La Niña
Lost Grove Brewing

strong bock, a total bastardization of the term helles, which is what they call it. its hazy as can be and quite heavy to drink, i get that this is appropriate for this time of year, but to me this comes across more as a weizenbock which allows for the wheaty haze, all the body, and even some of the estery yeast elements that a cleaner helles type would not have. this almost has that hefeweizen yeast profile. strange for a lager indeed, but the beer overall is enjoyable if you can get past the name and style confusion. things like banana and white pepper and green pear come out in the nose and taste, especially as it warms up a bit, and this definitely seems wheat based to me. i wish it was a little bit more refined, but it does hide its alcohol pretty well, and it has lots of flavor, just seems a little amateurish, especially after all the recent progress it seems like they have been making in the overall quality of their beer. still, this is a fine spring sipper, just not the clean german lager style they seem to be presenting it as. its great to see so many new beers from these guys flowing around town in recent weeks!

16oz crowler from brewery. Clear golden, small head dissipates. Sweet malty aroma. Taste also lays squarely on the sweet malts; oily, creamy feel, and a small zippy hop finish. At 8.4% , the ABV shows for some nice warmth.