Beer Review: Detroit Brewing Co. Detroit Lager

I purchased a bottle of Detroit Brewing Co. Detroit Lager at my local Oade's liquor store. Oade's is a small franchise of liquor stores in the greater Lansing, MI area, specializing in craft beers and hard-to-find drinks ($250 whiskey anyone?). This particular beer was about $2 for a 12 oz. bottle, purchased singly as part of a mixed 6-pack. [Expect more reviews soon!]

This is the description from the Detroit Beer Co. website: Brewed in the Bohemian Tradition, this deep golden lager exhibits a bold yet balanced hop profile due to the use of premium Czech Saaz hops. We us the finest Moravian two row barley to give Detroit Lager its signature crisp, yet surprisingly full body. Our deliberate fermentation process and rigorous quality control ensure the freshest, most authentic pilsner style lager possible.

In typical lager fashion, this beer is full-flavored and well-balanced. Like their description notes, it is rather authentic.

While pouring the Detroit Lager, the head was high and frothy, taking up about 2 1/2 inches of the mug, and nicely doming over the top. It makes for a rather picturesque beer, light golden yellow, but not watery.

The initial reaction to the flavor I had was to the hops. The hops adds a pleasant bitterness to an otherwise sweet beer. This is really just a two-note flavor, but pleasant through and through.
The aroma is faint, but unfortunately a rather generic-beer smell. No need for a special pilsner mug, there isn't much there to enhance.

I will definitely buy this beer again, it's pretty solid, yet light. I'd like to try this one with some fruit or something salty.

Beer Lingo: Linguistic History of some of your Favorite Expressions

Ever wonder where some of those drinking terms come from?
Follow this link, and expand your drinking vocabulary!

Beer Product: Beer Tap T-Shirt

Ever gotten up to go to the fridge, grabbed a beer and sat back down -- only to realize you left your bottle opener in the kitchen?
Well, no more!

Find this at Deez Teez.

-Sandy

Beer Lingo: "Growler"

If you go in to any brewpub where they brew their own beer, oftentimes on the drink menu you will see several sizes: pint, mug, pitcher, growler and keg (of various sizes). One of the most common questions people ask me regarding these vessels is "What's a growler?"

The dictionary defines a growler as: a pitcher, pail, or other container brought by a customer for beer.

Many brewpubs carry their own growlers printed with their logos, so you can show all your friends where you got their delicious beer.
The most common growlers are jugs made of clear glass, with a small handle and small mouth. Sizes can range anywhere from a half-gallon to a gallon.
The bartender should wash and sanitize each jug before filling. Once filled, they put on the cap, usually metal, and may or may not use some sort of tape to seal the growler air-tight.
Oftentimes their will be two separate prices for a growler of beer -- the price for the jug itself (a deposit) and the price for the beer to fill it. You will not have to pay a deposit for a growler if you reuse the same one over and over. It is best to thoroughly wash your growler with hot-soapy water before-hand, but the bars will sometimes also wash/sanitize your growler again for you before filling.
Remember to keep your beer cold at all times! And it is best to consume the whole growler within 72 hours (3 days). But depending on conditions, your beer may stay good for up to two weeks, if kept quite cold and sealed very tight.

Cheers!

-Sandy

Beer Event: Ypsilanti Summer Beer Festival

For Highlights on this event, and Michigan craft beers, please follow this link to the Promote Michigan Blog