Emelyn
Idle Hands Craft Ales

Pours a nice amber color with off white head. Get caramel, nicely browned bread crust, you know, that Maillard reaction. Some noble hop character to break the sweetness. It's bread crust with a touch of honey wheat sweetness. It's Bugaboo Creek brown bread. It's dry, quenching, and has a nice peppery floral noble finish. I prefer this zwickelbier to many of the other local ones because I think the vienna malt works really well. A really lovely beer.

 

Pours a pale gold in color with a finger of white head that dissipates a little too quickly and leaves behind some sporadic lacing. Aroma is full of bready, toasty, grainy notes and a hint of fruit. Taste follows the path laid out by the aroma, crusty bread, light toast, a touch grainy, a little sweet caramel malt notes. some subtle fruity, almost red apple skin notes. A lightly herbal, dry, and light-moderately bitter finish. Mouthfeel is a little chewy with a medium body that doesn’t get in the way of drinkability. This is just a great beer, tons of classic pale-golden lager flavors at a reasonable ABV. This stands well on its own or alongside almost any good option.

 

 

 

Light golden color with a 4F head in a Brooklyn Oktoberfest glass,

Excellent fruit aroma. Esters, malt.

Nice MF.

Aroma transitions to the taste. Fruit, raisin.

Nice smooth mild bitter finish.

Enhanced approach to a classic Zwickel. More fruit and esters than the traditional style. Excellent beer.

 

On tap at Conley's! With the Johnsons and a sausage/pepperoni pizza on a Thursday. Had to try the "toasted bread crust" beer. Solid easy drinker.

Had this on tap at Seymour in Greenfield, MA. The beer had a reddish amber appearance. The aromas had a straw wheat and yeast aroma to it. Generally sweet beer and the mouthfeel was great; not too crisp or heavy. Overall, I enjoyed this beer, especially with its appearance and aroma.

Zwickelbier delight! Wonderful lager.

Pours a cloudy, copper hued liquid with a sweet ass head - frothy, puffy and light. Basically what a half-liter lager glass was made to hold. A true beauty.

Taste of toasted grains, bread, cracker, red apple skins, red grapes, ambrosia nectar of the gods. Delicious. Aroma is aligned with taste but at a lesser level. Multiply each component by .7.

Yeasty, smooth, clean and satisfyingly crisp. It's nuanced and delicious but still imminently drinkable. Awesome beer.

 

From a 16oz can, dated 06/06/18. Served in a willi glass.

Pours a just barely cold-hazed apricot-bronze colour with but a scant half-finger of weak head. Not much in the way of retention but leaves a thin, wispy collar with the odd spot of lacing.

A robust nose of apple peels and bread crusts. Yum.

Tastes of hearty, crusty, chewy bread roll, earthy, macerated, yeasty apple, sweet grass and bitter herbs, musty mushrooms, caramel cremes and tobacco shreds.

Feel is chewy, medium-thick bodied and gently carbonated. It slides down the gullet like butter.

Freaking delicious. A smooth and easy-drinking lager with twice the flavour and character of a beer twice its size.

Consumed 3/9/18

A: Deep gold with some amber tones - not crystal clear, but clear - pours with a medium sized off-white head, fades to a few wisps, retains a medium small collar and leaves some streaks of lacing

S: Bread and grains - freshly baked bread, bread dough, bread crust, biscuits, pretzels, cereal - decidedly grainy with some pale and caramel grains - faint touches of grass and some lager yeast - light sweetness and light fruit - lingering grainy bread aroma

T: Imagine a multigrain bread that is highly refreshing - bread, grainy bread, bread crust, biscuits, pretzels, toast - grainy, rustic crackers - some light notes of grass - some light pepper and spice from lager yeast - low bitterness - low sweetness, touch of fruit, perhaps a hint of grape - lingering bready goodness in the finish

M: Medium body, smooth and chewy, medium carbonation, finish could be cleaner, but maybe a Zwickel shouldn't actually have a clean finish

O: EM-POUR

Ah, Emelyn in a can. I've had this many times on tap, but now I can sit down at home and give it a proper review. Compared to many other styles, I have neglected Keller/Zwickels, so I do not have a ton of perspective. That being said, I have yet to have a Zwickel better than Emelyn. It's delightfully bready and grainy while also being very bright and refreshing. Consider the score a work in progress as I explore this style more.

 

 

 

 

 

Amber color with a very light haze. Modest head but the bubbles remain as thin layer on top. Good combination of blanketing / streaky lace.

The smell is earthy with a deeply toasted malt.

The taste is a heavily hopped Vienna styled lager. Good, dark malt base but the straight up hop bitterness dominates. The body is notably and surprisingly thin. Slightly low on the carbonation. Overall, this beer reminds me of the classic Bitter.