7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
16 oz Anniversary Willebecher pour at the brewpub. Pour is a clear copper with a well formed one inch white head. Head falls slowly with nice lacing. Aroma is faint toasty grain, followed by some hay and grassiness. Taste is straight forward cereal grain, clean, with a mild sweet midway through and crisp grassy finish. Palate is thin with a medium level of soft carbonation that make this real drinkable. I have only had a few Viennas, but in my limited experience this nailed the style.
Tried
on 16 Nov 2009
at 11:55
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
10 oz draft at the brewpub. Pour is blackish brown, murky with a nice khaki head. Aroma of roasted malt, followed by some earthy grassy hops. None of the traditional foreign stout sweetness, though the roast was nicely pronounced. Taste follows the nose with a nice soft roastiness, followed by a bit of charred wood, then the grassy hops and then finishing with a very slight touch of milky sweetness. Palate is medium, soft low carbonation - and a residual roasty finish. Nice enough though, much more of a straightforward roasty stout.
Tried
from Draft
on 16 Nov 2009
at 11:54
6.9/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
10 oz draft at the brewpub. Pour is a slightly hazed copper brown, with nice fully coating lacing. Aroma is soft floral hop and a nutty caramel grainy malt. Fresh and clean nose, though quite subdued. Taste is the nose - decent citrus hop and floral grassiness up front, followed by the toasty grain of the barley. Nice balance between the hop and malt. Palate is light to medium with decent carbonation - quite drinkable. A touch on the dull side, but well crafted and enjoyable.
Tried
from Draft
on 16 Nov 2009
at 11:53
6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Shaker @ brewpub. Now I loves me a brewpub Vienna, usually a good chance for the brewers to flex their malty lager muscles. And while this nailed the style, it again was too perfect and came off as slightly boring. The caramel yet clean lagered malts come through with light cocoa as well. But.... meh. I actually got a bit too much of the hops than I would like for the style. Super easy to drink and I could definitely put a few down but I would like something a bit more interesting here. Actually, reading the description of this beer is more interesting than the beer. I wonder who the art fan over at Free State is. But again, congrads to the brewers for hitting the hammer on the nail but old news as far as I’m concerned.
Tried
on 10 Nov 2009
at 22:47
6.8/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Shaker pour @ the brewpub. Another plain-Jane Steam beer, don’t really get why brewers like to make this style. Slightly hoppy, rather undescriptive type (some citrus, some green vines, but weak and nothing special). Otherwise a very clean brew with no pizazz. The lager yeast really comes out making it ever more clean and boring. You nailed the style... next.
Tried
on 10 Nov 2009
at 22:35
6.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 6
Texture 6
Overall 6
Draft at GABF! Nose of EtOH, bourbon, and oaky vanilla. Clear brown with a small beige head. Flavor was very bourbony with some caramel, chocolate, and vanilla.
Tried
from Draft
on 28 Sep 2009
at 21:41
7.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7
10 oz pour in a thinned tulip glass at the brewpub. Pour copper golden ruby - smallish off white head. Perfect patch lace. Aroma of floral orange hop and bready semi-sweet malt. Nice balance. Taste is the hop initially, introducing resin along with the floral and citrus. In the taste more peel than fruit. The middle turns to the bready malt, which loses its sweetness in the taste. Palate is earthy mineral, medium body, above average carbonation. Clean and straight forward, nice.
Tried
on 16 Sep 2009
at 20:12
8.2/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 9
Texture 10
Overall 8
Cask - 10 oz pour in a small thinned tulip glass at the brewpub. Pour is slight haze ruby copper with a smallish 1/2 inch off white - tan head. Nice delicate splotchy lacing. Aroma of resin citrus hops, mineral earthiness and some straw and caramel malt. Pretty mild nose, but clean and fresh. Taste is really fresh floral resin hop, with a nice mineral grass malt with some fruit sweetness behind that. Really great integration and balance. Palate is medium to full mouthfeel, and really not a bit watery despite the low abv. Lowish cask carbonation and a great lingering resin earthy finish. Crazy drinkable. I would drink this a lot if it was continuously available - it was cool how different a beast this was from the Old Backus.
Tried
from Cask
on 16 Sep 2009
at 16:24
8/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 8
At the brewpub cask served in a small thinned tulip glass. Big bubbly cask head that leaves a lot of sticky lacing as it fades. Color is orange/amber, its dark and hazy but not murky. Enough hazy to it to only allow medium clarity. Aroma is thick, malty, English biscuit. It is thick but not "big" and a rich aroma. Flavor is has a bit more English yeast fruitiness coming off. Overall becomes a fruity biscuit. Plenty of flavor yet light and quenchable. Sweet tea aftertaste. Has a nice full mouthfeel as well on top of the reduced carbonation cask feel.
Tried
from Cask
on 13 Sep 2009
at 21:58
7.3/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 8
I have had this for the last 2 years. Last year I was not impressed at all but this year I liked it a lot more. So this is the rating for a shaker @ the brewpub within a week of this being tapped in ’09. Comes to me with a completely clear dark amber/copper color. Small head but it leaves a slightly sticky lacing on the sides of the glass. Aroma is straight clean, no sugary, caramel sweetness. Heck its an O-fest. The flavor comes of better, where I often find the style boring this is different. Its nicely nuanced with a light sugar sweet but still well lagered, a thin line to walk. Lots of earthy caramel, sweet yet earthy and easy drinking from the lagering. The caramel aftertaste sticks around for a while. Good stuff, I would drink it again.
Tried
from Draft
on 13 Sep 2009
at 21:44