Older Gods
Wayfinder Beer

 

Clear golden body with a full billowing white head, sporadic lacing. Smells of helles honey malt, big breadiness, slight grainy cracker, lemon slice, and pressed floral tones. Taste has big nutty hops floral tones and yeast also star, cracker, honey malt with earthy backing with faint grains and grass blades blowing in the breeze support, sneaky complex. Feel is yeasty and decently hoppy, full bodied, dries out in an estery way quickly, incredibly bakanced, springy, great beer. Now theologically the G in gods should be lower case, but as it is a title of an entry I get it

can into glass
light amount of alabaster head. Almost completely clear, medium light golden amber appearance. Moderate level of a slightly concentrated, spiced barley malt aroma. Slightly sharp character that overshadows the flavors and sticks around for a good while, to start off the taste. The taste is mainly a lightly spiced medium light toasted malt one, along with that sharpness.

A Tavour Treat. Pours a clear golden color with a minimal head that disappears quickly. Aroma of flora and grains. Taste is peppery and slightly bitter at the finish.

Clear, golden body; light carbonation presence; decent head, white, frothy, sticky. Big cracker-like grain scent; subtle herbal notes. The taste amplifies the wheat and cracker malt flavor; bread crust; grassy herbal tones; moderate level of hop bitterness; mineral tones. Medium-body; relatively smooth but with a subdued carbonation prickliness; warlessed soft residual sugar aspect.

Wayfinder done did well with this offering. A bold yet nuanced lager, bringing balance and depth to the drinking experience.

Pouring temperature: 46 °F; canning info: ALL HAIL FAZUZU! 02/03/23
Source: Tavour

 

Look: Semi-clear medium orange with an off-white head that builds up and quickly settles to a film, leaving minimal lacing behind
Aroma: Fresh-from-the-oven bread, raw dough, floral hops, cereal grains, and lightly toasted crust
Taste: Raw dough with a little sourdough note begins the journey and is quickly followed by nice floral hop notes that include lily magnolia, honeysuckle, and lilac. Fresh baked bread and grains hold the middle before dough and flowers return to close it out
Mouthfeel: Light but full, clean, medium-high carbonation, and clean and crisp but with some softness on the finish
Overall: This is a very satisfying Maibock. I love this style as it reminds me of the nearing spring and figured and hoped these folks would do it justice, which they have definitely accomplished. Lots of bready malt depth in this along with ample floral hops and the prototypical lighter-than-it-is feel and super clean finish. Recommended

 

16oz can from Tavour. Clear golden pour, head fades away. Malty aroma, sweet, bread. Taste is super malty, sweet, toffee. A strong malty streak runs through the back, almost bitter. Creamy texture

 

 

 

 

another gorgeous lager from these guys, sick can art on this one too, picked up a fresh four pack at the source and have been working my way through them, neat bock for this time of year, a little less outwardly malty and full than many, off dry but still well lagered, and slightly fuller feeling without being heavy. honey colored, highly radiant and clear, with an almost belgian looking two inches of airy bone white fluff on top, a stunned in the glass. nose here is slightly dusty like pale german malt, a little toasted nuttiness too familiar in the style but curious in the absence of a redder color in this, some familiar old world lager yeast here, very german as well, slight banana ester, warming spiciness, and a mineral profile from the water that i now recognize from some of their other brews. the flavor has some meat to the middle, surprisingly deep on the grain side for its color, honey nut cheerios, bready pils type malt, a long boiled richness and it does linger a little after the swallow, some noble hops for balance but no more, and perhaps a slightly warmer ferment, this lager strain seems particularly expressive in this one, especially as the beer sits a minute. slightly floral and springy as it warms too. this drinks light but not summer light, post winter and pre spring, ideal for this time of year, seems built for this weather, optimism about the coming longer days but with one foot in being sort of cozy and bigger. impressive quality, these guys really blew my mind when we visited, loving all of their beers, and it seems the hype is real pretty much across the board!

