Vienna Lager
Mikkeller ApS

330ml bottle, a true old-school European style - good on Mikkeller for attempting this. Oh, and I see that this is another one of those bullshit trainspotting BA adds - what, not even a simple 'had' for our weary traveler to view?

This beer pours a clear, medium copper amber colour, with four fat fingers (ah, back to De Proef) of puffy, foamy, and somewhat bubbly ecru head, which leaves some layered old-growth forest lace around the glass as it lazily subsides.

It smells of grainy and crackery pale malt, a twinge of biscuity caramel, some muddled citrus and pome fruitiness, a bit of black and white pepper spice, and more gentle leafy, weedy, and grassy noble hop bitters. The taste is bready and slightly doughy pale malt, a waning generic caramel sweetness, some further wet cracker notes, ephemeral table-top pepper mill output, and more plain herbal, weedy, and floral green hoppiness.

The carbonation is adequate for the job at hand, via its essentially supportive frothiness, the body a decent middleweight, and mostly smooth, nothing really getting in the way of a good time here, apparently. It finishes off-dry, barely, the grainy and crackery malt holding our hands on the way out.

Overall, this is a rather bang-on version of the style, if filtered somewhat through a Belgian contract brewer's lens. I'm not complaining about any yeastiness this time, but there's an uncertain je ne sais quoi flitting about here, even if I found this offering quite attractive in its drinkability.