Wang-Dong
Against The Grain Brewery

 

Brewed with Asian influences in mind. The lightened flavor and feel of this rice-accented lager is balanced with the spicy and lemon-like taste of Japanese hops. Its delicate flavor shows what potential that lagers have in the craft beer community. ...and what's up with that name?

Like many obscure lager, Wang-Dong opens with light hazy "Keller-like" rusticity. Crowned with a lacy froth of cotton foam, the froth withstands the session very well- a much better appearance than is expected from rice beer.

Its grainy-sweet scent is expounded upon by lemon, grass, pepper and butter. Rounded in its aroma, the nose is taken to the Bohemian scent of Czech Pilsners and not exactly of the soulless adjunct lagers of American industrial lager fame.

And its rounded character follows through in taste with a rich and lightly savory flavor. Baked bread, light crust, and buttered biscuits kick off the early palate while the middle prefers the spicy zing of lemongrass and cracked peppercorn- like only "Sorachi Ace" hops can. Finishing somewhat perfumy and soapy, the bitterness is somewhat unresolved as any malt support has far fled into the background.

Medium bodied, yet the buttery texture gives a greater appreciation of fullness even as it coats the mouth with an oily film. As malt structures dissolve, it takes with it the creaminess of carbonation and leaves the mid-textures empty and arid. Late hop bite is softly astringent and only semi-dry because of that pesky butter texture that's left on the mouth.

The buttery fullness of the lager reminds me of Pilsner Urquell, but it goes too far. The hops not only balance the hops but overtake its balance and interferes with the beer's overall drinkability. Still, there's something clean and simple about the lager that keeps me interested right down to the last drink.