Sierra Nevada Vienna Lager

Brewed by Sierra Nevada Brewing Company
Style: Amber Lager/Vienna
Chico, California USA

Serve in Dimpled mug, Lager glass, Shaker

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Tap at Blind Tiger. Dry, floral aroma. Kind of sweaty and rich. Nice head. Dry, crisp, refreshing. Cookie and lettuce/cucumber notes. Bready malts and light euro hops. Very very nice. Super sessionable.

Draft @ Sierra Nevada. Pours a bright, clear, effervescent golden-orange color; significant, creamy, fine-bubbled white head with great retention and lacing; beautiful pour with lacing that coats the glass. Softly grainy, Grape-Nuts-like malt presence in the nose: clearly expressed and fresh; light mineral hop character present as well; very engaging and crisp. Medium to medium-light body; lively carbonation; lightly creamy and certainly crisp; the mouthfeel and body on this is great: crisp, dry, lightly bitter; light acidity; again, that fresh Grape Nuts / toasted malt core here is key, beautifully presented; I could drink this endlessly; very sessionable. Medium finish: toasty malt, light sugar, minerals, and even a mild huskiness; nicely dry.

Tap at Blind Tiger: Light copper golden with a fading head. Doughy Munich malt aroma with a touch of sweetness- clean. The body is nice and creamy with a clean and spicy Munich malt presence. