Bottle Rocket Lager
Ram Restaurant & Brewery

this must have gotten better since it was reviewed years ago. they are calling it a helles now, and i think its quite good, maybe not quite as flavorful as some of their other lighter styles they make throughout the year in here, but a crisp and summery lager with high drinkability and some flavor from all three of the elements, what more can you ask for out of something like this? the malt is a pils type, european, clean and fresh, with a light biscuit and cracker thing going on, white bread crusts, dry and simple, picking up on some of the minerals in the water. the hops have some light limey citrus character very late, enough bitterness for this to pick up a little snap at the finish, and also appear quite fresh. the yeast meanwhile is a familiar german lager type, without a ton of character but fermenting this to dry and adding a brisk tidy quality to the finish of the beer, which is exacerbated by the effervescent carbonation this has. ill have to assume this has gotten better over time, i had no complaints at all, and it was nice with a spicy salad out on their awesome patio at the boise location. a fine lager for drinking just about anytime of the day or the year.

Draft at the Ram-Meridian. After drinking Boise’s IPL earlier today, this leaves a lot to be desired. Not too much difference between this and a macro lager, a hint more flavor maybe. Pretty disappointing.