DARK SKY BREWING COMPANY CAMINO DURO VIENNA STYLE LAGER - a review

 

by Daver as it was, as it will be

Dark Sky Brewing Company is my favorite brewery, there's no debate of that. Their menu is broad, and recipes quite unconventional. Even something as basic as their Camino Duro Vienna Style Lager was pleasantly surprising in how that simplicity wound up so damned complex.

In a departure from earlier Dark Sky beers, the label for
Camino Duro only reads "Clean, malty, & crispy" Keeps things simple, and leaves more room for the can art. Very retro. But we're not here for an art critique, let's check out the beer. Once again, using the Yazoo Brewing pint glass for the tasting.

On first pour, you get a clear amber body with heavy head, thick like sea foam,

regardless whether you pour it slowly or quick. The head fades away after a couple minutes, leaving splatters of foam clinging to the glass. The malt is strong in the bouquet. It smells kind of sweet, kind of syrupy, with a tang somewhere between grapefruit and a blended scotch. The IBU is low at 18, and the flavor itself is pretty simple, just malt, barley, water, easy. It does finish crisp and clean, but it's a little too clean with a mild tingling on the back of the tongue as it finishes. The aftertaste is grainy and tangy, and it lingers in the mouth. Weirdly, the aftertaste fades faster with every drink, so by the time you finish it there's practically no aftertaste. Also, if you let it warm to room temperature in your glass, the finish is less tangy, and mellows into a comfortably crisp and clean finish. But in my opinion, the best way to drink this is cold and straight from the can. When you do, almost no tang is present, and it finishes clean and refreshing, perfectly balanced.

I have to be clear, Dark Sky has a great many beers I enjoy better than others they brew. This beer was not one of them. That's not to say it was bad, not at all. It's an easy beer to drink responsibly, at 5% ABV. It's strange, I conclude this beer was not meant to be poured, only drank. It's exactly the kind of beer you can properly enjoy out of an ice chest. I just wouldn't stock it in my ice chest.