Vienna Red
Altstadt Brewery

It’s red, imagine that.
Clear, dark copper, medium off-white head.
Caramel, toasted bread, spice cake in the aroma.
Taste is similar to the aroma. More bitterness than I expected, perhaps 10-20% less would make it better?
Medium to light mouthfeel.
I really like it, I haven’t had any imports to compare it to, other than the two I’ve had from Mexico, so I’m not sure what to judge it from.
In my opinion, it’s probably too dark and a little too bitter for the style.
It’s an excellent beer from an excellent brewery. I’ve had nearly all of their beers and they’ve all been great. I hope to visit the brewery, I’ve seen it from the outside and it looks surreal.

12oz can with a best by date of 6/30/26...opened 5/23/26.
2 finger sand colored rocky head with great retention.
Orange-amber body with aggressive carbonation racing up, bright but not clear. Full lacing.
Caramel, toffee, and a light whiff of leafy/earthy hops in the aroma.
Toast, grain, caramel and toffee...tastes like it smells.
Medium body with high carbonation and a deep maltiness that lingers long in the finish. Enough hops here to provide a good balance and keep this from ever getting too sweet for a malt driven brew.
Very Good.

A: Pours a dark reddish/orange color. A white head tries to rise to about two fingers. Though that recedes rather quickly to a ring. Some spotty and filmy lace left behind.
S: Toasted malts and bread. Cereal grains, and a dusty, doughy yeast cake aroma.
T: Follows the nose, with toasted malts and cereal grains. I would like a more nuanced malt character especially for the style.
M/O: A medium body and moderate carbonation. That becomes clean and smooth. The sum is greater than the parts here, as this is enjoyable to drink.

I love Vienna malts, and the Vienna Lager style in general. This is a nice, but not exceptional version of the style. For me the malt character should be more nuanced, as is, just kind of average. Which isn't bad at all, actually still very enjoyable to drink. Just a bit more malty complexity would make this excellent for me though.

 

 

12 oz. can poured into pilsner glass
(6/2/26 best-by date printed on 6-pack box)

L: clear amber-copper topped by 1/2-inch head of creamy looking white/offwhite foam that sticks a little; keeps a full collar and thin but full skin; no major lacing

S: fresh baked bread, crusty bread, toasted pretzel, cinnamon roll or a freshly baked honey bun; as it warms it gets a little sweeter, pushing into raisin bread

T: darker than the nose suggests, dark toast, burnt pizza crust, yeast, earthy ... it's not so much bitter as earthy and heavily toasted over the first few sips, but the more I get into the glass, the lighter those dark notes become and it starts to show a bit of balancing sweetness; at times it does have a bit of the copper penny flavor I get from American-made Vienna lagers and Oktoberfest/Marzens ... it's not overpowering but is present

F: slick and crisp at the same time, a heavy lightweight or light middleweight overall, very silky for a lager in a good way

O: I was hoping a for a bit more sweetness from this one, more in line with the German imports I've had in the style, but if I'm disappointed it's only because Alstadt has set such a high bar — everything I've had from them has been first class; this one isn't quite up there, but it's also a style that seems to elude American brewers more than a lot of the other German lager styles; it's still a good beer, easy to enjoy, just not one I'll likely revisit after I finish the 6-pack

 

 

Never tasted a beer from Altstadt I didn't like. Really enjoyed the crisp, smooth, and carbonated mouth feel of this one, but I do feel the flavor is a bit bland. While I enjoyed this one, in my opinion, the Altstadt altbier offers all this one's strengths with better flavor to boot.

12 oz can into a Pilsner glass.
Look: Clear copper with 1.5 fingers of beige head. Retention is moderate.
Smell: Strength of smell is almost medium. Somewhat sweet malt, caramel, brown bread, a slight herbal note. It has a fresh clean scent.
Taste: Moderately-high in strength of taste. It follows the nose with more complexity, depth of flavor and much more of a herbal hops flavor than the smell suggests but moderate bitterness as fits the style.
Feel: Somewhat less than medium thickness. Soft, smooth, slightly creamy, dry finish. Low astringency.
Overall: It fits the style and is made with care and high quality ingredients. It's the best Vienna Lager I've had yet. Watch out Live Oak. Altstadt is making some seriously outstanding traditional German beers.

Seems to peg the style for taste, crispy with residual sweetness and a delicious caramel flavor on top of the malt. Hops are quite plentiful tho not overdone. It's full bodied and full flavored, not as subtle as one might expect from this style.

Altstadt has pretty much knocked it out of the park, or at least gotten a place at the big boy's table, on every beer I've tried from them so far. I preferentially go for the altstadt if everything else is equal bc they have yet to disappoint me even once. Their beers aren't just a safe bet tho. They are some of the finest beers in Texas

 

best by date seems to be in Dec 2025? Drank 10/16/25
pour is a l,clear, ight amber with a beige head. moderate retention.
nose is toasted bread crust, toasty grain, toffee, honey - very inviting
Taste follows. Toasted grain, toffee, nutty, caramel, honey, bread crust
smooth, crisp, easy to drink.

A delicious beer. Very flavorful.

Copper pour, decent head. Nose is roasted grain.

Taste shows toast, medium kilned malt, earthy, lightly herbal, touch toffee. Light mouthfeel. Finish is smooth roasted malt, touch sweet.