Craft Beer Monday Review: Flying Dog Old Scratch Amber Lager

I thought I would go ahead and try another Flying Dog, even though the first attempt at a Flying Dog did not prove to be so good after all. This one is not a seasonal, and is a style that is a lot more familiar with a lot of people, I think. But the funny thing is, for an amber lager it really doesn't represent the style very well. Then again, what exactly is the style, anyway?
And don't look on the bottle, because by the freshness date it is stamped "ale" and the wacky descriptions they put on the bottle describes it as a lager with a malty mellow flavor. Personally, from this description, I think it doesn't meet the criteria that I would consider necessary for an amber lager.
As a way of clarifying, BA lists it as a "California Common" or Steam Beer. This would be recognized by the lager yeast used to ferment it, at higher temperatures that would be unavoidable in California. It usually produced a tawny to amber beer, medium body, malty character, sometimes fruity.
I think this is a fairly good description of this beer, except for an underlying flavor that stays with you and becomes almost skunky at the end and as an aftertaste. This turned me off, as you might expect. I was thinking maybe it was me or the fact that I drank a rather delicious Polish lager prior to that tasting, but it didn't mellow out too much throughout the tasting. I honestly believe it was intentional, just a part of the crazy flavor.
BA went on to say that Anchor did invent and trademark the use of the word "Steam" so California common is now the accepted (and printable) way of classifying it.  
CBC rating: 3. Love the Anchor Steam and this didn't come close.
Poured from the bottle into my Stella glass. Included in a pick your old 6 from Binny's.
ABV: 5.5%.