Notes from 4/21/2008: BA has this listed as a Vienna. Poured out into my dear, dear, Ommegang chalice with an inch of delicate off-white head & very honey-esq/gold bullion-colored body. The activity below is just intense. Bubbles flying in all directions, slamming hard into the surface, creating a barely noticeable ripple effect. What little foam there was after settling just hugs the sides & throws up a white veil after every sip. Nose is of peppery & floral hops, making sure the coast is clear for all the doughy, crusty, bready malt notes. Slight fumes & some ashy yeast sniffle about. Taste is much more subtle. The hops are just barely there. There is a light mineral quality between the slightly grassy/slightly metallic hop character & the soft/mushy dough center of the beer. Some ashy dryness on the end & a subtle nutty acorn-ish sweetness. Super low-key. Carbonation is low, but the body feels constantly aerated, even fluffy. On the drier side of things, with no detectable alcohol once you finally dive in & taste it. Minimal crispness keeps it from being perfectly sessionable, but it still gets a good score there. Thanks to Pimpp for the taste. Basically a Moerlein distributor at this point with all the thank yous written in every other review. I wonder what his basement looks like. :P

From old tasting notes. Bright Amber orange color. Creamy white head. Sweet toasted malt aroma. Zesty toasted malt flavor.mcaramel-like underpinnings highlight a crisp, well rounded brew. Could use a bit more body.

Smells like a lager. Light malt with a grassy note. White head that disipated rapidly. Something of an amber color. Medium mouthfeel. Malty. Not much hop, but enough to balance the finish. Ends dry, and the hop and malt compete.

Bottle, probably quite old, as this hasn’t been distributed in Mass for a good while. Consumed on 8/20/06.
Filtered, golden-honey colored body still shows plenty signs of life. It produces a foamy, but large white head that is surprisingly retained considering the age and the method of carbonation (forced). Light lacing on the glass.
Deep bitterness from the hops is first and foremost in the nose. Dusty, sweaty, bready, and with a mineral snappiness added from the yeast, it seems just as crisp and lively as most fresh examples. The caramel malt adds light nuances of rich, flavorful bread, while the pale malt sugars are well-attenuated, but leave some honey notes. No sign of oxidation, alcohol or off-flavors.
The flavor continues to stand up, with a hoppy burst of juniper, straw, herbs and grass. Extrapolating, this must have been an exquisitely hopped flavor (and aroma) which still has remnants of greatness, producing a fine, dry bitterness that works in harmony with the crisp yeast to provide a snappy finish. Honey and light dough-like malts balance, with a drizzle of caramel sugars. A touch of sponge-cake-like wetness, but nothing unexpected for its age. Not too much breadiness, but enough to assert the style. Carbonation, being forced, is obviously loose, but it’s one of the better filtered, force carbed beers I’ve tried lately. Impressed how crisp this is at this age. Hard to believe this is pasteurized, though lagers usually stand up better to that.

Bottle. My original go-to beer every time I went to Cincinnati in the late 80s. Nice barley malt aroma and flavor with nice body (in hindsight, I now know it was a very solid Helles beer - equal or better than many of its German brothers). Seems to have lost some of its uniqueness over the past decade but that may just be due to the experience of my palate.

This beer is a lightly murky amber color with a thin beige head. Thin lacing. The aroma is lightly malty and fruity. Medium-bodied and very smooth with malt and hops in equal quantities. The finish is very clean and a little sweet. Better than I was expecting.

Golden colour with a medium-thick dense white head. Aroma of limes, hops and malt with some subtlety of metal. Strong malty flavour with a bit of hops and some noticeable metal tastes. A good aftertaste filled with strong malt characteristics instead of just a subtle afterstase. The hops are pretty evident as well when the beer finishes. Overall a pretty good dortmunder style beer, and definately one to try again, especially because the price is so low! I bought my twelve ounce bottle at Total Wine in McLean, Virginia.

A very well-done macrolager. Malty aroma and sweet, malty flavor. Hops are very light. Almost no head. A light beer, no doubt, but tasty and pleasant.