Fundamental
Suarez Family Brewery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On tap at Suarez Family Brewery, paired with their absolute incredible sesame pretzel, in Livingston NY.

This one pours a very light clear amber color, with a medium sized tight head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like crackery and bready malt, water crackers, toasted biscuit, grassy hops, and light yeastiness.

As expected, this is a fairly true to style Vienna. If you want bangin' traditional lagers, this is the place to go.

What is there to say? Dan is a genius. A master craftsman. Every beer he makes is either straight-up perfect or incredibly close to it. This is a Vienna lager for chrissakes. I mean I like Sam Adams and Elliot Ness, don’t get me wrong, but neither has inspired me to come on here and write a review about it.

Fundamental is basically perfect. Honestly don’t know how it could be improved upon. On the nose you get warm toast, slight caramel, buttered popcorn, touch of indistinct spices. On the palate it’s a bit sweet and bready (like lightly toasted whole wheat), touch of cookies or kettle corn (just a touch), with notes of pepper and minerality. The bitterness level is mild, really just there to keep it from ending too sweet. Mouthfeel and carbonation are perfect. Tight and taut. I can’t believe I’m geeking out over a goddamn Vienna lager but shit man this stuff is amazing.

 

i will never get overly amped up about a true to style vienna lager, its not going to happen, but with the suarez name on it, i had to try, having been exposed to so little of their beer, my curiosity made me order this. its a downright solid beer, traditional and very professionally done, still somewhat unexciting, but they have a great recipe for the style here and executed it well. clear amber in color with a brassy sheen, and a nice inch of white head on it from the tap. the aroma is pleasantly sweet, slightly nutty, a warming kilned malt complexion to it, and enough of a european flare from the malt and the yeast for it to be old worldy for me. a mineral profile is evident in the taste, a light toffee sweetness, and a baked bready warmth, faint almond, caramel, and toasted biscuit to it as well, nice depth while keeping it plenty drinkable. carbonation is there, texture is expansive but crisp for a red beer, patiently lagered i would imagine. overall this isnt a style that moves me much, but this lived up to the high quality expectation i have for these guys, after hearing about their beer for so long. i could drink a dozen of these, and would be proud of it if i had brewed it...