Lost River Lager
Sawtooth Brewery

 

Review: 2094
Name: Lost River Lager
Brewery: Sawtooth Brewing
Location: Hailey, ID
Style: Helles
ABV: 4.6%
Date: 03/05/2024
On this sunny, hot day in Idaho, I embarked on my beer review journey with the Lost River Lager. The beer poured into my Michelob flute glass, created a two-fingered, bright white, frothy, and creamy head. The slow dissipation of the head left behind a beautiful lacing on the glass. With an opacity of SRM 2, the beer has a light straw color, and the carbonation bubbles add a lively touch. The beer's appearance is above average, setting the stage for a delightful sensory experience.
The aromas begin with light crackers and phenolic notes, similar to band-aids. The hop profile has a light floral blossom, white pepper, and grassy notes. I was expecting the phenols to have a dominant role in the nosing. The malts do lean towards being skosh-sweet. Following the guidelines for Hells, the aroma has the potential to be average.
I noticed a cooked cabbage note, similar to DMS, and an off-flavor in the beer. This off-flavor, often associated with poor brewing practices or improper storage, significantly affected the beer's taste. I am not getting much of the Helles flavor because of the phenolic (band-aid) and the DMS challenge tasting the beer. The flavors I notice are crackers, light malty sweetness, floral blossoms, white pepper, and herbal.
The mouthfeel is astringent and tannic, which can be attributed to the high carbonation and the specific malts used in the brewing process. It finishes dry, leaving a clean and refreshing aftertaste. The body is light and has high carbonation, contributing to the beer's crisp and effervescent character.
Lost River is a beer that leaves me with mixed feelings; I know that the brewers did not mean for this beer to taste like this. Was the product mishandled or stored improperly? Sadly, many beers that I consumed from Sawtooth have been underwhelming. I was hoping for a different result, but I did not get a different result. This is a disappointment that I can't help but express.

Clear gold color, small white head, a little bit of lace.
Grainy, bready aroma.
Taste of bread, sweet. Light hops late.
Crisp and clean. Very easy to drink.

i had this on tap but was immediately thinking that i hope they can it, if they havent already, its a great addition to their lineup but also the local scene here needs more well refined and crushable lager, this really is quite expertly done, and it would be a regular in my fridge if they did package it. apparently all idaho grain and hops in this one, which seems increasingly common, i knew we were doing some hops here, but neat to see the malt side coming along as well. its a little lighter even than a classic helles, less european character to the grain for me, and more yellow than golden, this is super pale and light beer, the bare minimum body without feeling watery too. i like what little i do get from the hops, slightly more modern than noble, but the dosage is right and there is a light bitter herbal element that does the trick just fine, this remains crisp and with the hops as an accent not a lead dog, right where they should be. there is a little bit of german quality to the yeast here i suppose, but it too is also light, a real theme for this one. the carbonation is real high so this hits like a summer ripper, but its subtly interesting as i let it sit, i like the hop profile a lot, mild as it is, and overall they have crafted an excellent light drinker here, something i will hopefully drink my share of this summer. the weather is finally here and now so is the beer for it, this exact thing was missing locally for me last summer...

12oz can from Boise Co-op. Pale golden, light cloudiness, fine white head. Grainy, biscuit malt aroma. Flavor is bready, crisp, edge of sweetness, small bitter bite at the end.