David Brockington's Tasting Notebook

Dominion Lager

This beer arrived at my house from a good friend on the other coast a couple of months ago. When I received it, it had been in the bottle for roughly two weeks. Upon hanging out at home, it was spent under refrigeration (in a fridge that doesn't see a lot of light) the entire time prior to drinking. The bottling date was February 28, 1994, and it was reviewed on May 28. Three months in the bottle, so sprinkle this lightly with salt. However, I didn't detect any flaws due-to old age or poor handing.

Initial Impressions:

Like the other Dominion products I have had the pleasure of trying, this one came packaged in a fairly standard 12-ounce longneck brown bottle. Like the Ale, the Lager lacks any style definitions on the bottle -- it simply claims to be a lager. This, of course, opens up a wide range of beers which could possibly find their way into this bottle, from a strong and flavorful Dopplebock to a relatively unappealing American Light Lager. Hence, I'll review it as a "Lager," with my only style expectations being a crisp, clean beer highlighting the basic components: malt and hops. I ought not find any esters, phenolics, or diacetyl.

The beer poured a quickly-forming white head which exhibited nice retention and a most excellent lacework. The beer in the glass was brilliantly crystal clear; this was one of the best examples of clarity I have come across in a while. The color was a pale blonde -- almost, but not quite straw. As a matter of comparison, it was lighter than a bohemian pilsner such as Urquell.

Nose:

The nose was predominated by a wonderful flowery hoppiness. In the background of the nose, teasing, was the malt. There was possibly a hint of DMS in the nose as well, although those of us tasting the beer could not agree on this.

Flavor:

The flavor was strikingly nondescript. It was relatively light bodied, certainly less so than a Pilsner Urquell, with possibly the same mouthfeel as a German pils. I had a hard time constructing a flavor-flow for this beer, because there was little of everything. It was a very clean beer, however, and I suspect that even the slightest of faults would have come through with glaring efficiency. The balance was right on between the malt and the hops, which must have been a tough job as well considering the paucity of flavors. As it warmed into the mid fifties (F) the malt flavors came through a little better, as one would expect, but it would have been nice to have seen them in the beginning.

Final Analysis:

I suspect an attempt at a Scandinavian Pilsner or a Munich Helles, although I could be completely loopy on that. It compares extremely favorably to the standard North American lagers, but it is certainly a lawnmower beer amongst the craft-brewing community. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, however, and it was very clean and well balanced. There wasn't even a hint of the typical ale by-products such as esters or diacetyl, which means their lager brewing techniques are well refined. This is still a rare thing amongst the microbreweries in North America.

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Next Up:

Dominion Stout
Dominion Millennium
Copyright 1994 by David Brockington, all rights reserved

David Brockington, Seattle, USA
bronyaur@u.washington.edu