Great Lakes Imperial Dortmunder - 20th Anniversary Beer
An imperial golden lager balanced between malt sweetness and dry hop flavors, yet darker in color and richer in finish.
3.3
201 reviews
Cleveland, United States
Community reviews
The pour is deep golden with a small bublle off white head. The aroma is citrusy hops. The flavor is deep hops, with only slight citrus and pine overtones. The finish is long syrupy. The beer is full bodied, but highly carbonated. A good beer, but I guess I was hoping form more from GL.
Slight lemon, flower, and fruit juice and vanilla cake aromas. Slightly opaque golden yellow body with decent off white head. Flavor is malty, with some bisquit, some light citrus, slight cheesy yeast flavors, and slightly bitter finish with a good sweet balance. Palate is even with a bread like duration and with a slight fruity and spicy finish. Pretty good and drinkable would pair well with food.
Didn’t realize i hadn’t rated this one yet. Love to see GL trying something new. Nicely hopped, thick palate/mouthfeel. Although the alcohol isn’t very present, Something about the flavor leads me to believe this one is more than 7.5. Could be that its slightly over-malted. I really enjoyed this beer. Gotta love great lakes.
Orange with a large frothy medium taupe head that fades away slowly. Aroma of earthy hops, pale malt, dough and a bit of must. Taste is of bready malt, toffee, earthy hops, sugar and a hint of dust. Finishes up earthy, dry and peppy with some alcohol evaporation noticeable on the tongue.
Bottle (11/8/08): Transparent deep golden brass color with a thin wispy fizzy white head. Aroma of sweet pale malt and lots of earthy, slightly citrusy noble hops with a heavy lager yeasty presence. Starts fairly full and malty sweet with some grapefruity flavoring and bittering hops before a drier bittersweet finish. An ok hoppy dortmunder but a style that probably shouldn’t be imperialized.
Bottle from Shigadeyo. Pours amber with a white head. Lagery aroma with some notes of alcohol and European hops. Medium bodied with a smooth texture. Flavor of bread, cereal grains, biscuit, and a hint of toffee countered by a spicy and peppery hop bite that carries through to the finish. Ok. Not as good as the regular.
Golden color with a sweet malt-liquorish aroma. Glavor has a mix between corn syrup and malt liquor. Yuck.
Extra from trade with adamharbaugh. Pours a fizzy honey gold with cream-colored head. Lots of effervescence as it settles out. Nose is corn, sweet malt, and a slightly noticeable hop presence. Flavor is some malt and sweet corn with lots of somewhat crisp, lagery flavor. Finishes somewhat clean with lager and hop flavor as the glass is covered with lace by now. Not a bad lager.
Pours a cloudy amber orange with small head which settles to rim. Aroma is oranges, bread, floral notes, and hops. Taste is sweet bread, honey, grass, with a good amount of hop bitterness in the finish. Alcohol is definitely noticeable.
12 oz bottle from Premier Gourmet. Pours light coppery colour, with almost pale yellow coloured head, which did not dissiptate quickly at all. Nice floral aroma. Nicely balanced flavour, with faint alcohol taste. Little bit cloudy
Bottle from Archer Liquors. Amber copper color with a frothy off-white head. Bready aroma with some definite noble hop. Medium body with frothy carbonation. Flavor is a bit pale malty sweet with not quite enough hop to balance. Definitely finishes less than dry. The non-Imperial Dortmunder is definitely much hoppier. That aside, this is a rather pleasant drink. Somewhat reminiscent of a Belgian ale! Trust me.
12 oz. bottle. Pours a clear golden color with a small off white head. The aroma is biscuity malt, bread, a hint of fruit, and light floral hops. The flavor is biscuity malt, light citrus, light floral hops, and bread with a little spice. The finish is only slightly bitter. Decent drinking beer.
Bottle courtesy of Styles. Aroma of corn and wheat more like a lager of sorts. Dark golden body with white disipating head. Flavor had a thicker body malt presence with the wheat flavor most dectectable. Easy on the palate with out a strong spicey bittering. Thanks, Chris
Bottle… Mostly clear yellow lager with a small, creamy, white head. Decent retention. Toffee, biscuit and grain aroma with a hint of lactic acid. Full-bodied with a heavy-cream mouthfeel and prickly carbonation. The flavor is remarkably well-balanced. Big time toffee and biscuit sweetness up front; followed closely by solid, minerally/grassy bitterness and a touch of acidity. Crisp, gently bitter finish. Bottle provided by Kevin Berry!
Quite a massive pils malt aroma for a lager with explosive bread in the nose, stuffy dough. Frankly, it does not promise to be too complex from the nose, but the aromas which are there are well presented, including a gentle grassiness from beautiful noble hops. In mouth though, you must be into sugariness to enjoy this as honeyed bread syrup dominates the portrait. It is very sweet, but thankfully fresh enough to remain drinkable. On the other hand, the fair alcohol presence detracts and you quickly wonder what’s the purpose for that beer which is more or less like drinking 3 diet cokes because they contain 1/3 the calories.
Pours golden with a fizzy white head. Heavy carbonation. Aroma is of cheap malt, spice, grain, and grass. Taste is really weak malt, spice, citrus, grain, and slight hops. Tastes earthy in a very bad way. Alcohol presence is not noticable. Not a good beer by any means.
12 oz draft courtesy of Cardinal Liquors Singles Cooler (Frankfort, IL). Pours a really lightly hazed golden hue with a touch of orange and a moderate whit bubbly head that dissipates down to a small layer. Aromas are largely pilsner malt, a touch of funk and stink mixed with light European bittering hops and a nice graininess. Mediocre. Lacking hoppy presence. Initial is a touch strong on the alcohol, bitter up front with some pilsner malt action and alcohol. Finishes grainy and malty, with a subtle sweetness that smooths out the initial bitter that wasn’t very pleasant. Ehhh. Not a good tribute to 20 years.
