Heirloom Lager
Union Craft Brewing Company

L- Pours dark copper/ black with good head retention and lacing

S- Roasted barley and caramel. No smokiness detected

T- roasted barley and caramel notes light to medium bitter

F- light body under carbonated

O- A very enjoyable malty lager. Not as smoky as expected.

Look: It pours brown with a creamy tan head. Head retention is excellent.

Smell: The aroma has a medium level of smoke with a low level of bacon. It has some medium low levels of caramel. There is a very low herbal hop note in the background.

Taste: It is smoky in the flavor with more of a wood smoke with very low levels of bacon. It has low levels of caramel and medium low levels of herbal hops.

Feel: It has a medium body an a slight harshness with the smoke.

Overall, a good smoky beer but a little edge of the harshness would have made it a great smoky beer.

Pours a nice, translucent shade of amber brown. Smell is strong, pine notes are prominent but mild bordering on seaweed. Has a warm, nutty, smokey taste. Otherwise typical malty notes, goes down light and easily. Somewhat weak-bodied, might have preferred a bit more heft to accompany the warmer flavors. Overall a very pleasant offering.

Won't argue the style being classified as a dunkel, but there is little indication on the label that it is even a brown beer except maybe the adjective "smokiness". Nevertheless, the dark brown body had ruby accents, a small, fast fading beige head and decent lacing. Nice aroma, picking up chocolate, coffee, nuttiness and a little of the smoke previously mentioned. Malt driven taste, smooth and down-to-earth, bittersweet but not cloying. Hops are understated, even in the aftertaste. Smokiness is subtle. Pleasant local offering; recommended if you can find it.

The can declares this is an “Old World Lager” but I’d argue this qualifies for the Rauchbier category but no biggie. I seem to recall a batch at the old Union tap room years ago with a maize-colored Rauchbier (“Schmoke”) named after one of Baltimore’s legendary mayors. Anywho...

L: Beautiful dark almond color with an impressive 1” head that fades but lingered as I plowed ahead;

S: Toasted, bready malts characteristic of a dunkel, bock or Helles. The smoke (beechwood?) is unmistakable but not intrusive;

T: Maltier than I’d have expected. Bock-like in a way but the smoke sets this apart. Delicious.

F: Pillowy carbonation makes this go down easy. Smokey hue doesn’t linger which is nice. The earlier Rauchbier (“Schmoke”) was much smokier and overpowered anything else you’d want to drink that night;

O: Fantastic fall or winter offering. Very sessionable and something that ideally would make Union’s seasonal rotation while at the same time, introducing drinkers to an underrated style.

 

Outstanding German dark lager.