Collaboration No. 7: Oak-Aged Lager
Boulevard Brewing Company in Kansas City, Missouri, United States 🇺🇸
Collab with: Arizona Wilderness Brewing Company / Creature Comforts Brewing CompanyLager Series Out of Production
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Score
7.17
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Oak-Aged Lager
For our first collaboration featuring three breweries, we selected our partners following the same approach we’ve used for previous collaboration projects. Our goal is to work with brewers for whom we have mutual respect while learning new techniques and celebrating the strengths of each brewery. Arizona Wilderness has become known as champions for local ingredients in innovative beers while the Creature Comforts crew is “dedicated to better being through being curious.” It’s no coincidence that we absolutely LOVE enjoying beers with both brewery teams. For the full backstory on our relationships with both breweries, please head to a previous Brewer’s Blog post.
Built on a base of two-row pale malt, Sonoran White Wheat, honey malt and corn grits, Collaboration No. 7 – Oak-Aged Lager showcases Riesling grape juice, peaches and lemon zest in a crisp lager hopped with Nelson Sauvin, Lemondrop and Hallertau Blancs. Following fermentation with the Ayinger lager strain, Collaboration No. 7 was briefly aged on Cuvee No. 5 Tank Staves, French oak staves that impart fruit, spice, toast and tannins similar to aging in a fresh/virgin French oak barrel.
At 6% ABV and 16 IBUs, Collaboration No. 7 Oak-Aged Lager pours a brilliant golden color with tight, off-white lacing. Bright aromas of peach and Riesling grapes mingle with the tropical fruit notes provided by subtle hopping. Lemon zest accentuates the naturally citrusy character of the beer as the malt bill forms a slightly sweet, honey-like base from which the chosen regional ingredients shine. French oak character lends a drying effect resulting in a bright, fruity lager that finishes incredibly crisp. Bottle conditioned with champagne yeast, Collaboration No. 7 – Oak-Aged Lager has fluffy, effervescent carbonation that scrubs the palate and begs for another sip.
For our first collaboration featuring three breweries, we selected our partners following the same approach we’ve used for previous collaboration projects. Our goal is to work with brewers for whom we have mutual respect while learning new techniques and celebrating the strengths of each brewery. Arizona Wilderness has become known as champions for local ingredients in innovative beers while the Creature Comforts crew is “dedicated to better being through being curious.” It’s no coincidence that we absolutely LOVE enjoying beers with both brewery teams. For the full backstory on our relationships with both breweries, please head to a previous Brewer’s Blog post.
Built on a base of two-row pale malt, Sonoran White Wheat, honey malt and corn grits, Collaboration No. 7 – Oak-Aged Lager showcases Riesling grape juice, peaches and lemon zest in a crisp lager hopped with Nelson Sauvin, Lemondrop and Hallertau Blancs. Following fermentation with the Ayinger lager strain, Collaboration No. 7 was briefly aged on Cuvee No. 5 Tank Staves, French oak staves that impart fruit, spice, toast and tannins similar to aging in a fresh/virgin French oak barrel.
At 6% ABV and 16 IBUs, Collaboration No. 7 Oak-Aged Lager pours a brilliant golden color with tight, off-white lacing. Bright aromas of peach and Riesling grapes mingle with the tropical fruit notes provided by subtle hopping. Lemon zest accentuates the naturally citrusy character of the beer as the malt bill forms a slightly sweet, honey-like base from which the chosen regional ingredients shine. French oak character lends a drying effect resulting in a bright, fruity lager that finishes incredibly crisp. Bottle conditioned with champagne yeast, Collaboration No. 7 – Oak-Aged Lager has fluffy, effervescent carbonation that scrubs the palate and begs for another sip.
