Vienna Lagers

Vienna lager is one of those beers that is not made much now. Brooklyn lager claims to be "Vienna style". I can't remember seeing any Vienna lager ever in the beer store or on tap, and I have been to hundreds of bars and beer stores.

 

Von Trapp and Devil's Backbone should be common enough.

 

Same for Samuel Adams Boston Lager, which BBC used to list as a "Vienna Style" beer on their website :


Also Neshaminy Creek's Churchville Lager.

Plus, lots of US and Mexican "amber beers" might be considered broadly in the style of "Vienna" lagers, or at least an evolution of the style even if not so labeled.

 

Given that these Mexican 'Vienna Lagers' have a healthy amount of adjuncts (e.g., corn) I would 'vote' on them being an evolution of the style vs. Vienna Lagers per se.

Cheers!

Edit: I would personally classify Mexican 'Vienna Lagers' as being American Amber Adjunct Lagers.

 

I have also read theories that North American “Vienna Lagers” are actually more likely derived from Munich Dunkel, with the color lightened by adjuncts to reduce production costs. Modelo openly admits this calling their Negra a Munich Dunkel.

 

I have yet to homebrew a Munich Dunkel but if I were to brew this style of beer my grain bill would be 95% Munich Malt (German Munich Malt) and 5% dehusked Carafa Malt. Given this 'baseline' I would disagree with folks (including Modelo) that the Mexican 'Vienna Lagers" are of the Munich Dunkel variety (either directly or as an 'evolution').

Just one man's opinion.

Cheers!

 

The DB Vienna lager is widely available, very affordable, and has a great taste. What’s not to like!

I did purchase the SN Vienna lager and that also was very consistent.

 

But it's Modelo's Victoria which is (or, at least, once was) usually referred to as "Vienna style", just as the original Dos Equis (now labeled "Ambar") was.

 

Yeah, I'd agree - but then you'd have say that about any European beer style brewed in the US from the mid-19th century, survived Prohibition, right up until the "craft era" - at least, I can't think of one style that wasn't brewed with adjuncts by some US brewer or another.

Probably mentioned somewhere in this thread, but originally most Mexican brewers used rice as an adjunct, apparently right into mid-20th century. A 1940s report on the Mexican brewing industry from the US Dept. of Agriculture noted that "barley malt, rice and hops" were the principal brewing materials with rice representing "...nearly one-fourth of the total volume of materials used in the production of beer".

So, as also happened in the US brewing industry during the last half of the last century, the Mexican beer recipes of all styles continued to.... yeah...
"(d)evolve".

 

JK, were the Pre-Prohibition Wiener beers brewed by US breweries typically all malt?

Cheers!

 

I think it is safe to assume that most pre-Pro US lagers and ales, porters & stouts of every style by the last third or so the 19th century were brewed with adjuncts unless otherwise specifically stated to be "all malt" or other such wording.

Mentioning only "finest barley malt" and "choicest hops" on labels or ads did not preclude the use of rice, corn, sugar or syrups, nor did stating "No corn used" mean rice wasn't an ingredient.

 

Can you find Neshaminy Creek beers in NJ? Churchville Lager is labeled as a Vienna Lager, and is a solid example as far as I'm concerned.

 

Thanks for the info. They do sell Neshaminy creek in NJ. I will look for it.

 

I picked up some Brooklyn Lager recently and with the new artwork it says "Hoppy Amber Lager" on it now. It was always hoppy to me for a VL but I think they just may have upped the hops a bit more and the glass lacing is intense. Still an enjoyable beer, though, and it is still at a great price for my area's standards.

 

Is it more bitter than when you drank it previously? Or more hop aroma/flavor? Or both?

Cheers!

 

Both. Still a solid beer, though.

 

I was just reviewing my notes for the "Favorite Beers of 2018" thread and realized that I had a very good one on tap at Standing Stone Brewing in Ashland, Oregon. For anyone close-by, give it a try. (I don't think this brewery distributes.)

 

I bought a bottle of Brooklyn lager about a week ago and checked the bottle since I had heard they were going to brew it in Sweden at Carlsberg Sweden's brewery and sure enough it now says so on the label. I have had an unfavorable view of it in the past since I've at times picked up on a noticable oniony smell, this bottle didn't have that thankfully. It is definitely hop aromatic, this capped empty bottle has been sitting since the 22nd and you can still clearly smell the hops. They definitely smell American and reminds me of a mild APA or other lager beers dry hopped with American hops. Without the onion aroma it's a tasty lager beer.

I don't think I would call it a Vienna lager, but then again back in the day the words "lager beer" would have sufficed (or "Brooklyn Lager Beer" for that matter), unless the brewery wanted to explicitly associate the beer with a particular type of lager beer, of which Vienna lager would certainly be the logical choice to go with, even with the dry-hopping (which one could perhaps simply put down as an American touch).

 

Patrik,

You may be interested in how Brooklyn Brewing describes this beer on their website (with emphasis in bold by me):

“In the late 1800’s Brooklyn was one of the largest brewing centers in the country, home to more than 45 breweries. Lager beer in the “Vienna” style was one of the local favorites. Brooklyn Lager is amber-gold in color and displays a firm malt center supported by a refreshing bitterness and floral hop aroma. Caramel malts show in the finish. The aromatic qualities of the beer are enhanced by “dry-hopping”, the centuries-old practice of steeping the beer with fresh hops as it undergoes a long, cold maturation. The result is a wonderfully flavorful beer, smooth, refreshing and very versatile with food. Dry-hopping is largely a British technique, which we’ve used in a Viennese-style beer to create an American original.”

http://brooklynbrewery.com/brooklyn-beers/perennial-brews/brooklyn-lager

Cheers!

 

I would agree that dry-hopping is largely a British technique, however, dry-hopping does have a long history in US ale brewing, and from my readings the practise appears to have been in use, to a limited extent, by US lager beer brewers as well. See for example:

Source.

Below is not a reference to an actual use of dry hopping in lager beer but instead the suggested use of it for brewing bottled beer which makes it interesting in my view:

Source.

I think Brooklyn could have been a bit more generous towards their own country's brewing heritage and acknowledged the practise as being an established practise of the US brewing industry. But I don't mind it, I don't expect to learn about brewing history from short marketing blurbs which must cut to the chase and not get bogged down in all the complexities and idiosyncracies of beer history.