On tap at Ambulance, easygoing Dortmunder lager retains crisp pilsner-like pale malt setting as tingly lemon hop spicing and light herbal musk gain slight honey tinge. Best of class for valiant lightweights.
On tap at Ginger Man, lightly creamed helles-styed lager brings doughy corn flouring to mild grassy-hopped easement and fizzy Seltzer-watered steam. Lemony maize dryness and milky rice-like neutrality provide minor detail to dankly grained moderation.
Long-time Virginia brewery specializes in midrange medium-bodied ales like this golden-cleared German-styled pale lager. Reedy earthen hops and caramel-roasted barleymalts pick up vegetal astringency by honeyed rye finish. Diacetyl buttering is a drawback. Nevertheless, one of the better Dortmunder knockoffs.
On tap, robust Dortmunder-styled Bavarian lager with billowy white-headed yellow-bellied dry body reveals earthen peat fungi soiling not unlike a proper English Extra Special Bitter. Wheat-cracked barley-corned graining comforts moderate wood-dried grassy-hopped bittering and teasing citric twang to toasted bread base.
Blah pale appearance, dank malt aroma, and slim flat head not redeemed by soapy phenol sourness. Soft-grained flow lacks full-bodied German traits, finishing thin, plain, and watery.
Uneventful lower-rung pale-toned Eastern Euro tedium with skunked malt musk, mossy barley-oats-corn easement, and dry popcorn hop fizz flops, befouling grassy hay backdrop of rudimentary dortmunder styling.
Less fruit-hopped version of Great Lakes Pale Ale more reliant on roasted caramel malts, soft earthen grains, and gently crisp carbonation. Simple, refreshing, but in need of veritable up-front lemony zest.