FestBrook
Westbrook Brewing Co.

Cloudy yellow body, white head. Bready to the face in the nose, waves of yeast carrying lemon and sunny malt. Taste adds some partners for the bready yeast: lemon zest, sunny malts, orange peel, and dough. Bready, light, smooth, with a slight drying out through the sip, almost estery by the end. Did I mention it is bread flavor focused?

 

Nice and refreshing. Light yellow. Medium to heavy carbonation. Notes of clove and banana. A little bit of lemon and yeast too. It hides the alcohol well.

Pours a cloudy deep straw yellow, small visible carbonation; thin cap of foam and light lacing. Nose is light malt sweetness, sourdough bread, very little hop aroma. Taste is very sweet, almost like table sugar, with very little depth; maybe some light lemongrass and estery notes that feel very out of place. Feel is light with small carbonation. This beer doesn't seem to know if it's Festbier, a Wiesn, or a Helles on the label, and it sure drinks like it doesn't know what it is.

Really enjoyed this beer, nice little impulse pick-up from Total Wine. Smell off the top made me think this would be a super hoppy beer with a lot of bite, but in reality it's a super smooth, sessionable lager. Bitterness from the hops fades almost instantly, leaving a great impression and flavor. A bit more citrusy than I was expecting for the German style, but I actually dig it. The 6.5% ABV is a nice touch as well. Well done! Will be going back for another 4-pack (probably sooner than I thought, judging by the state of the Carolina Panthers this year)

Was looking forward to this one, but it's not what I expected. Hops are too citrusy for a German-style beer. Not my thing.