Iowa Stars Lager
Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery

Clean, brightly pale tangelo-amber. The one finger cap was light ecru in color and managed to hang around for longer than a few minutes. Delicate, feathery lace formed on the glass, with one thin ring indicating each large mouthful. A good look.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much to the nose. Weakness was its biggest fault and simplicity was its second biggest. Not that I expect an American all-malt lager to smell like a BSPA, but I need something to sink my nostrils into. Not literally, although I've done that more times than I'd care to admit.

Iowa Stars Lager was one of the best all-malt lagers that I've had yet. The dominant flavor was fresh, toasted, lightly sweet barley malt. If the beer is good enough (and this one is), depending on the style, there doesn't need to be a lot of complexity, a lot of accessory flavors. Simple? Yes. Simply delicious.

Most of my ingredients guesses, when I bother to make them, are probably wrong, but I'd say that caramel malt was used here. There was a lovely, sweet, melted caramel flavor that gave this beer that extra something lacking in the vast majority of similar offerings. There was also an underlying hoppiness that provided a bright fruitiness (subtle oranges and lemons) and a modest, countering bitterness.

The finish was crisp, but not clean (clean isn't always desirable) and the mouthfeel was more ale-like than lager-like, one of the highest compliments I can pay. It was roughly medium in heft, with a lightly tacky slickness. The carbonation was perfect and helped make the mouthfeel the highlight of the entire experience.

Iowa Stars Lager is the finest beer that I've ever had named after a minor league hockey team. Seriously though, for someone who isn't that thrilled with the vast majority of pale lagers, especially from this particular category, ISL was a more than pleasant surprise.