer as part of the Saranac variety pack, but the weak hops presence overall would deter me from buying a six pack of this. Good thought and attempt to create an exciting hybrid, but the execution in brewing missed that mark and disappointed me overall since there was no major hop elements to this beer besides the name.

Serving type: bottle

05-23-2013 04:40:17 | More by CHickman

ZEB89

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev -12.5%

05-22-2013 22:39:12 | More by ZEB89

yaksurf

North Carolina

3/5  rDev -12.5%

05-20-2013 20:30:33 | More by yaksurf

Dizzy242

Massachusetts

3.75/5  rDev +9.3%

05-16-2013 23:57:48 | More by Dizzy242

OldhouseRecs

North Carolina

3.5/5  rDev +2%

05-12-2013 00:20:39 | More by OldhouseRecs

FrankShirley

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev +2%

05-02-2013 17:22:54 | More by FrankShirley

MichaelProcton

North Carolina

3.25/5  rDev -5.2%

04-22-2013 04:28:59 | More by MichaelProcton

dhep16

Pennsylvania

3.25/5  rDev -5.2%

04-20-2013 02:48:48 | More by dhep16

CraftBeerTastic

Pennsylvania

3.3/5  rDev -3.8%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.25

Ba Review #270
Served On: 4/19/2013
Glassware: Tumbler Pint
Labeled ABV: -
Date/ Code: 07/30/2013

From the 2013 spring mixed 12 pack from Saranac found at Evergreen Liquors in Frederick.

Look: Super clear bronze color with a thin layer of beige foam that produced some sticky lacing on the glass. Carbonation bubbles were very active and continuous.

Smell: Burnt toast and some grassy hopps. A heavy wet basement character was also there. Malts were forward and hops seemed to occasionally come through Despite this off-putting description, the aroma was rather pleasant and unique.

Taste: Upfront were semisweet malts and then grassy and citrus hop notes that made up the middle. The finish has some pine and citrus. The lager qualities were hard to detect. This beer actually drank more like the Big Moose or even the regular Saranac Pale Ale.

Serving type: bottle

04-19-2013 16:53:48 | More by CraftBeerTastic

DoubleMalt

New York

3.5/5  rDev +2%

04-16-2013 21:20:58 | More by DoubleMalt

Hophead420

Maryland

3.25/5  rDev -5.2%

04-11-2013 04:31:45 | More by Hophead420

fx20736

New York

3.54/5  rDev +3.2%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5

Bought as part of Saranac's Spring variety pack on 4/6/13 for $ 8.77.

poured from a 12 oz bottle into a mug, served at fridge temp.

appearance: light orange with a thin white head that quickly disappears and leaves no lacing.

aroma: lovely noble hoppiness overlays a faint caramel maltiness.

mouthfeel: average, not thin.

taste: broad maltiness gives way to a nicely balanced hoppiness. a slight soapiness on the finish.

notes: decent, tasty, drinkable beer.

Serving type: bottle

04-07-2013 13:30:28 | More by fx20736

bluntedboywonder

New York

3.5/5  rDev +2%

04-03-2013 00:47:33 | More by bluntedboywonder

WDJersey

New Jersey

3.5/5  rDev +2%

03-23-2013 04:27:11 | More by WDJersey

RyFikes

New York

3.75/5  rDev +9.3%

03-23-2013 02:56:06 | More by RyFikes

BigPlay1824

New York

3.44/5  rDev +0.3%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.5

Served in a Pilsner Glass

A: pours a crystal clear deep golden color with a very small amount of carbonation bubbles working their way to the top to support a one inch head of very fine bubbled off white colored head that lingers nicely, leaves pretty good lacing across the glass
S: very clean scent, mostly of fresh wheat, reminds me of a cereal that i used to have as a kid but i cant remember the name, possible slight earthiness in the finish but i may just be imagining that
T: begins with a nice gentle toasty wheat note then moves into a really nice American pale ale like taste with a nice fresh hope note and bitterness, a very two-tier taste which is interesting and yet segmented
M: gentle and yet fine carbonation tingle, smooth across the palate, slightly astringent leaves the mouth just a bit dry, really smooth as it should be
O: a really well balanced and yet diverse beer, i really love the hop bitterness and think it brings a really nice dimension to this brew which otherwise may be very bland, quite happy with this offering from the folks at FX Matt

Serving type: bottle

03-22-2013 21:11:50 | More by BigPlay1824

TEAMHOLT

North Carolina

4.5/5  rDev +31.2%

03-16-2013 03:29:32 | More by TEAMHOLT

marlinsfan4

Maryland

3.5/5  rDev +2%

03-11-2013 01:09:37 | More by marlinsfan4

Utica_Brew_Review

New York

2.41/5  rDev -29.7%
look: 3.25 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.75

Golden copper color with decent head. Earthy, herbal hoppy aroma with parsley and rosebush notes. Aroma continues into tasting with spicy herbal, citrus and hoppy notes. The real flavor of the hops comes through. Dry. The sweetness of the alcohol shows. Name of the beer hits it spot on. We really dislike it. Kind of reminds us of a meat and vegetable stew in a beer. Finishes with more alcohol and bitterness.

Serving type: bottle

03-05-2013 04:13:32 | More by Utica_Brew_Review

vicg12

New York

3.53/5  rDev +2.9%
look: 4.25 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.5

Nice hop aroma right away. Two figner head, burnt orange color. I was very interested to try this beer, a dry hopped lager, with tons of hops. Just sounds mighty interesting, and it was just that, interesting, and not much more. You definitely get the hops, but it just doesn't mix right with the lagering, it's not terrible but it's definitely not "good", it's decent. Other than the hops used, it really is a totally different taste than an ale. It's worth a try for something different, I recommend the Saranac 12 Beers A Springing mix-pack they have out right now because you get some other really great beers along with this one.

Serving type: bottle

03-02-2013 03:46:09 | More by vicg12

AmitC

Indiana

3.59/5  rDev +4.7%
look: 4.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5

Poured from a 12 oz bottle into a snifter.

Light amber color. One finger thick head that fades slowly. Excellent lacing. Clear and transparent.

Aroma is filled with grains and malts. Some typical Saranac used hops. Very blunt yet unlikable hop profile. Strength is moderate to good.

Taste is a lot like its Pale ale counterpart. Very hop forward. But hops are all very weird and different from typical citrus, flowery, resiny hops. Taste is more of what is imparted by Nobel hops. A good amount of malt presence. Only the slight graininess tell it is a lager else it is very difficult to differentiate from their pale ale. Slightly tilting bitterness. Overall finish is malt-bitter. and dry.

Mouth feel is medium to slightly light. Smooth and moderate carbonation.

Serving type: bottle

02-28-2013 00:03:10 | More by AmitC