Lager
Gisberga - Reina de Aragón

i have few enthusiasms more robust than tracking down and drinking the yellow lagers of the world, especially the crafty ones, and i was elated to find this one today, something i have never seen before from a brewery i am totally unfamiliar with, pretty awesome score! pricey for a little bottle at six bucks a go, but such is the nature of the game sometimes. i was a little disappointed when i first got a whiff, like its been in the bottle awhile and is a little oxidized, which is also often the case with these, but as i pour it into a small teku and wait for the high white head to settle down enough to take a pull, i start to appreciate a lot in the aroma, dried flowers, fresh apricots, peachy sweetness and hay, soft white pepper and a tickle of raw honey, really dynamic, some lager yeast too of course, really appealing although obviously less than fresh. the flavor is very good too, it comes in waves and is enormously complex and nuanced compared to the style norm, which makes me feel immediately awesome about my purchase. maybe i am over rating this because i am just so excited to have something so different in the glass, especially just called a lager, but i love how much is going on. really yeast driven, and i agree with the other reviewer here that this could definitely be a saison type hybrid, at least in terms of how the yeast presents itself, sort of herbal and peppery and fully earthy and rustic, even a little wild, but there is the bready lager element there too and the minerals from the water coming up to highlight it. pretty malty too, off dry, notes of honey and sweet orange and even elderflower, some bitter dry hoppy bite to the end too, really all the elements are here. its fluffy feeling, bottle conditioned effervescence too to me, and a long slightly sharp finish, absolutely gorgeous. warms up well, and even though there is some sediment towards the bottom, it doesnt slow this down at all. a truly artisan lager here, really different and saison-esque and good. yum!

A: The beer is clear yellow in color and has a moderate to high amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a three finger high pillowy white head that has very good retention properties and took a long time to settle down, leaving lots of thick lacing down the sides of the glass. The appearance got darker and cloudier as the bottom contents of the bottle were poured out into the glass.
S: Light to moderate aromas of spicy yeast are present in the nose along with hints of pale malts.
T: The taste follows the smell and has lots of flavors of spicy yeast along with notes of pale malts.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied and slightly clean on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: This beer was quite yeasty and in some aspects seems like it is a hybrid between a lager and a saison.

Serving type: bottle