Woodland Lager
Tonewood Brewing - Barrington

16oz can purchased from the fridge as a single for $3.10. Canned on 2/4/21, so this is almost 8 months old.

Look: Pours a very light golden / straw color. Clear beer until the bottom of the can, which became a bit cloudy. A very thin foamy white head clings to the sides of the glass.

Smell: Has a bit of sulfured lager aroma. Some very light floral and toasty aromas. Has a nice tea biscuit aroma. Not a very aromatic nose.

Taste: This is very quaffable. It's light and slightly fruity (white grape) up front, and the aftertaste is very mildly tannic and mouth-drying, also slightly sweet notes with some vanilla on the finish. Also some peppery notes on the finish. It's interesting.

Feel: It's very light-bodied. Highly carbonated, as a lager should be. Very easy to drink.

Overall: It's an interesting beer. It's not spectacular, but I think that it deserves points for being more different and unique. Overall, it's a tasty and refreshing lager.

Note: My 200th beer review.

Pours a nice gold with so foam to speak of. Smell is breads and malts....maybe some herbal notes. Taste follows pretty closely. Medium fizz. Not bad.

 

 

Tonewood Brewing "Woodland Lager"
16 fl. oz. can coded "FOEDER 9/21/20 RICH MAHOGANY". Sampled on 02/03/21.
$3.49 @ Roger Wilco, Pennsauken, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: A basic lager done in a foeder? OK. It's poured a somewhat hazy straw gold in color (think Belgian witbier) beneath a finger's width of rocky bright white foam. The aroma is grainy, earthy, grassy, floral, and woody but it's not really what I think of when I think of woodiness in beer. It smells like a stack of wet wood rather than refined "oak". I was initially reminded of something in my grandmother's house, or maybe something from summer camp - it's not bad, it's just not what I was expecting. On to the taste... it's basically the same with the woody side toned down. It's straightforward grain, and then the earth and grass and wood. Here I'll call it oak. There's a touch of acidity to it. I'm not finding any distinctive hop flavors but it's generally floral and herbal. It's got a median bitterness, and along with the acidity and some astringency it finishes quite dry. There's a light note of vanilla that I get towards the swallow, but that disappears in the finish as it dries and some of the herbs and flowers come forward. The head has held up well and I still have a complete surface covering, although thin, and the lacing is really nice with wide sheets that look like tattered cheese cloth hung up. It's medium-light in body and gently crisp. I could personally take this or leave it, but it is interesting.
Review #7,186

Aroma is prominent and pops out of the glass. It’s very earthy, herbal and floral. It smells very very good, I just want to keep smelling it.

Wow the taste is not what I was expecting based on the smell at all. I mean yes those things mentioned are there but it’s more cracker, biscuit type stuff with a touch of oak the other stuff takes the back seat.

Mouthfeel is pleasant, light but on the medium side of light. There is a nice subtle sweetness and it finishes super dry, my only critique is too much so maybe, but not gonna let it get in the way. Super low bitterness, just the right amount for this beer.

Look is gold. Small white head on top with lacing that sticks around. Smells of crackers. Hay. Cut grass. Woods. Vanilla. Flavors follow the nose. Hops are herbaceous. Feel is very full almost chunky.

Awesome to have so local.

A: pours a straw yellow body with small white head with ok retention and lacing.
S: sweet, beer juice smell, light toffee notes
T: sweet, malty taste with a sweet, malty finish
M: light bodied and crisp; refreshing
O: decent mouthfeel and taste combo; ok overall

Look: Pours translucent and cloudy. Straw color. A gorgeous, bone white, fluffy head with great retention. Some visible carbonation. Lacing and suds as I drink.

Smell: It smells crisp from the grassy hop notes. A little biscuity sweetness. It’s not bursting out of the glass, but it smells very nice.

Taste: It has an approachable level of grassy and bitter hoppiness that puts me in Germany. Finishes clean and bready. If I was drinking this beer blind I would not say it’s oak aged. The can says notes of oak and soft vanilla. I can see it, but not obvious. Delicate. It would be great to try this against the base beer not aged in oak.

Feel: Light bodied, medium plus level of carbonation which works great. Semi-dry.

Overall: Really nice beer. I love seeing unique local beers like this. More wood-aged lagers I say.

(16 oz can, 8/26/20, 5% abv; purchased cold 4-pk at the brewery... poured into a 14 oz glass mug)

L: lightly-hazy, yellow-amber colored liquid; white foam crumbling during pour, later all but disappearing, including collar; no lace

S: doughy white bread, touch of toasted cereal grain, subtle citrus rind note, faint earthy, lactic(?) sweat; band-aid phenols lingering out on the edges

T: definite vanilla and forest floor from the wood straight outta the gate, the former of which carries long through the finish, lingering in the aftertaste while being met with a mellow swell of fresh oak... barrel character reminds me ever so slightly of Innis & Gunn's original... the phenol aroma carries over into a very delicate musty basement shading at the back of the palate; a delightful, rustic blemish... lovely bready, dry-grassy malt backbone; wonderfully dry with a well-measured balance of herbal hop (and wood-tannic?) bitterness... citrus blossoms and peel oils slowly emerge in the aftertaste...

F: moreish, crackin' bitter stun on the tongue; smooth, sanded-dry flow; ghostly finish, nearly parching, with a subtle warmth building and lingering... though it lacks roundness in its body (substance), its tapered, streamlined follow-through makes it dangerously chug-worthy

O: excellent debut... very much wanted to try this as soon as I found out about it (a day or two ago), and I wasn't disappointed... quite looking forward to seeing them develop and improve this one (or their technique in another brew)... I'll easily crush the other 3; more of things like this please (1675)