When we featured DC Brau Brewing CEO & co-founder Brandon Skall on episode 213 of the DC Beer show he told us the release of Dueling Ground Vienna Style Lager was significant. “We don’t often mess with the flagship lineup, and when we add a core beer it’s a big deal.”
In April, we noted this addition, writing “It’s not every day, or every year, that DC Brau adds a new year-round beer, so when they do, we take notice.” We added that outside of Brooklyn Brewery and their eponymous lager and Devils Backbone Vienna lager, there aren’t many year rounders in this style.
On the DC Beer Show, DC Brau Head Brewer Alex Spencer told us the new lager is “a profoundly malt-forward beer.” And having tried it, I must agree.
The beer’s color is a pale amber. Think more along the lines of a graham cracker than a home-baked gingersnap. When held to the light, what once appeared a burnt sienna in the shade has an almost golden, pinkish amber than the previously presumed warm maroon hue.
The nose has a mild ginger candy character, certainly more toffee than a robust brown sugar like panella or piloncillo. A nutty caramel is present and a very mild molasses also comes through. Whereas a Vienna style lager with too much crystal malt can smell cloying or syrupy, this one has an inviting aroma.
The beer is light on the palate. It’s almost as if the nose is playing a trick on me as I’m expecting a more medium bodied beer than the easy-drinking lager I’m perceiving. The finish is quick and dry. The malt remains on the palate despite the dry finish and I’m left with a bready, almost milky, nutty toast character. It’s quite pleasant and very easy to drink.
“The bulk of the character is toasted bread crust, dark bread,” Spencer recalled in our April episode. With some caramely, toffee undertones, with a little bit of sweetness, a little bit of brown sugar, but the predominant character is bread crust.
To Spencer’s point, this beer is a study in malt. The dry and crisp finish in this beer reminds me of some of the best German, Czech and Austrian lagers. The finish is sudden and leaves you wanting more, similar to the ways the beers of Augustiner, Czechvar/Budvar, and Eggenberg strike me. Evidently, Great American Beer Festival judges agree. “It performed really well and advanced multiple rounds,” Skall tells us via email.
The Dueling Grounds I had was canned several months ago but the beer seems none the worse for wear. For fun, I put it alongside a decoted Oktoberfest from a larger Pennsylvania brewery. While similar in color, the Dueling Grounds beer was crisper, more refreshing. Overall I’d rather have this beer, proudly brewed in the District, than the chewy, heartier, more substantive Oktoberfest. There is of course an apples to oranges situation where the Dueling Grounds lager is 5% and the Pennsylvania Oktoberfest is 6.1% ABV. A Vienna style lager is of course different than an Oktoberfest, but for my dollars I’d rather have the Vienna. Your miles may vary so choose accordingly.