Canned 3 Feb and today's 16th. Pours a clear amber with a frothy head, rapidly fading away. Aroma is lager-biscuits. Very tasty, a cross between a regular Helles and the darker bock beers. Hence their name of "Heller Bock" (literally Light Bock) although the BA category is "mMibock". In any case, this is a very nice lager. Slightly sweet, mild bitterness, lots of malt. Could use a bit more carbonation because after a few minutes, it's a little flat.

 

 

Can from Market of Choice.

A clear gold with a dense white head with excellent retention and lacing. The nose is unique. Less bready, more fruity than most maibocks, a little rich plum and nice toast. A touch of caramel. The palate opens mildly bitter with toast, caramel, a little bread and a nice rich fruit. Soft confectionery sugar. Plum, golden raisins in white rum. Drying, bitter, softly creamy, lovely fruit. Hops linger in the finish. Great stuff.

16oz can

Pours nearly two fingers of white head into my Willi glass. Retention is pretty nice and the head lasts a couple minutes, settling into a solid film. Initial lacing looks pretty good. Body is golden yellow, crystal clear, with a medium amount of bubbles coming up. Looks good so far.

Nose is very toasty, even slightly nutty. Not sweet or dry, just a nice earthiness to the malt profile. Faint fruity esters, some spicy hops are definitely here as well. This is not like the malt bomb that other bocks are, and it doesn’t even try to seem sweet, even on the nose. Smells pretty much as advertised on BJCP, but the malts are a lot more reasonable than I was expecting. Pretty rustic, this is not messing around. I dig it.

Whoa, flavor comes through way different, holy moly. Malts blast you in the face with big toasted caramel notes. Spicy hops are quite noticeable as well. Fruity esters come through over time.

Mouthfeel is pretty light bodied. Noticeably sweeter than the nose, flirting with too sweet for my taste, not quite cloying. Bitterness is elevated, which was mostly expected from the nose, and it’s even more needed to balance things. Carbonation is quite high, and that plays well with the bitterness. It’s very crisp, but I can’t really call this dry, that sweetness is definitely here, it’s not just a malt taste. I’m pretty unfamiliar with the style so I can’t say this is inappropriate, even though it’s supposed to be “dry”.

Drinkability is pretty good considering its sugar level. Its crisp feel and flavor help push it through.

Lacing turned out poor, nothing there.

Overall I’d say the flavor and mouthfeel somehow work. It’s a peculiar beer, but the assertive hops do a good job of narrowly balancing this elevated sweetness. It’s pretty alive, and it has a big flavor. This is a really quality brew, and if it were a little more up my alley (ie slightly less sweet) I’d really love it.

16-ounce can purchased from Uptown Beer Co. Date stamp reads "REFRESH WITH THE BEST 05/17/21". Enjoyed in a half-pint tumbler.

Look:
Wayfinder Older Gods Heller Bock has a body that is bright yellow gold and haze-free. A careful pour raises a finger-tall head of creamy, long-lasting, bright white foam that yields plenty of gorgeous lacing.

Smell:
Starts with a tempting nose of rich, toasty malt that's not too sweet and becomes more doughy as it warms. Delicate notes of pears and floral hops. Finishes with spicy hops.

Taste:
The first taste delivers all the malt promised by the nose, enhanced with subtle notes of honey. The malt starts with a mellow sweetness that fades into a nutty character (roasted almonds and cashews) that is just delectable. The mild fruity character that's present in the nose is richer on the palate. Dates, maybe some raisin. A breath of floral and herbal notes (hint of fennel/licorice?) lead to a respectable bitterness. The semi-sweet finish is a lovely balance of toasty malt and spicy floral hops.

Feel:
Medium-full bodied and nicely rounded. Smooth with moderate carbonation and gentle alcohol warmth.

Overall:
Older Gods Heller Bock is another fine entry in Wayfinder's portfolio of exceptional beers. This is one of the best local maibocks I've had in the past few years, in a region which offers several fine examples of the style. Smooth, warming, rich with malt and beautifully balanced with hops, it is a lovely beer for a brisk spring afternoon. Highly recommended.