Vernal Genesis
Nepenthe Brewing Co.
- From:
- Nepenthe Brewing Co.
- Maryland, United States
- Style:
- Maibock
- ABV:
- 6.9%
- Score:
- +2 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 3.77 | pDev: 5.31%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 5
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Apr 25, 2026
- Added:
- Feb 12, 2021
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
-
-
To awaken you from your hibernal slumber. This love letter to German malt will keep you warm as we make the transition into Spring. Made from Pilsner, Vienna, and Munich. Hopped for balance with just enough Hallertau Mittelfrüh and lovingly lagered for several weeks. A deep burnished gold with a rich, bready, subtly sweet maltiness and a toasty complexity that gives way to a crisp, easy finish. It’s almost time to emerge from our collective hibernation.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by Spankyrightus from Maryland
3.79/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.79/5 rDev +0.5%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
On draught. A golden pour with a thin head and little lacing.
The flavor is malty, and somewhat interesting. The hops “just enough Hallertau” hops in the description doesn’t match the flavor. I’m guessing the Hallertauer was the lesser percentage.
The beer is fairly crisp on the finish with a lingering sweet tea flavor.
Apr 25, 2026The flavor is malty, and somewhat interesting. The hops “just enough Hallertau” hops in the description doesn’t match the flavor. I’m guessing the Hallertauer was the lesser percentage.
The beer is fairly crisp on the finish with a lingering sweet tea flavor.
Reviewed by BeerAndGasMasks from Virginia
3.77/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.77/5 rDev 0%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
From the 12 ounce can, it pours a clear amber color with a very nice off-white head that slowly diminishes and leaves lacing. The nose gets some roasted malts with grassy notes. The mouth gets a slightly caramelly maltiness, not overwhelming, followed by a light malt aftertaste.
Jun 26, 2025
Reviewed by tone77 from Pennsylvania
3.68/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
3.68/5 rDev -2.4%
look: 4 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
Poured from a 12 oz. can. Has a very dark golden color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of malts, bread. Taste is the same as the aroma, slightly sweet, light hops are present. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is a refreshing and decent beer.
Jun 30, 2022Reviewed by hman43 from North Carolina
3.99/5 rDev +5.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
3.99/5 rDev +5.8%
look: 3.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Look: It pours light amber with a bit of haze to it. It has an off white head that has very good head retention.
Smell: It has a strong bready and toasted quality with a little bit of sweetness in the aroma. There is a bit of spice in the background and it is clean.
Taste: The flavors are strongly toasted with some bread and a bit of sweetness. The sweetness becomes a bit more pronounced towards the finish. There is a bit of spiciness and pepper in support.
Feel: It has a medium body with clean bitterness.
Overall, good maibock which is good for drinking in the spring weather.
Mar 19, 2021Smell: It has a strong bready and toasted quality with a little bit of sweetness in the aroma. There is a bit of spice in the background and it is clean.
Taste: The flavors are strongly toasted with some bread and a bit of sweetness. The sweetness becomes a bit more pronounced towards the finish. There is a bit of spiciness and pepper in support.
Feel: It has a medium body with clean bitterness.
Overall, good maibock which is good for drinking in the spring weather.
Reviewed by mynie from Maryland
3.34/5 rDev -11.4%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.34/5 rDev -11.4%
look: 2.75 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Bit early for a maibock, I guess, but I got a hankering for something malty and there ain't too many such options these days.
Also, good god these guys suck at naming their beers.
4 pack picked up at the brewery. Canned on 1/29, consumed on 2/11.
Pour is a dark amber, filtered, with a nice white head. Right on for the style.
Aroma is quite promising for an American-brewed bock. Wonderful malt profile of caramel and nutty biscuits with some yeasty brightness tossed in. Nothing seems extract-y.
Flavor is good: firm but not aggressive, tasty but not overwhelming (pretty impressive, considering the ABV). Not as crisp as the top-tier German iterations of the style, but still good.
EDIT:
I got about halfway through the pint can and the beer's character really changed on me. It began to kind of fall apart, like my initial impression was one of those cardboard cutouts reading BARBER SHOP and SALOON that they'd lean up as scenery in old westerns.
Nepenthe really knows how to make a beer that seems at a glance like it's good to great but then when you get to know it, it's just a medium-high quality homebrew with a lot of adulterants added to it.
Feb 12, 2021Also, good god these guys suck at naming their beers.
4 pack picked up at the brewery. Canned on 1/29, consumed on 2/11.
Pour is a dark amber, filtered, with a nice white head. Right on for the style.
Aroma is quite promising for an American-brewed bock. Wonderful malt profile of caramel and nutty biscuits with some yeasty brightness tossed in. Nothing seems extract-y.
Flavor is good: firm but not aggressive, tasty but not overwhelming (pretty impressive, considering the ABV). Not as crisp as the top-tier German iterations of the style, but still good.
EDIT:
I got about halfway through the pint can and the beer's character really changed on me. It began to kind of fall apart, like my initial impression was one of those cardboard cutouts reading BARBER SHOP and SALOON that they'd lean up as scenery in old westerns.
Nepenthe really knows how to make a beer that seems at a glance like it's good to great but then when you get to know it, it's just a medium-high quality homebrew with a lot of adulterants added to it.
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