Hammer & Nail Vienna Style Lager
Hammer & Nail Brewers

The beer is copper with a thin white head and some lacing. The smell is odd, it actually smells a bit like Vanilla. The taste is a little Vanilla, but the flavor seems to fade fast. There is no aftertaste with this brew. Smooth and drinkable. This is my first experience with this style, so more comments will come with more experience.

Pours a very nice clear copper color with a decent, creamy tan head that slowly sinks. A slight out of character diacetyl aroma is present, not a straight up diacetyl but more of a biscuits or toast with butter on it smell. The brew is held up all the way through ny a nice, smooth toasty malt character that acts as the backbone of this brew. As the beer finishes there is a definite tigly hop bitterness that surfaces just enough to let you know it is there. Definitely an americanized hop presence with some slight citric, piney and floral flavors lingering on the tongue. The smoothness of this brew combines nicely with the lighter body and somewhat crisp hop finish to make this brew very drinkable. A big thanks to pbrian for this sample.

Presentation: Standard label on 22oz bomber bottle, with a blue on black label. No freshness date or information about the beer.

Appearance: Light amber golden in colour with a nice retaining creamy head.

Smell: Lightly toasted malts, a decent amount of grain notes and spicy/floral hop aroma.

Taste: Full mouth-feel with a light up-front sweetness going grainy, a bit nutty, then spices up with a thin lemon/herbal finish and hop leaf bitterness.

Notes: Clean, complex and one of the best brewed lagers in New England. 5.6% abv.

Nice medium amber color. Head retention was also good. A smooth brew, but with a lively kick. I could drink many of these, as it seems that it's smooth texture and balanced maltiness go well with just about everything at any time.

Don't know about the Bomber; I got a standard 6-pack of 12 ouncers. Soft cushiony mouthfeel, a gentle brew overall. Very drinkable. The flavor is a bit understated, but the Saaz hops impart liveliness. It went extremely well with Margarita pizza (mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, garlic). I'm certain it would complement similar pies excellently.

Another awesome brew from Hammer & Nail. Pungent grainy malt aromas. Almost a creamy malt mouthfeel which finishes with a slight herbal hop bitterness. Did I mention malt yet? Scarily quafable. I'll add this to my rotation.