Thursday, August 8, 2013

Dixie Lager

I've had this beer hanging around the house for a while.  I picked it up on a whim. When I was shopping at my beer store I spied the lonely bottle of Dixie Lager sitting on a shelf.  It was cheap and I'd never had a Dixie beer before so I thought, what the heck.  Nothing ventured is nothing gained, right?

Why the interest in an American Adjunct Lager; a style of mass produced brew using adjunct cereal grains, like rice and corn? Hardly a craft beer.  But then, I'm not a beer snob.  I just like beer. So, I'm willing to try something different even if it's not considered "special".

Well, maybe there happens to be something interesting about this beer.

The Dixie Brewing Company is over 100 years old.  It was founded in New Orleans 1907. Dixie was producing nearly 50,000 barrels a year and was distributing it's beer throughout the United States.

Then Hurricane Katrina and the consequent failure of the levees ravaged New Orleans in 2005; including the Dixie Brewery.

Perhaps the brewery would have survived the devastation and made a comeback.  But when the waters receded, looters wreaked further havoc on the brewery; stealing equipment and the copper brewing kettles.

They are trying to recover and hope to eventually one day re-open the brewery.  In the meantime Dixie beer is under contract with Minhas Craft Brewing at the Huber Brewery in Monroe, Wisconson.

Dixie Brewring is trying to get back on its feet. So, while it may not be the craftiest or biggest or baddest beer around, I'm happy to drink their beer and help them along.

That being said, it is what it is.

Dixie Lager (4.6% ABV) pours a clear golden color with little to no head to speak of.

The aroma is light and inoffensive.  Malt and grain dominate the nose, basically it's smells like beer.

The taste is equally light and inoffensive.  There's nothing stand-out-ish about this lager.  However, I think it has a bolder, sweeter malt profile than many of the other adjunct brews I've had.  It is definately more flavorful than many of the macro beers of this style.  It's really not all that bad and I kind of liked it.

Overall: good



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