Vienna Lager
Z Street Brewing Company

A dark orange amber with very active carbonation and a giant, vaguely tan colored head and lots of lacey remnants decorating the pilsner glass. I can smell sour apple yeast and a hint of caramel malt. A bit too tart, perhaps an old bottle too. Medium bodied with an aqueous feel and tiny carbonation to tingle the tongue the flavor isn't too far from the aroma, but thankfully a maltier balance, a little sweeter. It stays tangy with apple alcohol ideas, leafy hop and even a hint of whiskey barrel perhaps. There's a little dryness in the finish, reasonably drinkable if you like this style and flavor. A little acrid for my tastes but I would be okay for a few of these I suppose. Kind of odd as lagers go but again, this one might have simply passed its expiration date, not sure.

Smooth drinking, and certainly lower alcohol vienna. Yellow with a decent head. Neutral malty aroma. More mouthfeel than expected. Clean and fresh, despite a tad bitter, but also lightly minerally and metallic in the finish at the end of the bottle. well done for the style.

Z Street Vienna Lager pours a clear dark copper color into the glass. On top the creamy, slightly off white head quickly dissolves down to a thin ring around the beer leaving several spots and lines of lace on the glass.

The faint sweet aroma has notes of caramel malt, grapes and yeast. Each sip of this medium bodied beer is soft and dry with a fluffy carbonated fizz that fills the mouth. The flavor is very malty with notes of caramel and toasted malt. Mixed in is some bread, vanilla and grape flavors. Towards the end the hops kick in and balance out the malt with a mild spice and bitter flavor. Once gone, the bread and fruity flavors linger on the palate.

This beer reminded me of Sam Adams Boston Lager. A good beer to have with dinner.

The beer pours a dark golden color with a thick frothy offwhite head that fades to lacing. The aroma is good. It has a nice Vienna malt scent that is dry and breadlike with some residual sweetness. The taste is good. It has a smooth, malty flavor that goes down easy and finishes a bit dry with some residual sweetness. The mouthfeel is fine. It's a medium bodied beer with adequate carbonation. This is a good drinking beer. It has excellent malt character and a smooth finish.

Z street brewery is resurrected as a Mercury (contract?)product, as indicated on the label. Not bad, considering I like both breweries' beers.
Initially clear sandy gold, hazing up with an accidental bottle conditioning pour. Whoops. I wasn't expecting an unfiltered vienna lager. Tight, white head. Nice malty aroma. Toasty and floral, with a touch of apple or pear. Pretty clean and very mellow. Nice crispness to the malt. The flavor starts with tasted grain bouyed by snappy carbonation. Very nice. Good lager feel, softened and mellow. Clean and lightly fruity, with a grassy hint. Present floral hops in the finish. Definitely some german varieties up in here. Medium to full bodied. Not as dry and crispy as some of the most authentic examples, but it's a good beer nonetheless. Some yeast carries through, no doubt from the fine sediment suspended in the brew. Nothing off putting. Lively and vibrant, enjoyable to the last sip.

AP: Poured a cloudy orange/red hued amber color. very active with a thin white head that created some nice long legs.

Nose: sweet malt> surprisingly hoppy> slightly wheaty and yeasty.

Taste: A rich and flavorful sweet malt with a tinge of vanilla and a very sweet hop ending.

MF: Crisp and lively with a smoothness that is created by the constant thin layering of head that still remains. It's a good crisp bite at first then mellows for a pretty nice effect overall.

DA: Happily suprised by this, tasted much like a decent ESB with a bit more creamy-sweetness. Easy to drink.

It's brave to tackle the vienna lager around these parts, with Sam Adams firmly ensconced as the best known American example of the style. It's hard to avoid using SA Boston Lager as the benchmark, but I have no idea if Sam Adams does the style authentically.

Strangely murky, light-brown color; an odd lack of clarity in a light-hued beer. Smell is unremarkable, nothing noteworthy stands out to me.

Oddly sweet. As another reviewer noted, it seems curiously ale-like; the finish is flat and lacks that trademark dryness you expect from a lager. It's not especially light-bodied, feeling a bit denser in the mouth that I'd anticipate.

All in all, it's remarkably average, lacking in any noteworthy characteristics, neither impressing nor offending. All in all, I'd prefer the Sam Adams, and I'd prefer a different Z-Street brew to this one.

12 ouncer sampled, no freshness indication given. Pours basic dull almond amber, slightly murky and cloudy. Slim tan head, minimal retention and lacing, nose I pick up is just some malt. This is fairly bland brew, basically tastes to me like a malty amber ale (I know its a lager), lacks any crispness, mentioned in the style guides. Drinkable, nothing special but decent everyday brew.

Okay, so after trying the other styles from Z Street, which I enjoyed immensly, I tried the Vienna Lager. I am sorry to say that I was not overly-impressed with this brew. The color was good, a creamy-golden-auburn-brown color that looked like a sunset over the harbor in late October. The smell was almost not even there, not too much to it, you know. The taste was just right for the style, but did nothing to wow me-hence the average score. It drank just fine, I think I'll pick up another sixer next week to see if it was just a bad bottle/batch experience or not.

Pours a white, one finger-head that vanishes quickly leaving no lace. Clear, amber color. Low carbonation and light bodied. No distinct nose.. Starts with hops/malts balanced, finish is clean. Better than the macros lagers. $1.85 for a 12oz bottle from Julio's Liquors Westborough, Ma.

12oz bottle purchased as a single from Yankee Spirits, Sturbridge, MA.

Poured into an imperial pint glass, formed a 1/2" beige head over the clear orangey-amber brew. Head faded pretty quick, with average lacing. Aroma is reasonably non-descript, notes of grain and light fruit. Taste is lightly nutty upfront, with balanced bitterness following through. Mouthfeel is quite smooth, and drinkability is very nice as well. The bottle overstates it slightly, but not as much as I would expect with "...perfect for any occasion."