Vienna Lager
1323 R&D

 

Fantastic example of a Vienna. Loved it out of a tap when I first tried it, at a golf bar naturally called 'Bogeys'. My first thought upon tasting was "this is the best and truest American craft version of a German lager I've ever tasted". R&D's Vienna is also labeled as a 'Mexican Cervesa', and there's a backstory about Napolean and German influences in 19th century Mexican brewing, but this beer is far superior than any well-known Mexican beer, light, amber or dark, and many US craft re-takes, which are usually very thin, in need of a backbone, or have some novel twist in flavor/ingredients, like Huell Melon or Galena hops. R&D's Vienna has exceptional balance; slightly toasted, slightly sweet malt taste from start to finish, with noble hops just peeking out from sip to swallow. If Bitburger and Warsteiner had a baby it would be this. Lighter than most Marzens/Oktoberfests, but easily toeing that territory to where a beer snob would sip, pause, tilt head, and think 'hmm, an easy drinking Marzen'. But wait, the can says Mexican Cervesa. Anyhow, stopped caring about labels and BJCP categories and really only care about taste. Finally a US crafty matched the decoction smoothness of a real Bavarian product. I also had a 16oz can of the same, 3 months since brewed, and it was just as good as the draft version, but maybe a tad lighter. That could have been because the tap version, in a glass and a pretty caramel color, caused my eyes to taste something a bit sweeter with slightly more body. Either way, I am impressed.