Dream City
Fremont Brewing Company

 

2021-02-07
16oz can served in a big snifter. Dated 2021-01-05. Bought it at the brewery a few hours ago.

Pours a rich, clear caramel-amber with a medium head, moderate to low active carbonation. Smell is grainy, a little tea, mostly barley syrup, slight hint of toffee. Also a little grass and a little floral.

Taste is sweet grain tea, honey, a little husk, again slight grass (wish there was just a little more).

Mouthfeel is smooth, clean, slightly thick. Overall, I'm really enjoying it.

Crisp clear straw coloured body with a decent two fingered fluffy white head. Good lacing as it fades, and large bubbles that periodically deign to make the vertical traverse from bottom of glass to foamy top. A little lighter than I'd expect from the style, but this glass is also pretty thin, so that could be a contributing factor. But with a thin glass, I can read the cover of the book sitting on the other side of the beer through said liquid, so clean and clear to be sure.

Nose is sweet malts. Honey/caramel is the initial blush, but then it gives way to that pungent germanic aroma I can never think of how to describe. Kind of grainy, and almost musty, but not quite? I always associate it with german lagers (yes, I know my geography and Vienna is not in Germany, but as a shorthand I lump a lot of their brewing traditions together in my mind brain because I am a dumb American). Maintains a high almost treacle-like sweet aura around it though. Some earthiness on the back end.

Flavour is through and through that same lager characteristic I try to describe above, with the same honey/caramel sweetness riding the top of the tongue throughout. Some peppery and earthy hops finish it off, and the sweet note that I keep mentioning blends with the hops in an almost nectar-like way that is almost but not quite reminiscent of the same type of quality that fresh hopping imparts. The downslope of the finish has that dull earthy pine and some malts, but kind of fades into a little bit watery by the finish.

Crisp with a bright effervescence to the carbonation, it drinks reasonably easily initially, but starts to kind of layer on itself by the end of the can.

I am largely ignorant when it comes to viennas, but my impression is that this is decently enjoyable, but nothing special. I'm glad to have tried it, and will happily work through the remaining cans, but don't necessarily see myself grabbing it again next time I'm at the UBG.