Beer Review: Flying Dog Old Scratch

Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Lager

I wanted to hate this. I am no fan of mosquitoes and having multiple cartoon mosquitoes on the bottle really raised an automatic irritation in me. Then I realized it's actually clever. It definitely draws attention to itself. Makes you wonder if its going to taste like blood, or maybe its an obscure reference to the mosquitoes of Jurassic park that were persevered in amber sap. Probably enough speculation at this point.

Pours as expected a rich amber color with next to no head. There is a lingering ring around the edge and a bit in the middle but nothing to shout home about. Aroma is a very pleasant malty bread like odor. Tastes malty and rich with some definite bread like character. Very satisfying stuff. Almost like a good marzen beer but with less of the caramel and more of the bread. Hops are there but only for bittering as far as I can tell, no real hop aroma or flavor. Not a bad thing for this style though. The only real criticism I can think of is that it doesn't have a tremendous amount of depth. Its malty and rich with some baked bread flavor but there isn't much else there.

If you like a good Oktoberfest beer or are a huge fan of baked bread this is a beer for you. I am certainly a big fan of amber malt and my only regret is that this is the last one of my variety pack. I will without a doubt keep my eyes peeled for this in the future. This is one of my favorite Flying Dog brews yet.

Final Score: 85% (Great Rich Bread and Malt Flavor, Lacks Depth Though)