El Vienna Especial
Holy Mountain Brewing Company - Interbay Brewery + Taproom

Somewhat clear brown body with a large khaki head. Smell has heavily toasted malt, burnt caramel, earth and dark grain yeast. Taste is similar, more malty and has earthy hops to go with toasty overlord. Body marked by malt smoothness in sneaky large body for style. A bit unwieldy for the vision

 

 

can into glass
Slightly rocky, off-white, medium thick head. Lovely, medium golden orange and honey appearance. Heavily caramelized malt and a little woody and spiced honey, for the the aroma. Slightly bold Vienna lager flavor, with a little brashness to it. Flavors are a very light wood tinged, medium toast malts.

16oz can

Pours three massive fingers of fluffy off-white head into my Willi; quickly gets pretty soapy. Retention is average and the head steadily fades over the course of a few minutes. Lacing is somewhat consistent, but undermined by its soapy lather. Body is copper colored, crystal clear, with a small amount of bubbles coming up. Once the head fades it looks pretty subpar.

Nose has some decent malty depth, especially compared to other examples of this style. The mineral quality keeps it firmly grounded on the lighter side of lagers. Smells decent.

Flavor has an almost burnt malt quality to it at first, smooths out over time, but certainly has a firm malt backbone. Very hoppy, though it seems like mostly early hop additions, not extremely flavorful in that regard. A lot of these qualities are more feel than flavor, but I like it despite the subtlety.

Extremely light bodied. Carbonation is on the higher side. Definitely on the drier side, and that is amplified by the pronounced bitterness. Mouthfeel is appropriate, but stiff.

Drinkability is ok, but the dry bitterness gets a bit much at times.

Certainly an abrasive beer. It works well enough, but could definitely be more balanced.