Best before 03/03/23, so I appreciate where we are with this 5.5%, relatively delicate beer in early September 2023. Lovely, burnt orange colored pour with a decent head. Nose offers the requisite malty base. Tastes follow suit with some drying character in the back end. That might be a function of age. Simple sweet caramel malts and a bit of earthiness in the finish. If anything, quite fruity for the style, with a soft, peachy or pear like element. Not ester based, but soft and light....
Notes on beers in the style
Vienna Lager
Spencer
FireBrick
12oz bottle, thanks go out to Kevin for the chance to try this. A mid-amber, cloudy pour with a thin head that produces some attractive if somewhat thin lace. The lace is a little watery, but is quite intricate. Bready, malt based combo of nose and tastes lead one into a fairly authentic Vienna lager taste. Pretty light in the mouth which may seem like a good thing, but to be honest it feels a bit thin and watery. More bread and sweetness in the back end and finish. Carbonation is pretty...
La Puténa
Swing-top bottle that I picked up for the bargain price of $1.99 at Tower on Piedmont, Atlanta, GA, USA (these bottles have been on sale in Atlanta in the $5.99 range prior to this). These bottles have been in ATL for quite a while now, and obviously they are trying to move this stock that did not sell well. No freshness date on the bottle, but probably an old"er" bottle. Nice presentation in the swing top bottle which pops open with gusto, so a good sign there. Pour is a light brown affair...
Harpoon Pott’s Landbier (100 Barrel Series #32)
22 oz bottle, gold foil with the usual 100 Barrel series presentation. Hop City, Atlanta, GA, USA. Strange one this. I think if you had given me this in a blind taste taste I would have sworn it was Yeungling! Now, you can take that any way that you like. I don't dislike Yeungling, but as we all know it's hardly a bastion of high quality beer so... Pour is a pretty clear, mid-brown affair with a disappointingly poorly retained head and not much If any ) lace. Nose and tastes produce a slightly...
Smuttynose Portsmouth Lager
Thanks go out to someone for a recent trade (you know who you are). 12oz bottle. Lively pour with a lot of initial carbonation. Fine bubbles. Very good head and lace and some persistent carbonation. Light honey colored, hazed body. Creamy mouth feel from the fine carbonation. Some bitterness sits against the substantial malt backbone. Not a sharp bitterness, rather a linger dull bitter profile. A little metallic in the finish, certainly lacks much of a sweet touch. Drinkable, but more like an...
Wild Hop Organic Amber Lager
12oz single from Tower, Buford, Atlanta, GA, USA. Looks good. Golden pour with plenty of carbonation, good clarity, small head and some excellent lace. Quite sweet nose and initial tastes with some grain. Sharp and refreshing. Malts are prominent and real tasty. Finishes pretty dry. Enjoyable. Grassy hop notes too. Obviously I approached this with a little tredipation, but with an open mind I was happy that I did. Pretty tasty and I might even try this one again in the future.
Special Amber
=== Updated Review 08/10 === Thanks go out to Kevin for the opportunity to try this beer once more. The malt nose drifts out of the bottle as soon as it's opened, and the beer seems to fulfill many of the criteria for a beer of this type - fresh, lively, good clarity and refreshing. It's simple, but it's good and it reminds me a lot of the Gordon Biersch beers in the way that (typical of Sprecher) it's a beer that represents some of the Germanic based styles, nicely. Some rounder malts than I...
Trader Joe’s Vienna Style Lager
Another pretty decent hit from the Trader Joe, single, $1 a bottle recent haul. Nice carbonation, good head, but not a great deal of lace. Good clarity in the amber body. Good depth in the nose with plenty of malty goodness and sugar promised. Pretty straightforward but done well. Toasty malts, residual sweetness, smooth with an easy finish. Not much to shatter the world here, but at the same time a well made and simple beer that represents good value for money and a nice example of the...
Big River Vienna Lager
Lovely looker with a light amber color and some first class lacing. Malts are all upfront that are complemented by a nice balance on the dry hopped finish. A little metal in there too on the quick finish that reminds you that this is a lager despite the richer looking color. Clean, crisp and refreshing, I could easily put a few of these away without really noticing much!
Amber
Have to admit that this was generally disappointing to me. Simply very thin in the mouth with little or no character and a mild taste that simply failed to satisfy. Poured out a light orange color with the small head fading fast to nothing. Very light feel about the whole beer, and no depth to the experience. Drinkable, but very little character. Some dryness in the finish with a slight toffee like after taste. Very little to endear this to you. Won't bother again anytime soon.
Leinenkugel’s Red
Good looking and better than average beer all around. Distinct red tinges to the pour and a decent looking head with some better than expected lacing. This is a pretty malty beer and I expect the name will fool lots of people. Obviously not a "red" as such, this shows more depth and character than those often disappointing brews. Definte hops do a great job at balancing the brew and it has the unusual combination of malt sweetness and clean refreshing bite. Quite a difficult combination to...
Dos Equis Amber Lager
Flat, flat, lifeless pour with no head and drab appearance. Another beer that suffers from a hopelessly over chilled, too cold presentation. When this stuff comes out of the ice box freezer and get poured into a frozen glass it's just about impossible to taste or smell anything. I bet this stuff tastes ten times better after about 30 minutes of defrosting. I get lots of corn, a little malt and some alcohol in the initial aroma and taste. It didn't go down too well at all, with a sharpish...
Samuel Adams Boston Lager
Original notes from 05/22/2004. Picture from 2021. Above average macro/micro that I am happy to fall back on in the absence of an extensive range of options. It's consistent - and that's important. A simple beer but does the job every time I enjoy a couple of bottles. Very light and fluffy, bubbly head with some small amount of lacing. The aroma is a simple malt base with some sweetness. Amber hue typifies the style and reflects the malt bill nicely. Nice malty, balanced bitterness is the key,...