Lumberyard Lager
Tonewood Brewing - Barrington

 

 

Pours an amber color with a slight head and lacing
Aroma has malt hints
The taste follows the nose with a slight malt flavor
A light bodied well carbonated beer
A good lager

12 oz can. Pours pale straw with long lasting white head. Aroma is of grassy hops and biscuit malt. Body is light and crisp. Grassy, herbal hops and biscuit malt fill the mouth. Finish is medium and dry. Good brew.

 

 

This beer looked flat and ugly in a 16-ounce glass, so I transferred it to a 1950's vintage American Stange. In the Stange you can see there is at least moderate carbonation, and it retains a thin head. The color is pale yellow and slightly cloudy. There is some lacing. My Stanges can make PBR look amazing, so this is not staying much.

The aroma is unremarkable. The body is thinner than I would expect for a Helles. The hop flavors are its strong point. It is hoppier than most German beers, and for me that is a good thing. There is a pleasant hops aftertaste that lingers.

Overall it is a decent beer. It would go great with hotdogs or pretzels. It is much better than mass-produced lagers, American or German. It is better than okay. I would call it very good, but it is not outstanding.

 

 

 

 

12oz can purchased from the fridge as a single for $2.29. Canned on date says SHADY'S BBQ 05/10/22 so this beer is almost 10 1/2 months old. I think it will be fine though. It has been kept cold.

Look: Nice gold color with a soft haze and little floaties. Super white half-finger of head that is laden with small- and medium-sized bubbles.

Smell: Subtle lemon flavors along with a predominant bitter, earthy hop aroma along with subtle peppery notes. Light crackery malt also. Other whiffs give a very doughy malt aroma. Very faint honey notes.

Taste: I could drink a lot of this beer. It's nicely balanced. Up front, it has nice carbonation and those nice lemon and crackery malt notes from the nose. After the first sip, the finish did not get bitter right away (a bit of a delayed effect). After the bitterness came in, it is really earthy, slightly tannic, and mouth-drying. Lots of nice aromatic lemon flavors lingering in the mouth. This may actual have some mild skunk on it, but even if so it just actually works well with it. Reflecting on the flavors in my mouth, the Tettnang hops really do give it like an unsweetened lemon iced tea kind of vibe that is very interesting to experience in such a dry way.

Feel: Very clean, crisp, and refreshing. The mouthfeel is nice because being a Helles it has a fuller body than many other lagers. The finish is dry and makes you want to keep drinking more.

Overall: I've had several beers from Tonewood and I think that I have liked just about all of them - lagers, Pale Ales, and IPAs. This is actually my first review for the Helles style, although I have had other Helles beers before. I think that I have a can of Jack's Abby House Lager in my fridge that I still need to get around to review.

From the can:
Helles Lager
Hops: Tettnang
Malts: Pilsner, CaraHell

 

2023-01-02
12oz can served in a footed pilsner glass. Dated 12/07/22. Gift from @jonphisher.

Pours clear orange-gold with an initial flash of head that dissipates into a thin dusting. Some active carbonation. Smell is a little bit of skunky yeastiness, some light honeysuckle sweetness, some earthy/grassy bitterness.

Taste is light, slight lemony notes, a little stronger on the honeysuckle/floral sweetness, clear grassy bitterness.

Mouthfeel is light, clean, and crisp. Another excellent clean lager from Tonewood.

(12 oz can, 'bacon burger' 09/15/22; purchased cold six-pack at their Barrington spot last night... poured into a 14 oz mug)

L: mostly clear, pale gold-colored liquid; off-white, semi-gloss foam... hmm? dusty sediment?... the foam is a little sticky, but doesn't hold too steady

S: slight fermenting dough aroma, following by a rush of floral hops, finished off by a big whiff of golden bread crust... after a couple minutes, a grassy grain accent emerges

T: softly bready underbelly, hint of floral candy in the finish; mostly big, bitter punch of herbal, green-leafy hop static bursting in the middle, pungently peppery in the aftertaste for days... I like it, but it's snuffing out the malt expression

F: resinous(?) roundness to its light but lush body; silky finish, cinged by sizzling hopping... the alcohol(?) and pungent hopping alights the palate, maybe even stoking a small flame at the back of the nostrils

O: not that I've been to Germany or had a fresh Helles over there, but as another reviewer noted, this seems to be much more bitter than a standard Helles... even so, it's a fine lager, and a good excuse to drink local (2064)

another slightly new logo for this beer, man this brewery is doin' some good lagers. slightly hopper than your benchmark holders.. but its not anything to compare to an american over hopped liquid. subtle, spicy, sweet, while not being any of the former.

 

Tonewood Brewing "Lumberyard Lager"
12 fl. oz. can coded "CHILLA THRLLA 03/22/22". Sampled on 04/15/22.
$2 @ Cherry Hill Liquor, Wine & Beer, Cherry Hill, NJ

Notes via stream of consciousness: Tonewood has a huge new facility in Barrington, NJ - good for them! It's poured a clear deep golden body beneath a finger's width of white foam. The aroma is fresh and clean with floral, lightly herbal, and delicate spicy hops over a grainy malt base. The taste follows. It's just lightly sweetish, grainy, grassy, and floral, herbal, and spicy. A stiff bitterness runs through it and leads to a dry finish with herbal and spicy hops lingering. In the mouth it's medium in body and gently crisp. The head held up well and it's left some decent lacing behind. All in all this is a well balanced and very nicely polished helles that's perhaps a little on the bitter side, at least compared to what I've mainly found in Germany, but still to style.
Review #7,887

Great lager. Very drinkable and tasty. Golden color. Not clear. Can smell the noble hops. Kind of a tangy flavor. Refreshing but with a bit of a sharp hop bite at the same time. I’ve been impressed with Tonewood’s lagers.

Pours a cloudy golden color with some suspended sediment in the beer. Two finger white sudsy head. Aroma has notes of warm, lightly toasted baguette, light doughy notes and some subtle grassy, spicy noble hop notes. Taste follows the nose with some white bread, lightly toasted baguette, spicy grassy hops. Feel is light to medium bodied. Crisp and brightly carbonated. Really nice easy drinking lager.