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The great thing about niche style breweries like Enegren Brewing is that it allows the guest brewer to play in a different sandbox than normal. Beachwood does its fair share of styles but a Dortmunder is a little brewed style that is welcome to see and probably design a recipe for. And it would pair nicely with their BBQ too.
You have to look for and grab any lagers that aren’t hopped or imperialized. And if you want to dig deeper to Vienna or Dortmunder Export, you have to search further.
Thankfully the refurbished beer aisle at my local Whole Foods recently had two bottled offerings from Barley Forge in Costa Mesa. One of which is the excellently named Grandpa Tractor, a Dortmunder “style” export lager.
This beer is a bit too mineraly and salty to me but otherwise is close to the style mark in my mind. It has a nice hit of malty sweetness to it and drinks easy. The initial aroma was a bit off-putting but it soon rounded into form. I would categorize this offering as better with food than without. It offers some compare and contrast flavors that would work in the pairing arena.