Upright ("Punk Rock" Strong) Lager
Upright Brewing Company

Huge thanks to FalconA for hooking me up with this huge want of mine. 750 ml into a pint glass. Suppose this is from 2010.

A - Pours a hazy pale amber body. Tons of rising carbonation and and a billowing mass of white foam that overflows and has peaks to it. Takes quite a bit of time and effort to get a full pour. For a 3 year old beer this is pretty damn active.

S - The aroma is almost like a hefe. Cut grass, cereal grains, some sweet cracker malts, and lemons. It is pretty fruity and herbal and actually pretty complex. There is something a bit off and unpleasant towards the finish. I understand that it was a pretty hoppy beer to begin with but that is all but faded now.

T - Follows the nose with cereal grains, lemons juice, and some spice. There is a bit of oxidation in the beer present in the form of a malt like sweetness with a bit of cardboard. It currently compliments the beer, but you can tell that this beer has nowhere to go but downhill. Very reminiscent of aged Dogfish Head Golden Shower only with considerably less abv and intensity. Its actually pretty tasty. Creamy mouth feel but it feels like its missing some carbonation.

O - Beer wise it has held up considerably well. I've only had one other aged imperial pilsner/lager and this is right there along side it. It works, its just obvious that the hops have faded and some oxidation is beginning to settle in. Oh, and the label. As a die hard Clash fan I'm pretty much in love.

Bottle: Poured a hazy light yellow color ale with a huge foamy head with good retention and some pretty good lacing. Aroma of floral dry hops with some hay notes and some lightly sweet malt backbone. Taste is a nice mix between some lightly sweet malt notes with a light bready yeast with some hay and dry floral hoppy notes. Body is full with great bottle conditioning and some good carbonation. Not your typical lager but very enjoyable with nice hops profile.

 

 

Thanks to bu11zeye for sharing this bottle.

The beer pours a yellow color with a huge white head. The aroma is full of lemons, with some pale and pilsner malt. There is also some strong yeast notes in the aroma, as well as some white pepper.

The flavor is malt forward with a lot of biscuit notes. I also get a little bit of lemon and pepper, as well as some yeast. The beer is very dry and the alcohol is well hidden.

Medium mouthfeel and medium to high carbonation.

A: Poured a straw yellow color with a huge amount of carbonation leaving a big, fluffy white cap

S: Corny grains, peppery with light floral notes

T: A big, corny effervescent taste right upfront. Light floral notes, grains, light pepper and pretty dry

M: Light body but it has a nice booze sting

O: Pretty average for the style. Not one I would go back too.

Thanks for sharing this one, Bobby.

A: The beer pours a pale, hazy straw color with a huge white head.

S: A weird, but not awful, aroma that is just full of apples. There is a lot of yeast and some cracker malts as well as a light pepper note. Some light grassy and floral hops, too.

T: The beer is lightly sweet with plenty of more of that green apple character. In addition to the apples, there are some other light fruits such as pears. Really weird esters on this beer... A touch more sweetness from some bread and cracker malts.

M: This beer is medium bodied with a very high level of carbonation.

O: While this is apparently a lager, the yeast profile was more in line with a lot of their saisons. A strange beer...

Poured from 750ml bottle into Bruery tulip.
A: Pours a light pale with thick white head, beautiful.
S: Honey and more honey, hay, funk, and some seemingly fresh hops.
T: A lot going on here, honey, funk, barn, hops, malty grains, lemon.
M: Good carbonation, slightly syrupy, but just enough to keep it from being watery.
O: There is a lot going on in this beer. This is a highly hopped saison lager, truly blurs the style guidelines. This is a grat example of the creativity going on at Upright, great beer.

Thanks to Jason for this one! Poured into Darkness tulip.

A - Pours clear light golden yellow, huge frothy head, sticky lacing, and thick cap.

S - Funky, hay, huge yeast note, lemon peel. Unlike any lager I've ever had, and probably the best smelling lager I've had.

T - Huge funk, yeast, citrus, orange peel, lemon peel. Lots of funk in this one, which really takes away from the lager and turns it into a more interesting beer. Almost saison-like.

M - Light, refreshing, frothy carbonation, dry finish.

O - Enjoyable, refreshing, and pretty close to a sasion. All good things going on here. An excellent lager that I enjoyed very much.

Poured from a 1pt 9.4oz bottle into a Duvel tulip. straw, Saisson like appearance. Large head that chunks down into a pebble like appearance that hangs around to a 1/4 inch head and sticky bits of lacing.

Smell is toasted honey, some form of hop bitterness, and then some kind of near belgian style yeast. It is slightly confused as a style.

Taste is somewhat the same as the smell. Honey like, toasted malt and quite a presence of the yeast esters.

Mouthfeel is ale like, but has a lager quality to it too.

Definitely a good sipper, but the one bottle is good enough

Poured from 750ml bottle. Shared with the bandmates on this one. Many thanks go out to OakedCanuck for this bottle! Colin thanks for the sweet SS package.

A- This bottle gushed a little when I popped the top. Light straw yellow color when poured. Huge 5 finger head that took forever to die down. Lots and lots of sticky lacing in all styles all over the glass.

S- Very grainy smelling with a hint of bready caramel malts. Some light lemony zest to this as well which kind of took me by surprise. Some piney hops in the background of the nose. There was a light yeasty aroma in this as well. Almost smelled like a Euro style lager.

