DuClaw "Regular Beer" American Lager

My last DuClaw was good, but the thing that attracted me to this beer was the simple can. The generic-looking label reminds me a lot of the Emergency Beer that I quite liked. While the label skirts very close to hipster, it is just real enough to get a thumbs up from me. Take your labels in a funny direction as long as you take your beer seriously.

The beer is slightly hazy for an American lager, and the bronze hue is way off of the pale yellow that I would expect from a Bud or something. There isn't a lot of head to start with, and it scatters to the winds as soon as I take a picture of it. What is left is just a few bubbles in the middle of the beer. The aroma is nothing but wet dough. There may be a spice or two, but the dough is running everything right now.

First sip is impressively smooth and notably dough-filled. It's heavier than most lagers that I've had, and it has a finish that lasts quite a long time - and it's that dough. I have often called beer "liquid bread" and no beer has ever put me in mind of that term more than this one has. It's actually pretty novel and quite good.

Tip-in is tart and has a spritz of citrus as a glaze on the mound of wet dough. The middle is a sudden fire of carbonation that tamps down the dough and lets light spices join the citrus as bitterness overtakes the tart. The finish is a wave of carbonation followed by a vigorous slap of flour on the wet dough before a yeasty trail-off.

Bottom Line: I don't know why they went generic with the label - this is no generic beer.

3.75/5