Wiseacre Brewing Co. has added a new member to its Sky Dog lineup: Sky Dog Amber, a 5%-ABV Mexican-Style Lager, which made its debut today.
“It’s caramel-forward, and still has a lot of that bready, crackery note,” Wiseacre co-founder and brewmaster Davin Bartosch told Memphis Beer Blog. “It definitely has more flavor and more malt intensity than the other two Sky Dogs, but still super chuggable.”
All three Sky Dog beers — the original Premium Lager, the lime-centric Chelada, and now the Amber — share a common thread in their use of corn, and also reflect Wiseacre’s investment in lager brewing.
“We built a brewery here specifically designed to make lagers of all sorts. We have the ability to run cereal mashes and use corn as an adjunct, specifically for beer, so it’s something we’ve been wanting to do since we opened.
“We did it with rice first for Irusu, which I love, but it did not take off like Sky Dog “
The 150-calorie Sky Dog Amber draws inspiration from Vienna-style lagers brewed in Mexico.
“The style is like an Oktoberfest ‘light’ in some ways,” said Kellan Bartosch, Davin’s brother and Wiseacre co-founder.
He compared it loosely to Dos Equis Amber, noting that Wiseacre’s version is likely drier and a touch more bitter.
Accessible beer, accessible design
Wiseacre’s 99-calorie Sky Dog Premium Lager captured the gold medal in 2024 in the American-Style Light Lager category at the Great American Beer Festival.
The idea behind Sky Dog was not just to brew to style, but to make it approachable.
“Our thought with Sky Dog in the first place was to make something better than the big boys. And with the medal, we feel like we did that,” Kellan Bartosch said. “But we also wanted the brand to feel more accessible. … A lot of people look at craft beer and think it’s too crazy or too much.”
Sky Dog was designed to change that.
That accessibility comes through not just in the flavor but also in the branding. With the Sky Dog-branded beers, the can art is simple.
It doesn’t have Wiseacre’s trademark whimsical, colorful imagery, which could lead some people to think the beer is too adventurous.
“The art is not as illustrative in nature on purpose,” Kellan Bartosch said.
Distribution and availability
Sky Dog Amber is now available on draft and in six-packs to go at Wiseacre’s two taprooms. Its release is part of Wiseacre’s 12th birthday celebration happening this weekend.
With this first batch, there will be limited distribution at local independent stores.
Broader rollout — beyond Memphis — is expected to start in spring 2026.
After the success of both Sky Dog Premium Lager and Chelada, Wiseacre is hoping to build on the momentum of the more mainstream-friendly Sky Dog brand.
“All of them have been really fun beers that almost surprised me at how much I like them,” Davin Bartosch said. “Not that I don’t like Bud, Miller and Coors, but I feel like I tend to get sick of them a lot faster. I don’t really get sick of these.”