Dugges Ale & Porterbryggeri from Gothenburg is arguably the coolest of the new generation of Swedish microbreweries. With their eye-catching ‘Miami’ coloured bottle labels and tongue-in-cheek brand names Dugges have always succeeded in making their beers look good as well as taste great.
I’ve personally had more than one enjoyable session at the Stockholm Beer Festival propped up against their stand, when it was all High Fives, me talking a lot of bollox and then leaving feeling a bit of an idjit.
Dugges was early to embrace American hops in its beers, creating a succession of innovative and generally well received beers. They’re largely responsible for making Swedish beers fun again, creating a buzz based on humour but with very serious beers to back their micro-message up.
I say all this as a precursor to what’s coming next because I really like Dugges. Really I do.
But I don’t like their Spring Beer Lager.
It wasn’t that long before things started going wrong. When I poured the beer into the glass I noticed it was a rather cloudy pale copper colour with a thin slightly yellow head – strange for a premium lager I thought. The first line in my notebook reads: ”Is this beer ok?”
I was partially reassured by mild hoppy smells of grass and orange but they were muted by something else unpleasant and yeasty. In the mouth things went from bad to worse. The body is quite thin, with some initial malty sweetness followed by a short-lived bitter finish. The third line of my notebook reads: ”where are the hops?”
It all culminated with the strong taste impression of wet paper, a classic tell-tale sign of oxidized beer, which leads me to wonder if I stumbled upon a dud bottle. I hope it was, because this beer was stale and dull and Dugges is normally anything but.
So take this review at face value with a disclaimer that I may not have experienced Dugges Spring Beer at its best. I’d be very interested to hear what you all thought of it and will revisit it again to see whether I was just unlucky this time. If I was then forget all of the above, or as Dugges themselves would probably say, Never Mind the Bollox!
Dugges Spring Beer Lager
A Premium Lager
4.7% ABV
Systembolaget Article Number: 1479
Drank the same beer yesterday and i got little better imprecision of it, but you’re right, it was a little dull for Dugges. When I drank it, it felt more like drinking a pale ale or something similar then a lager. So to others, don’t think that you will get a typical lager when you buy it.
Don’t think I will run to SB to buy more of it, but I think it’s a beer well worth testing.
My thought exactly
I am still wondering how the guys at the brewery could be satisfied with the result….
I am still wondering if there was something wrong with mine.. I didn’t taste any hops at all
I’m not that impressed either, but the fact that it might have been oxidized might have to do with the problems that they had during a period not to long ago. Working in the detergent business I should perhaps give them some tips…
I’m having one right now and thought I’d check it out on the web. I too though I must have had a bad bottle, but apparently not so. I too think this is a pretty terrible beer. Oh, and why do Bolaget carry *this* beer? Really?
First, it’s really cloudy and overall more a Pale Ale than a lager. Too much caramel malt and too little lagering. It’s also pretty yeasty and has a somewhat nasty smell.
Second, as noted in some other comments here, the rather obvious cardboard note is a typical sign your beer process hasn’t been what you would want it to be. Yet, I’m not quite sure it’s oxidation or if that’s a result of the bittering hops (?) Cardboard it is, anyhow.
Third, finishing hops, anyone?
All in all, a pretty awful beer. Most first-time home brewers will make a better beer.
I resent all that’s written above. Dugges Spring beer is magical. My spring beer wasn’t at all cloudy and tasted like a lager should taste.. in a perfect world. It was full of hops and had a faboulus fresh taste. Dugges Always steps up to the plate delivering High quality ale and Lager.
A lager is what the brewer makes it!
I think a batch of bottles must have been bad. I also had a bad experience with this beer with lots of earth and cardboard. What Danne described is basically what I got. I have bought a second bottle to give it a another try.