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8/10
Tried
on 13 Dec 2024
at 18:43
8.5/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 9
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 8
Beer #5 of my #7000 Beer Celebration (7 on either side of the milestone beer). Perfectly clear coloured body of light copper, golden, with an orange tint along with a two or three centimetre, ridiculously-tall soapy white head that coats the beer nicely, but stays afloat for quite a while and looks ugly as it fades. Aroma of grapes, light grain, a touch of biscuits, lager yeasts, some lemons and a very nice but super elegant (especially for a lager) scent of grain, fruit and yeasts. Light to Medium-bodied; Assertive lemon, cleanser and grape flavours dominate with more of the tastes dedicated to fruit and supportive malt profiles than anything else, but the grape and lemons show through and hit nicely towards the end when the profile gets a bit more robust and complex. Aftertaste shows the character with the amazing yeast pungency along with some citrus and fruity qualities with the lemons and especially grape flavours dominating, especially at the end. Overall, a very nice lager with a great complexity, an easy-drinking feel at first and a nice but robust pungency at the end which shows a lot of character, while remaining easy-to-drink. I sampled this twelve ounce bottle purchased from New Beer Distributors in New York, New York on 24-February-2018 for US$3,50 sampled at home in Washington on 25-August-2018.
Tried
from Bottle
on 26 Aug 2018
at 07:39
Tried
from Bottle
on 07 Apr 2018
at 15:51
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
12 oz bottle poured into a tulip. Bottled on 7/17/2017, day/year slightly smudged off. Best by 12/14/2017. Not a gusher but the foam slowly rose to the top of the bottle. Hazy orange with off-white head. Aromas of malt, herb, yeast, citrus, light floral notes. Tastes of citrus, herbs, light spice, yeast, subtle oak, floral notes. Light body with a dry and crisp finish, slightly high carbonation. Pretty solid, wonder how it was on the fresher side.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Jan 2018
at 00:57
7.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Sample at Daily Growler UA during the "Annual Seventh Son 12 Beer Tap Explosion" on 11/30/2017. The beer is a hazy orange-gold color with a medium bone white head that evaporates quickly to a film. Short strings of lace. Aroma of yeast, grape and malt. Light to medium body with flavors of white grape, yeast and bready malt. The finish is fruity with a citrus and grape aftertaste. Decent overall.
Tried
from Growler
on 02 Jan 2018
at 09:32
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 4
Overall 7.5
Mild whole lemon nose. Effervescent hazy amber, thick head. The bottle made a rather loud pop when I removed the crown. It sounded like I had removed a cork. Dry hay and malt. Clean finish. Medium body, harsh mouthfeel. Actually drinks like a saison without the funk.
Tried
from Bottle
on 22 Dec 2017
at 20:18
7.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
On tap at Happy Gnome. Pours a clear gold with a slight orange hue and a white head that dissipates to the edges. Aroma has has sweet grains and light peach with a bit of hay underlying. Flavor has light grains and light fruits with hay and hit of oak backing.
Tried
from Draft
on 17 Dec 2017
at 11:32
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Pour is a hazy yellow with a huge white head. Aroma is some lager breadyness with a bit of grape must and I don't get much else because of the huge white head. Flavor is more of the peach and I do get some of the oak. There was supposed to be a whole lots going on in this beer but maybe there was too much and some things cancelled each other out. As a lager it is something different but I would probably not go for this again.
Tried
from Can
on 06 Dec 2017
at 19:01
7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
12oz bottle. Poured into Blvd tulip. The first pour is clear gold with medium head. The last pour is thick glowing dim gold, no clarity. The adjuncts are strong with this beer. Lemon grape and peach are definitely there. Aroma is still beery but full of stuff. Flavor is similar with lots of grape and fruit but it's adjuncty and a little too far from beer for me. I like it but I am suspicious of it.
Tried
from Bottle
on 30 Nov 2017
at 20:39
7.1/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
12 oz bottle. Aroma is floral, fruity in a general kind of way (not really getting any of the individual fruits here), peppery. Pours cloudy orange-golden with a one finger pillowy off-white head with good retention and creamy lace; lots of particulates floating around. Taste is lightly sweet, finishing a tad dry. The peach comes through in flavor, the grapes if I really concentrate. No woodiness comes through. Champagne-level carbonation, of which I'm not too much of a fan of. Interesting ideas here, and it tastes pretty good. I would appreciate it more without the excessive champagne-like carbonation, though.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Nov 2017
at 00:46