1903 Vienna Lager
Frog Alley Brewing Co.

 

Poured into a glass tankard. Beautfiul Vienna style lager. Caramel colored. Nose and taste offer toffee and bread. Sweet malt and a hop bitterness. Great mouthfeel - crushable. Lots of brewers making this kind of lager, and they got this one right.

 

 

 

Taster at brewery. Light amber pour, clear body, spotty head. Sweet caramelly aroma, toasted malts. Taste is toasty, malty, toffee notes. Overall thin feel

 

 

Frog Alley Brewing Co. "1903 Vienna Lager"
16 fl. oz. can, "PKG 6/30/21 11:49" and sampled on 08/28/21

Look: It pours a somewhat hazy amber colored body beneath a thumb's width of just slightly yellowed off-white foam that holds fairly well before dwindling. The head retention really should be better, and the lacing is non-existent. Finally, the clarity is technically not acceptable although everyone in America seems to be doing unfiltered beers now so whatever - no dings on that.
Smell: Clean and malty with sweetish grain that's bready with an edge of toastiness.
Taste: The taste is as the aroma suggests it will be but with a little bit of an added, apple-like fruitiness that's probably coming from Vienna malts. That could be the yeast as well but it's 100% acceptable as it is regardless. It's balanced but the bitterness is just a touch low. There's a smear of herbal and leafy/grassy hops to it but not much, which is perfectly fine. It's also slightly acidic and astringent, and they probably need to adjust their mash water a bit. Overall it's OK though.
Feel: Medium-light in body with a moderate carbonation that gives it a delicate caress on the tongue at first but a smoother, almost creamy finish.
Overall: I don't want to say 'most', but a lot of American brewers over-do the Vienna style taking it into Märzen territory, and that's not the case here, which is great. Unfortunately the malt they're using is not the best, and I'm guessing it's Briess but it might be something more locally produced. There are also some production issues that need to be addressed but overall this is a very good interpretation of the Vienna lager style.
Review #7,351

Too sweet in a bad way for my palate.

 

 

 

 

par for the course as vienna lager goes, at least for me, at times light and at times a little richer, best when its ice cold, but still not the most refreshing type of lager, generally speaking. light copper colored this one, with a pretty good head on it and decent clarity. it smells nice and classic on the malt side, toasted and sweet but without a long cooked caramelization or anything making it heavy. no more than balancing hops at the end of this in the smell, and a loosely german lager yeast, but not particularly robust in the mix, this remains grain driven. the flavor is a little fuller than the nose, some hints of brown sugar, almond, toffee, pine needles, and rising dough, but the yeast aspect still seems minimal to me. the beer is very fresh, and that always helps with these i think, and i get more hops here than i could smell. a slightly americanized take on the style then, but probably still fits within traditional style guidelines. ive never been passionate about vienna lager, and this did nothing to change me on that front, but its a pretty well made beer and a good example of the style. if you dig these, youll dig this one too.