Just because it’s lager of the week, the beer in the glass doesn’t have to be peerless or just perfect to take away to that desert island where the only thing to read is some fairy tales featuring a big man with a big beard. Sometimes it’s just going to be a lagered beer that hits the spot at the right time, which is why Flying Dog’s Old Scratch Amber Lager is this week’s lager of the week. Crisp, toasty and caramelly, I’ve always reckoned that this is a beer that might have been — unconsciously or otherwise — influenced by Brooklyn Lager. It’s amber in colour and has a scented caramel nose, while it’s dry and cracker-like on the palate, with a dry toasty finish. I do find it a trifle thin, but hey this is still a worthwhile beer to grab hold of when you want something cold and refreshing.
I don' think this was the most popular beer at the Flying Dog launch in Leeds but I enjoyed it. Sweet, aromatic but a little carbonised on the night, it left my mouth a little less refreshed than I'd have liked.
ReplyDeleteI am sure much of my downer on American lager is a product of my lager training being in Prague, before moving there from the UK I was a convinced Caffrey's and Murphy's drinker. But having said that, this sounds a little like the Gambrinus Excelent that came out a couple of years back - not spectacular, as Czech lagers go, but not awful either.
ReplyDeleteMark/Velky — it isn’t spectacular but neither is it dire, it does the business but it doesn’t inspire and enthrall me as much as the brewery’s other beers do, but as I say lager of week need not be something I gush ecstatically about.
ReplyDeleteVelky — I don’t think I ever had Caffrey’s, not through any snobbery but was never in a position where I wanted it, in fact my first smoothflow beer was Hopleaf (I think) at Farsons’ brewery in Malta,in 2007, got dreadful indigestion from it.
I didn't "discover" craft beer for myself until a couple of years back, having Bishop's Finger in Kent, visiting one of my brothers. I guess in my younger days I was a sucker for widgets, hence the Caffrey's/Murphy's and even John Smith's thing. As a student in Birmingham, I used to go to O'Neill's on Broad Street simply because of the draught Caffrey's.
ReplyDeleteWe’ve all got interesting beer pasts, I well remember being excited in the early 80s when our drummer played on an American base and bought out some Budweiser…
ReplyDeleteMy first experience of Budweiser was a kid when American Football was insanely popular in the UK, mid 80s I think. My dad let us stay up to watch the Super Bowl and he had a case of Budweiser. My mum was horrified at him letting my 11 year old self and 10 year old brother try beer, but as he said "it isn't beer, it's Budweiser"
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember that the rice was an attraction…
ReplyDeleteThis was our beer of last summer -- great swigged from the bottle at a barbecue and goes with pretty much any food. Not the most exciting brew in the world but far from bland.
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