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J.W.
Rated 9.12 by 119 Beer Drinkers.
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Come Home to a Honey of a Beer
By Belly Buddy Mark Stevens
At a Glance:
Beer: JW Dundee's Honey Brown Lager Pros: Soft, smooth body with a delicately complex sweet flavor. Cons: Not sold everywhere. The Bottom Line: It may not be a high-brow beer in the eyes of most cognoscienti, but I think it's one of the finest beers from any mainstream U.S. brewery. Recommended: Yes.
About four years ago, I used to drink a lot of J.W. Dundee's Honey Brown. Not so much because I thought it was a great brew, but because I was a big fan of the Hagerstown Suns (Sallie League, Toronto Blue Jays single-A team). I didn't have a lot of choices at Municipal Stadium. It was basically Labatts Ice, Bud, or Dundees. The first two are basically unpotable swill, so process of elimination means I was drinking a lot of Dundees. And so I was. (Especially on Thursdays -- 2-for-1 beer night!)
Well, it's been at least four years since my last Suns game, and it's also been that long since my last Dundees. At least it was up until last Friday night, when I cruised over to the Pizza Roma in West Houston with a couple buds from work. Pizza Roma serves some great New York style pizzas, but they aren't exactly a haven for fine drinking (though they do always have at least a couple micro-brewed beers on tap). Last Friday, they had a promo going on Dundee's -- order up a pint and keep the glass. Thanks guys! I now have a fine set of 4 brand spanking new Dundee's glasses!
A Tall Cool Glass of J.W. Dundee's... The beer is being served up in the usual bar mixer glass that Americans refer to as "pint" glasses. It's a nice glass that really shows off most craft beers to good advantage.
Appearance: What a beautiful pint!
What I love most about J.W. Dundee's is that it has a lighter, more delicate conditioning than you find in most standard U.S. lager beers. There's not a huge head on this, in fact, if it weren't for the steady stream of fine bubbles steadily marching their way from the bottom of the glass to the surface, I might almost think the beer were flat. But it's not. Nor is it just the way the pint is being poured at this bar -- most of the pints of J.W. Dundee that I've had have been like this.
The beer is brilliantly clear and it has a light amber color with some light orange hues.
Aroma: Light malty smell with some toffee notes, and maybe even a light hint of brown sugar. The smell is sweet, but it never really strikes me as definitely and incontrovertibly "honey". It's really closer to the smell of one of those Heath toffee bars.
Flavor: Sweet and malty with a very light toasty character and a delicate honey flavor that hangs at the back of my palate, almost out of reach. I think this is an extremely well done honey beer because the honey doesn't dominate, like it would in a mead, but rather it augments and adds to the complexity of the underlying light brown lager.
You don't really hear many brewers call their beers "brown lager", but this beer shares a lot in common with the English brown ale style, with its soft sweet malt body with just enough hops to keep the beer balanced.
The most remarkable thing about J.W. Dundee's Honey Brown isn't so much the flavor per se, it's the body! This is an incredibly smooth feeling and smooth tasting beer. It's soft. It's delicate. It's sweet. It just glides across my tongue like few other beers can glide.
Verdict: I know that a lot of my geekiest beer geek brethren will disagree with me on this, but in my opinion, J.W. Dundee's Honey Brown is one of the finest mainstream lagers sold in the United States. I like that it breaks the mold of what mainstream beer should be on every single front -- it has color, it has malt flavor, it has a distinctive twist with the honey addition, it has character, and it has individuality. But most important, it has honest to goodness flavor, and in my honest opinion, that's the kind of beer America needs!
Until next time, see you at the pub. No telling what I'll be sampling...
Price per six-pack ($US): 5
Rated 9.12 by 119 Beer Drinkers.
Add Your Own Comment There are 102 Drinker Comments - Last 10 Displayed
10camHello» Great Beer! Used to drink all the time in NJ - just found in CA. Best of the crap beers, worst of the good beers. Excellent!! 0Beer Lover» Not new in Illinois... Been here for years. How come people still but it? 11Helmut Hizer» I took a case of JW Dundee Honey Brown to a reenacting event and shared it. Six months later I went to another event with the same reenactors, and I swear they all had cases of it in their tents. Best beer ever in my opinion. 10rokndady» Nice and smooth, I love this beer. Fantastic for the price. Why don't I drink more of this? Probably a marketing thing... 9MemZar» excellent beer ... has a clean, slighty sweet taste that is never bitter. i can buy it locally for seven dollars a 12 pack in cans. discovered this beer about 3 yrs ago. have been a loyal customer since ! :) 7Homebrew» This is my father-in-law's favorite beer, so I'm making him a clone of it. Except I made it as an Ale, not a Lager. we'll see how it turns out! 11chris» prob one of the best beers i'v ever had 6dabeardrinker» im drinking one right now and i think it tastes like bud lite. and i know my beer. besides new york cant compete with chicago brands such as goose island. 11scott» This baby evens tastes good coming up. 10Bethany in TN» This beer is my new favorite.
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