The Dundee Craft Pack

The Dundee Craft Pack
Beer Review...
T
hose of us who came of drinking age
during the ‘90s remember the Empire
State’s own J.W. Dundee brand for their cheap
Honey Brown, which could be found in the
fridges of just about every house party in
America at the time. The beer was what it was;
not bad at all, easy to drink, and readily available. It was always a much better choice than
the Keystone Light laying next to it in the
cooler and had plenty of alcohol, so we drank it
gladly –– especially when it was free.
Over the past few years, however, J.W. Dundee
has been attempting to reinvent itself with a
new logo and new beers, presumably in the
face of the modern craft brew revolution. So
when I saw the Dundee Craft Pack (three each
of four different beers in one 12-pack box) for a
mere $10.99 at a local grocery store, I figured it
was time to revisit a brand I hadn’t sampled in
quite a while.
By Tim Kreitz
selected, but tend to overpower the beer more in the style of
a Sierra Nevada Torpedo, though to a lesser extent. The
small amount of maltiness which manages to punch
through carries with it vague overtones of husk. That’s not
necessarily a bad thing, depending on what you like in an
IPA, but suffice it to say that Dundee’s IPA isn’t quite on the
same level with IPAs by Dogfish Head or Samuel Adams.
The head is smooth and thick when you pour quickly, but
goes away quickly to boot. It’s an okay IPA for less than a
buck a bottle, but I’m glad I didn’t pay more for it. Now
then, would I drink it again, you ask? Oh –– sure, why not.
Stout
As well with this one, I had a problem with how Dundee
named it. The color is right for a stout, but that’s about it.
This beer is actually more like a porter in my opinion. The
Dundee Stout is carried by its caramel maltiness, which is
actually pretty nice, but exemplifies a certain, hard-todescribe blandness. Stouts should be complex. This one
isn’t. In fact, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say the base malt
for this beer was dark DME. I’m also a firm believer in
stouts sporting plenty of hops, which this one really
The first thing I noticed upon getting the craft
doesn’t. There’s a little lace left behind as the head subsides,
pack home was that all the bottles were twist
(Continued on next page...)
tops. That sort of sucked for me personally,
mainly because I wanted the empties for
bottling homebrew, and I always cap with poptops. So just a word of warning for those of you
homebrewers who save brown glass bottles,
you might not be able to use these again later.
The “J.W.” in “J.W. Dundee” is now gone. The
brand’s parent company has simply rebranded
the marque as “Dundee” and redesigned the
labels accordingly. My review of each style
follows in the order I drank them.
India Pale Ale
My first selection from the box was the Dundee
India Pale Ale, which could reasonably be
labeled as a Double IPA. The hops are well
Dundee Beer Review (cont’d.)
but not nearly as much as I’d have preferred. And
much like its IPA cousin, you’ll need a fast pour for
even two fingers of froth.
Pale Bock Lager
This beer comes much closer in taste to its label
description than the previous two. A well-balanced
brew that’s slightly on the hoppy side, Dundee’s Pale
Bock Lager was simply a nice bottle of beer to consume. Uncomplicated and unpretentious, it’s the
kind of beer with which you could easily quench
your thirst after mowing the lawn on a hot Saturday
afternoon. The maltiness is mellow and sweet, with
just the slightest bit of roastiness on the finish. Before
I knew it, I looked down and my glass was empty.
Tempted to get another Pale Bock Lager, I decided it
was best to move on to the last of the four.
Reinvented? Let’s not be hasty
When it was all said and done, I concluded that
probably not much has changed with Dundee over
the past 15 years. They’re still making inexpensive
craft-style beers that many people will undoubtedly
continue to buy and like. We homebrewers tend to be
overly critical about every beer we drink, so it only
makes sense that I’ve perhaps been a bit too harsh in
some aspects of my review. Truth be told, I liked all
the Dundee Craft Pack beers to one degree or
another, and while I might not ever buy it again, I
would definitely drink some at your house if I found
it in your refrigerator.
Honestly, I think the twist tops may have set me off
upon the wrong foot for some reason. I know such is
really no big deal, and it’s probably just my OCD
flaring up, but I like it much better when selfdescribed ‘craft beers’ aren’t equipped with twist
tops.
The Dundee Craft Pack gets 6.25 stars out of 10; well
above average, but well below the craft beer greats.
Dundee Craft Pack: The Final Score
Kölsch-Style Ale
This one is, without a doubt, the standout of the
Dundee Craft Pack. Definitely the truest of the four to
the style it purports to be, I found Dundee KölschStyle to be the most enjoyable of the bunch. Though
a bit more delicate than I initially expected (it
could’ve been a bit more hoppy), it seemed that more
care and thought may’ve gone into the crafting of the
Kölsch than into the others. It was also less like an
imitation of something else than the others, so much
so that I grabbed another as soon as I’d finished the
first one.
India Pale Ale..........HHHHHHHHHH
Stout........................ HHHHHHHHHH
Pale Bock Lager..... HHHHHHHHHH
Kölsch-Style Ale.....HHHHHHHHHH
(1=Awful, 5=Average, 10=Magnificent)
Tim Kreitz is a professional artist and
musician living in Midland, Texas. He
has been homebrewing since 1999 and
joined Basin Brewers in 2011. You can
contact him with questions or comments
via his website, www.timkreitz.com.