Visionary Brew (2015)
Rahr & Sons Brewing Company

 

 

22 oz. bomber poured into pilsener

L: a vision of copper, wow ... what a color! crystal clear, tight little column of bubbles flying up the column; pushed up a solid 1-inch head of offwhite/beige foam; no sticking or lacing, but it keeps a fantastic collar; the color is something to behold, a true burnt-orange/copper

S: smoke off the head ... nice bit of charred wood/BBQ smoke, and the beer is still very cold; boy is it nice ... not very peaty, more meaty; slight bit of sweet, light malt peeking in -- amazing how light it is

T: super sweet up front with a big kick of smoke flavor on the finish ... so much smoke it's bitter at the very end; it's like barbecued bread malt, the sweet flavor up front is sugary; some medicinal flavor, rubbing alcohol, and the finish is hot now, vodka heat; as the palate adjusts, the sweet-smoke combination is quite nice

F: thick and crispy ... the alcohol warming finish is there, too; loads of carbonation helps lighten it a bit, but there's no doubt this is a big brew

O: unique ... for that, Rahr's gets big points; the smoke aroma and flavor is present and good; unfortunately, so is the massive 9.4% ABV, which isn't mixing perfectly with the rest of the rauchbier-like notes; still, Rahr's delivers exactly what the label advertises, and I'm getting enough of a smoke fix to balance out the big malt sweetness up front that it's making for a quite an enjoyable session

 

 

 

 

I tend to agree with the first review. No real smoky flavor, kinda safely-played. Great feel and nice ABV for a lager, but that's about it

 

The picture on the bottle makes me think about mad pig disease, tasty beer though.

 

This is their yearly visionary release which for2015 is an Imperial Smoked Lager. They went a little safe, not as smokey as I hoped. Certainly not in a Rauch territory. Not bad but not memorable.