T- With the first taste I get a lot of the grainy cereal flavor and some lemon zest with a hint of hops in the background. After taking a couple more drinks this beer tended to open up a little more in the flavor. Light crisp bite in the front from hops I would say give way to a bready backbone base and light cereal grains. This itself dies down to a yeasty flavor that dies into a light piney hop bite. I didn't expect this and to be honest it tasted very good.

M- Light mouthfeel. Carbonation was good for the style but seemed a little high for my full enjoyment. Cereal grains and light lemony flavors left on the palate. In the aftertaste there is hints of alcohol, bitter hops, and light cereal grains. Light alcohol drying on the palate from the alcohol. Flavors were well balanced and no off flavors were present.

D- I thought this beer once the head dies down was a very drinkable beer. It was a nice surprise to say the least. The Clash label art on the bottle is pretty sweet to say the least. The ABV is low enough to drink a full bottle but I say share this one with one of your punk rawk friends and make their day!

Aroma is honey sweet with some nutty grain but lots of honey. Gets even stronger as it warms.

Big fluffy head of white foam settles into a half inch layer of rocky bubbles. Pale blond and pretty cloudy.

First sip doesn't match the aroma. It's much more hop bitter than I was expecting. The malt backbone is there but well hidden. Lots of spicy character too. Really a lot like some of the Belgian IPAs out there. It feels lacking in the complexity compared to some similar beers.

Medium bodied with a rough carbonation level.

Definitely worth trying.

Grabbed a bottle of this a couple weeks ago at Bottles in NE PDX... had it on its side at 55 deg. F in a cooler... poured right from it....

- Very clear light straw yellow... large bubbling head... a few fingers... down to a nice huge ring of lacey fizz... thin layer on top... a bubbling mad lager.

- Nice grain bed, barley, bready, biscuit... zesty fresh hop aromas... pine, floral... banana yeast... crisp!

- Sweet velvet grain and oats.... bready zesty clean brew... sparkling with banana aromas, biscuit, piney hops and aromas... bitter tinge and not much heat at all....

- Rather light bodied with a syrupy feel... mainly light with a big sweet blanket over the tongue... some bitter dryness but balanced with mouth watering yeast characteristics....

- Overall a killer brew, but one I should have served colder. I think this would be a prime backyard BBQ lager ice cold... and one you could hold in your hand awhile to warm up to see a whole new world of flavors... certainly another win from Upright,.

Poured into tulip...

A: Pours a super bright yellow body, just slightly opaque with champagne-like bubbles rising from the center. A huge four finger frothy white head of foam forms during the pour and it falls so slowly and left excellent lacing.

S: Light tart fruits, apples and pears mostly, bready malt and crisp bitter floral hops on the finish.

T: Follows the nose, tart fruits blended very well with floral hops and a bready malt.

M: Light medium body, crisp carbonation and a nice dry finish.

D: Very drinkable, well balanced flavors and overall a delicious beer and yet another great offering from Upright. As a side note I think this beer has been wrongly classified, IMO it should be in the imperial/double pilsner category. As such, I reviewed this beer according to that style.

750ml into pint glass.

Pours a slightly hazy light yellow with quite a bit of rising carbonation. It has an extremely thick white head that falls into beautiful craggy foam and leaves great lacing.
Quite nice looking for a basic lager.

Aroma is of grainy malt notes with faint grassy, hop bitterness. There are also light spiced notes coming from the hops. Just a bit more complex then an adjunct, as the style states.

The flavor is of more basic sweet malts. And while fairly light, there are very nice floral and grassy hop notes. I am also picking up a very light lemon touch as well.

Mouthfeel is good light to medium bodied with strong carbonation and a slightly crisp finish.

While this is a fairly simple beer I feel it is well done and a nice take on a pretty basic lager. Though with that said I don't think it can quite justify the price.

Absolutely no clue to this on the bottle - just a label with the brewery's name on it and the Surgeon General's warning.

Slightly hazy gold colour with a thick fluffy head. Crisp, somewhat soapy hops and sweet malts.

Slightly bitter hop taste, very low profile malts. This almost tastes like a macro, but not quite. Somewhat skunky and almost with an adjunct-y flavour, but much more complex and richer. Not as clean and crisp as a pilsner though.

Good, fairly high carbontion. Not the best I've had, and the flavour is bitter enough that this doesn't really lend itself well to too many dishes.

I had no idea what style this was when I bought it, and of course the label was of no help. For $11, I certainly didn't expect a lager. Doh, now I feel punked. I could have had a 12 pack of full sail for that price. Which is what this tasted like, but not as good. Typical sweet corn flavors, lots of plasticy phenols. I'm a big fan of what these guys are doing, but the price of this one stings. Hopefully it was some kind of fundraiser.

Pours a translucent golden-straw yellow with a two-finger head. Amazing lacing. Well-balanced hoppy aroma, and I also get some forward alcohol and sherry. Beautiful flowery flavor, with notes of raisin and toffee. Thick and chewy mouthfeel and dry finish.

I had this at the Upright tasting room tonight. Officially the beer has no name but I had to put down something in order to make a review so Upright Lager it is.

A: Pale corn yellow, constant frothy white cap, constant bubbles, no lacing. 4/5

S: Lightly hopped, sweet cereal grains, fresh bailed hay. 3.5/5

T: Lingering bitter hops, rosemary, slightly skunky, esters, lemon rind, lite grain, fruity saison notes snuck into the closed fermentors. 4/5

M: Not very crisp, moderate body, highly carbonated. 3/5

D: Would pair well with food, although its a little much on its own. 3.5/5