Clear golden pour with a creamy white head. Malt, some floral/citrus hop, bready aroma. Flavor is similar, dominated by a bready malt. The hops really seem to have a tough time coming through. A fair amount of carbonation bordering on creamy. Finish pretty clean/dry. This is drinkable, but I think the regular dortmunder is better.
Bottle 12fl.oz.
Clear medium orange color with a average to large, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, bread, toasted, light to moderate hoppy, orange, citrus. Flavor is moderate to light heavy sweet and bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20081004]
Clear medium orange color with a average to large, frothy, good lacing, mostly lasting, off-white head. Aroma is moderate malty, bread, toasted, light to moderate hoppy, orange, citrus. Flavor is moderate to light heavy sweet and bitter with a average to long duration. Body is medium, texture is oily, carbonation is soft. [20081004]
12oz bottle: Solid gold pour with a solid cap of white foam. Strong aroma of dough, caramel corn and ether. More defined malts in the body - almost rye like with notes of baked bread, toffee. Hoppiness comes forth to balance the sweetness. Finishes surprisingly dry for such a malty beer.
Way too lagery. Flavor of the lager yeast was too prevalent. Hop flavor was underplayed, malt sweetness overwhelmed the beer.Not too impressed overall.
Way too lagery. Flavor of the lager yeast was too prevalent. Hop flavor was underplayed, malt sweetness overwhelmed the beer.Not too impressed overall.
Bottle at home thanks to jsquire for this one ... crisp bright amber ... sweet grassy floral hop nose ... again sweet little caramel ... some candy suger ....fruity ... almost syrupy mouthfeel ... medium body medium carbonation.
Bottle courtesy of my brother. Clear, deep amber/gold body under a smallish off white head. Spicy and floral character over a honey like base aroma. Smooth and creamy, a little thick feeling, but medium body. Fairly sweet caramel flavors take charge and do not let go, even as a spicy bitterness attempts to come through. I liked it, although it suffers the fate of many quality lagers that attempt to go to the level of "Imperial" status. They become to malt heavy and sweet. GL Dortmunder is a classic, this one more commonplace.
Not much of an aroma to this. Bronze with very light head. Strong caramel malts with a hoppy undertone. Interesting idea and worth a try. It is an excellent compliment to the Great Lakes Dortmunder, but not somehting for mass release.
In short: A overly sweet golden lager. Disappointing
How: Bottles 12oz, consumed fresh soon after purchase. Tasting session with Montreal crew
The look: Clear dark golden body topped by a white ring of foam
In long: Nose of sweet pineapples. Taste is toasted bread with a lot of sugary honey. The honey flavour felt sugary like old honey turning into sugar. Light fruity notes of ripe fruit salad. Body and carbonation are comfortable. Hops are on the floral side and add a flower juice element but not much dryness/bitterness to balance out the excessive sweetness. Long after-taste of honeyed flowers. Not a bad beer but I much prefer a smaller and more drinkable regular Dortmunder. Lagers and oil rich countries are two things Americans are failing miserably to imperialize.
How: Bottles 12oz, consumed fresh soon after purchase. Tasting session with Montreal crew
The look: Clear dark golden body topped by a white ring of foam
In long: Nose of sweet pineapples. Taste is toasted bread with a lot of sugary honey. The honey flavour felt sugary like old honey turning into sugar. Light fruity notes of ripe fruit salad. Body and carbonation are comfortable. Hops are on the floral side and add a flower juice element but not much dryness/bitterness to balance out the excessive sweetness. Long after-taste of honeyed flowers. Not a bad beer but I much prefer a smaller and more drinkable regular Dortmunder. Lagers and oil rich countries are two things Americans are failing miserably to imperialize.
Bottle. Clear, golden body with frothy off-white head that is mostly diminishing. Fruity sweet aroma of apricot jelly with notes of grain, caramel and alcohol. The flavor is moderately sweet and lightly to moderately bitter. Dry, bitter finish with notes of peppery alcohol. Medium body with a smooth texture and somewhat muted carbonation. The extra hop presence is nice, but the alcohol is too forward. The dortmunder gold is preferable.
Bottle 355ml,
Appearance: light amber with hint if gold. Large, presentable large mid dense cream tanned crown. Carbo sparkle at base. 4-
Aroma: Solid nose. Balanced blend of golden malts with grassy, citric hops. Crisp and refreshing in short. 7+
Flavour/Palate: medium bodied, slightly oily, smooth and clean. Lighter pale malts noted frontally, toasty bready character of pale bock followed. Slight bitterness sitting on top but that was only frontal as well. Alcohol well build in. carbonation level was fairly low for style. Imperial Dortmunder reminded me of better Mocnes but with dry hop feel to it. Highly recommended.
Bottle courtesy of CrazyMacHarris99 poured into a pint glass.
Pours a crystal clear golden orange with a small off-white head that dissipates quickly to a small ring. A few bubbles rise to the top and the lacing is minimal.
Toasted malts are the most dominant aroma with only hints of grassy hops. Bread also plays a big role in the aroma.
The taste has a hoppy tingle up front before being taken over by the bready malts. The toasted character lingers throughout the finish and between sips.
The mouthfeel is medium to full bodied for the style with decent carbonation and fairly sticky.
I don’t have a lot of experience with this style but definitely enjoyed this one. Might have to check out a few other dortmunders for comparison.
Bottle. Pours almost a golden tan. Head is a little soft. Smells very malty and some hops in there, too. Tastes very strong, a little too much malts for me. The flavor is corny, grainy, but sort of balanced by the hops. Not too bad.