Rye Lagger - Chestnut Casks
Transient Artisan Ales

Chestnut Cask aged German helles with rye.

I’ve now had the base beer and this, a variant.

Pours slightly tan, just a shade darker than what I’d expect from a helles. Tremendous foaming, and impressive head retention.

The chestnut aroma hits first, unmistakably, with a somewhat zesty lemony-citrus note on the back end. Wonderfully effervescent, with the flavors more evenly balanced on the sip. This was my summer solstice beer, sipped while the longest day of the year came to a close.

A - Pours a lightly hazed amber with a large fluffy white head. Heavy amount of soapy lacing.

S - Aroma is lager yeast, cereal grains and red apple.

T - The taste is red apple, caramel, toasted biscuit, crackery malts and finishing with some spicy rye.

M - Medium body with medium carbonation. Soft mouthfeel with a nice crisp finish.

O - Really solid Helles. Nice amount of fruity sweetness throughout. Rye adds a nice spiciness on the finish. Would happily drink again.

Many thanks to BigIronH for this beer.

Bottled on: ?????

A - Light to medium straw gold color with vibrant carbonation and a big three fingered rocky white head.

S - Light spiciness on the nose, some oak, and light malt with a slight bit of earthy hops.

T - Light grain malt base sweetness followed with a nip of caramel sweetness on the backside along with earthy hops for a balanced finish. There's a touch of sweet malt and earthy citrus.

M - Big medium body with lots of gentle carbonation on the tongue giving way to a soft finish. Initially finishes on the wetter side but quickly morphs into a dry finish.

O - This is a really easy drinker and highly recommended.

Had on tap. Clear pale golden body with a large head and moderate lacing. Rye and dark wood from the barrel lead the nose with floral hops and lager yeast coming in lightly. Taste adds a lot, dry earth and biscuit up front to the malt and yeast, with the barrel and rye in the middle, finishes with everything before plus grassy hops, cracker and wood root in the finish. A lot going on, could see this being polarizing but it works for me. Feel is heavy for a lager, very chewy and full too. Not the cleanest beer in the world but decently balanced that the lager shines through the barrel with good rye textures.

Courtesy of JohnnyHops.

 

Pours a crystal clear golden color with a two finger white head that stuck around for a bit.

Aroma is classic Helles with a touch of rye spice and something a bit more from what I’m assuming are the casks. Grain, bright and clean cracker malt, touch of sulfur, rye spice, touch of sweetness, slight musty cask, there’s a juicy fruit presence I can’t put my finger on.

Taste follows the aroma nicely. Bright grain and cracker malt presence, musty cask, definite rye spice, sulfur, that weird juicy presence (almost like purple grape), earthy hops. There’s spice and slight bitterness on the back end from the cask and rye. Super complex for 5%.

High medium body. Soft and pillowy (especially considering the light abv), nice carbonation, slick, clean.

The casks and addition of rye add a lot of complexity to such a simple, yet well-made Helles. Not many other breweries would do this kind of beer, but that’s why I love this brewery. I really dig this one.