Dixie Blackened Voodoo

Dixie Blackened Voodoo

     A surprise trip to the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles, shoot up to the top floor and stroll down the stairs into the Bona Vista Lounge--a revolving lounge that has a spectacular view of Los Angeles (might I add the best time to go is sunset).  Well, well, well they have some craft beers available.  I stupidly forgot to remember the entire collection, but I'll return for reviews.  Today's pick, though, was the Dixie Blackened Voodoo Lager.  This site appears to be their distributor and, if I can recall correctly, their description is the same as the one on the menu.  To be honest, though, I picked it because of the name.  Before you get angry and claim I was being reckless with my decisions, I want to add that I've never heard of any of the other beers and they all seemed the same caliber with different names.  When the period appears, shoot.

Appearance

          Oh yeah, another reason I picked it was because the word 'Blackened' inferred that it was a dark beer, and if you're new, I pick dark over light ninety percent of the time.  See, I didn't forsake you as your guide, you're tester, you're "first stone thrower."  So the head was tiny on this one.  It didn't dissipate too fast, but it didn't add to the physique of the beer.  The color, though, was pretty wonderful.  The liquid was relatively thick with a dark brown roasted coffee color, giving a leather-like texture.  There were a couple of carbonation streams but it wasn't really noticeable.  Have you been looking closely?  You see it now?  Yup, frost, and not light frost.  The damn glass is sweating.  Makes the beer look more enticing, more tasty, I can go so far as saying it's a little more sexy.  Did I mention that the beer was served in a cold bottle with a frosted glass.  No don't!  It's a ruse!  It's a Siren song to the untrained;well, most of the time. I'm not completely sure about that yet.  Read on, you'll see why.



Smell

     This lager--yes, my first lager review, exciting isn't it--  has a lot of fruity attributes to the smell.  I smelled the sweet of malt and a nice cherry smell.  I didn't smell hops; and, if I did, I didn't notice it.  It wasn't strong but it was stronger than the Samuel Smiths that I had a few weeks ago.  Alright, on to taste.

Taste

     It was a nice beer.  I did run into a problem--remember when I mentioned that the glass was sweating?  Yeah, it was served pretty damn cold.  At first, I tasted hardly anything.  It was kind of a job trying to figure out what was wrong with the beer.  I kept thinking "damn did I ruin my taste buds somewhere today?  I can't blame it on the food because it hasn't come out yet."  Then I finally realized it was too cold and it numbed my tongue.  I let it sit for awhile and held it in my hand sporadically.  About fifteen to twenty minutes later and I was good to go.  A minor inconvenience but a lesson learned.  The taste is light with a nice malt taste (I'm tired of saying "hint of chocolate."  Let's just say it's malt from now on. I'm convinced that's my idea of malt.  And it's not like I taste a Hershey's bar.  It's more like a Whopper ball after getting through the chocolate.  Oh yeah, BECAUSE IT'S A CHOCOLATE MALT BALL.  Go try a whopper ball, then try a 'malty' beer.   Here's a little site that helped me).   There was no strong aftertaste nor did any of the flavors linger.  The taste was there, said a salutation, and then left down the tube.

Mouthfeel
      
     It may just be solely my opinion, but I'll go out there and say that the mouthfeel was more spectacular than the taste.  What, do you wanna fight about it?  The texture was thick and frothy.  I enjoyed that--almost like melted ice cream.  The carbonation contributed to this by adding gas to the liquid.  The carbonation had a slight bite but wasn't passive; meaning, I felt the carbonation but it didn't bother me.

Overall

     I wouldn't argue with you if you said that this review was a little short.   I'd agree with you and I would also say it was because this beer wasn't all that impressive.  But, and that's a big 'but,' this is a lager--my first craft lager that I reviewed.  The 'but' gets bigger because most BMC beers (it used to be all, but Budweiser came out with an ale and I'm sure there are more but I can't think of them off the top of my head) are lagers.  I'd like to make this beer my base.  I can't use BMC beers because they're just so bland. There's a taste that I can agree with and I can describe.   If I were forced to compare this beer with a more widely distributed beer, I'd use Heineken.  Dixie Blackened Voodoo does not have that sharp acid taste that Heineken has.  It is thicker and sweeter.  Does that put it more into perspective?   This beer is also a good session beer.  About a 5% Alcohol by Volume, which means I can drink this for days without getting ridiculous.  I had two of these at the lounge and, yes, I just felt good and sober.

     Before I go, I want to remind you that the difference between Lager and Ale is just how it's made.  Lager is bottom fermenting and Ale is top fermenting.  I wanted to tell you that there is a big distinguishing taste between a Lager and an Ale, but after trying this--no.  You could probably make an ale taste like this.  Perhaps ales are more bitter, but I'm sure I'll run into a bitter lager.  So I'm with you in saying I have no clue what sets these apart other than the way it's made.
     Furthermore, this is a "Munich Dunkel Lager."  Which is explained in detail here at the top of the list, as well as a link that leads you to what the top Munich Dunkel Lager beers are.  I have to admit, I feel a little lost with the lagers.  The learning never ends.  Drink up!