Farm Table: Vienna-Style Lager
Beau's All Natural Brewing Company

Bottle from the lcbo for around $6.

600 mL bottle, one of four included in their 2016 Oktoberfest sampler pack. Dated Oct 3 2016 and served well-chilled. I don't grok the medusa head motif, but as usual I do like their label art.

Pours a crystal-clear golden-orange hue, generating a puffy, soapy, bone white layer of head roughly one inch high. It recedes at a casual pace over the next five minutes or so, producing a small ring of lace as it seeps downward, eventually being reduced to a wide, foamy collar and smooth cap. Quite attractive visually. On the nose, I'm getting grain husks, lightly caramelized malts, some nutty qualities, a hint of lemon zest and some grassy, floral hops. Smells clean, and wholesome, basically as I'd expect from a Vienna lager.

A tasty, properly-made lager that is both malt-forward and straightforward in terms of flavour profile. Grain husks, bready pale barley malt and a steady caramel sweetness provide most of the initial flavours, with subtle flavours of grassy hay, indistinct citrus and floral, spicy hops rounding out the back end nicely. Finishes fairly clean, with some lingering hints of caramel malt and nuttiness lasting long enough to produce a brief aftertaste. Light-bodied, with fairly soft carbonation that gently prickles the tongue, resulting in a fairly smooth texture. Highly sessionable.

Final Grade: 3.93, a B+. Beau's Farm Table Vienna-Style Lager may not be the most interesting beer in the world - but really, I've never considered Vienna lagers to be all that interesting to begin with. Penalising it for being (arguably) 'boring' is unfair, because I attempt to grade to style and it's actually reasonably good for what it is. Is it the best Vienna made in Ontario? Of the ones I've tried, I think I'd say so, although fans of Ladder Run/King Vienna may disagree. A worthy lager, though given the $26 price on this mixed 4-pack, I had been hoping for something a little more substantial.

 

 

 

 

A pretty ordinary brew to my mind. Nicely balanced hops vs. malt. But nothing jjmps out at you. Well made, but presents as common in character. Damned with faint praise..

 

So far my least favourite of the Oktoberfest pack. A little too plain for me personally.

Wish they got a little more creative with this beer. Is what it is I suppose.

 

600 ml bottle purchased as part of the Oktoberfest pack. Cost was $6.50 CDN from the LCBO. Batch 5399 and bottled August 18, 2016. Served cool into a pint glass. Could probably have used to be a touch colder.

Appearance - bright and rich golden color, topped with a finger plus of off-white head that appears smooth and creamy, plentiful carbonation within a brilliant clear beer as well.

Smell - aromas of fall. Some light nuttiness and herbal notes with a grassy backing all over a corn and coarse grain nose malt bill.

Taste - light and clean, not quite soapy clean but closing in on that level. Some light grains and a mild earthy and grassy bitterness. Flavours are too much on the watery side for my liking,

Mouthfeel - good carbonation and super smooth, light watery body goes well with the flavours. Fantastic feel.

Overall - the farm table Vienna lager is another solid iteration of an underused style, however this particular sample I found to be too watery for my taste buds and not evenly balanced. Drink ability was very good, but looking for a little more robust flavor. Worthy of a sample but my guess is that this May end up being the disappointment in the Oktoberfest pack.

Serving: Bottle
Bottled on: Aug-16-2016 (Consumed: Sep-16)

It pours a brilliant ruddy copper with a lovely three fingers of cascading cream-colored head. Great retention; sheets of lacing (4.25). The aroma and the flavor are both showcases of soft toasty malt, light nuts caramelized outer bread crust. A little touch of 'mollassesey' twang in the aroma from the Munich malt (4). Toasted malt, crusty bread, slight spiciness. The flavor is a slightly lighter version of this. Soft layered malt that is almost spicy and almost sweet with a earthy peppery hops presence that dries out the finish (4.25). Creamy, soft feel with medium carbonation, drinkable, refreshing (4.25). This is an excellent version of the style. Nice layered malt character, not too much on any one front, nice hoppy palate scrub. It really improved on all fronts as it warmed (the taste smoothed out noticeably). This is a great one for pairing with food. I'll definitely have it again (4.25).