Duggan's - was I out of line?

Tapsucker · Post by **Tapsucker** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 3:23 pm

The other night I was at Duggan's and my friend ordered their "Pilsner". He was immediately turned off by it. He's not a beer geek, but he could tell something was wrong. When I took a sniff, the beer had a strong sulphur aroma, very strong, in fact. When we pointed it out to the bar tender, he said it was just the hop profile. I have had some lagers that have developed this aroma before and I'm sure that's not considered a good thing. He seamed pretty miffed that I insisted something else was wrong. I'm sure I was not rude to him.

Usually I find the service and that bartender to be excellent. I wonder if I was out of line trying to prove my point or was he just brushing me off because he didn't know better. It is odd for a place that prides itself on great beer and good service.

mintjellie · Post by **mintjellie** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 4:31 pm

I finally got around to visiting Duggans on the weekend and I wasn't all that impressed. I thought the #9 IPA was overhyped - to be honest, I thought it had less hop character than Tankhouse. Well - it did have more bitterness, its more the aromatics that were lacking. The #99 DIPA was pretty tame too, and can't hold a candle to 10 Bitter Years. The weissbier was mediocre - a little bit watery with a very muted flavour and aroma. Denisons (when its on) and Muskoka are both in an entire different (and better) league. The Asian Lager is clean with a surprisingly soft carbonation, and actually does have a subtle lemon-pepper flavour to it as advertised. It surprised me. The Irish Stout was pretty good as well, with a distinctive smokey note that was surprising and welcome.

My experience there was that the beer ranges in quality from mediocre to fairly good. I was under the impression that this was supposed to be a place with, not excellent, but still pretty damned good beer. Were my expectations a bit high walking in?

TheSevenDuffs · Post by **TheSevenDuffs** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 5:10 pm

mintjellie wrote:I finally got around to visiting Duggans on the weekend and I wasn't all that impressed. I thought the #9 IPA was overhyped - to be honest, I thought it had less hop character than Tankhouse. Well - it did have more bitterness, its more the aromatics that were lacking. The #99 DIPA was pretty tame too, and can't hold a candle to 10 Bitter Years. The weissbier was mediocre - a little bit watery with a very muted flavour and aroma. Denisons (when its on) and Muskoka are both in an entire different (and better) league. The Asian Lager is clean with a surprisingly soft carbonation, and actually does have a subtle lemon-pepper flavour to it as advertised. It surprised me. The Irish Stout was pretty good as well, with a distinctive smokey note that was surprising and welcome.

My experience there was that the beer ranges in quality from mediocre to fairly good. I was under the impression that this was supposed to be a place with, not excellent, but still pretty damned good beer. Were my expectations a bit high walking in?

I've come to the same conclusion about Duggans over the past few months. I've tried 6 or 7 different beers at the brewpub. I did like the stout but the rest were sub-par. I had #9 months ago on cask at Volo and enjoyed it but had it at the brewpub on tap recently and even more recently picked some up at the LCBO and I agree with everything you said about it. #9 is not a very good IPA. Period.

mintjellie · Post by **mintjellie** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 5:19 pm

#9 isn't an IPA as far as I'm concerned. As an APA, it isn't better than Tankhouse or, imo, fresh Hoptical.

pootz · Post by **pootz** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 8:53 pm

When I took a sniff, the beer had a strong sulfur aroma, very strong, in fact. When we pointed it out to the bar tender, he said it was just the hop profile.

Using proper lager yeast can produce some intense sulfur compounds in the primary fermentation...some proprietary lager yeasts I harvested and cultured actually gave off rotten egg smells and I was tempted to dump the batch but proper conditioning (cold lagering 40 + days) usually dissipates these compounds.

Short of speculating some foreign chemical got in the beer or the tap lines, Id say the beer was possibly served too "green" (unlagered or too soon out of primary).

JerCraigs · Post by **JerCraigs** » Thu Oct 28, 2010 10:46 pm

I actually find the German Pilsener to be one of their better beers, which says something since I am not generally a lager guy. Without having tried your sample, I'm guessing it might have been off if it was that strong an aroma. But I'm just guessing...

Tapsucker · Post by **Tapsucker** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:48 am

pootz wrote:
Short of speculating some foreign chemical got in the beer or the tap lines, Id say the beer was possibly served too "green" (unlagered or too soon out of primary).

That was my suspicion, but having mentioned it to the server, it is clear that I was ignorant and wrong.

Queef · Post by **Queef** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 6:26 am

Proper aging will get rid of the sulpher notes. Being a "safe" beer at a place like that, they probably go through alot of it, and pulled it out too early. Bartender was probably being defensive cause he knew.

TJ · Post by TJ » Fri Oct 29, 2010 10:23 am

mintjellie wrote: Were my expectations a bit high walking in?

Sounds like it.

I think your comments are fair—especially that the #9 is overhyped. The food, service and beer at Duggan's have been pretty hit and miss for me—and by that I mean they range from okay to pretty good. The plus side is it's never bad. The minus is it's never great. It's not a place I feel especially drawn to.

devonsleigh · Post by **devonsleigh** » Fri Oct 29, 2010 12:14 pm

I echo pretty much the same sentiments as everyone else. Have been there for food, drinks, and to buy some #9 to go. The service is spotty at times, in the dining area we had trouble finding our waiter to get the bill, and when we did flag him down and asked for the cheque, he forgot about it.

I've also walked in the Lombard entrance a few times to grab some #9 to go, only to wait as the staff finish their conversation before they turn around and notice my presence.