Amber
Front Street Brewery

 

 

An amber Vienna lager, on tap at Front Street brewery during my last trip to Wilmington. Munich and chocolate malts, and hopped w/ Aurora and Saaz.

Appearance: Arrives a hazed ... well, a hazed amber, darker than many Vienna lagers or even American ambers, likely do the addition of the chocolate malts. The head retention is solid, and the beer arrives with nearly one full finger of lightly tanned fuzz atop it, fading ultimately to a thick foamy collar and a fair amount of side glass lacing, sheet-like in places, impressively enough.

Aroma: Caramel malts appropriately dominate the landscape, though they're accompanied by lighter and heavier malt notes - honey, toffee - as well as a few faint fruity overtones, typical of the active yeast strains one often finds in styles like this brewed in local brewpubs. Soft but nice.

Taste: Relatively neutral tasting, with the same caramel malts dominating the fairly dry landscape, though the aforementioned honey, earth, and toast accompany the roast. There's plenty of hop presence, however - I initially pegged it as Amarillo, but I can definitely taste the Saaz grassyness now that I read the menu. The bitterness is mild but noticeable, balancing well whatever unattenuated sugars remain.

Mouthfeel: Very even, subtle, smooth, and even slightly creamy, amplifying well most aspects of this beer's flavor profile. Easily its best component.

Drinkability: Quite drinkable, though I could have done with a little more flavor, particularly on the malt side of things - I've always been a fan of bolder but still restrained Vienna lagers (look to Great Lakes for the quintessential example, now distributed in North Carolina!). As it stands, this is a solid brew and a good addition to their lineup, however.