Dull, pale amber. Very herbal aroma, quite peppery and spicy. Very vermouthy. Bitter, earthy, excellent.

Pale. Massive black pepper aroma, only a little more restrained on the palate. Again, tannic and not overly buggy. But this is a beer that I buy whenever I see it, just so I can smell it.

Hazy, thin head. So hoppy. It’s hoppy on the nose but super hoppy on the palate. Very expressive. Holy shit that’s good. Not the buggiest or it would be a wild sour ipa. Beautiful.

Deep vinous aroma, purple colour. Tart, fruity. Some tannins, not much for bugs, actually. Solid.

Gold, maybe a slight haze. Thick head from the side pour. Ok that’s a really pristine dortmunder aroma, full of biscuity, bready pale malt with just a hint of herbaceous hop. Palate similarly leads with comforting waves of satisfying pale malt. Balanced bitterness, again a slight hop note makes this exceptionally moreish, which is the mark of a great dortmunder. This is top dort, the kind you drink too many of when eating a kebab outside the haupbahnhof.

S&O nailed this style in a collab with Dageraad a few years ago, so this is either their own version or a tweaked recipe (my notes suggest it’s got more bitterness this time but also it was on a lukr so that could affect things) but it stands that Steel & Oak has absolutely nailed this style