Schell FireBrick

Brewed by August Schell Brewing Company
Style: Vienna
New Ulm, Minnesota USA

Serve in Lager glass

Bottle courtesy of csbosox. Pours a clear, effervescent, caramel brown with a dense, frothy, beige head that reduces to a creamy cap at the surface. The nose is of caramel, toffee, biscuit and red apple. Light to medium-bodied and slick with a lightly dry, astringent finish. The flavor is of bready, caramel malt with lesser notes of apple and light metal. Perhaps I’m spoiled by the fact that we get Boulevard’s Bob’s ’47 here, but I was a bit underwhelmed by this one.

12 oz. bottle. Pours copper with red hues. Small white head that dissipates quickly to rim the glass. Not much lacing. Caramel and toffee smell with fruity esters; apple, lemon. Taste is toffee and caramel, slightly bready with apple and maybe some raisin. Roasted malts are subtle but present in the middle, leading to a slightly bitter finish with some lemon and grass hop notes at the end. The citrus lingers into the after. Very drinkable. I remember have quite a few of these while at the Schell Bar in the Mpls airport when I was traveling. Pretty good stuff.

Appearance: Pours a clear, reddish-amber body with a creamy off-white head. Smell: Sweet-smelling toffee with a good measure of breadiness and a hints of citrus and red apples. Taste: Sweet toffee and hints of bread followed by a taste of grains. Kiss of lemony citrus. Slight fruity red apple twang. Mild, easy-going bitterness. Smooth, crisp finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied. Medium carbonation. Slight creaminess. Drinkability: A middle-of-the-road vienna.

Nice aroma, very sweet and malty. Good body with a mild caramel and malt flavor. I like the slight tanginess on the finish.

UPDATED: MAY 28, 2008 This is fairly good, but not all that great to me. It is red-brown with a thin, light tan head that dissipates quickly to a foamy ring. The aroma is sweetish, malty grain with yeast, hints of molassess and a definite light earthy quality. The taste is as the aroma, but with an oddly light body, and a light grain aftertaste. It has both sweetness and bitterness but not too much of either and tends towards the sweet side. It also has a hint of baked apple. It’s not bad and is drinkable, but it’s not that satisfying to me. It’s somewhat like a vague, slightly fruity and earthy ESB without the bitterness. In the end, this is definitely a vienna, but lacks the character or interest of others like Sprecher’s.

Bottle. Pours a brownish amber color with a medium head that dies almost immediately, leaving some traces on the side of the glass and a bubbly film on the surface. Aromas are of floral hops and some lemony citrus and spice. Flavor is, first and foremost, watery, but fairly pleasant. Hops flavors come across with a bit of lemon peel and some white pepper. Malt presence makes itself known with an understated biscuit and caramel sweetness and a bit of sticky sweetness. Nice, but not that interesting.

Very basic lager. While a Vienna is the Rolls-Royce of lagers, it never impresses me. A rich marzen is much better. Not a beer I’d buy.

This poured with a magnificent head and beautiful rich color. The flavor match.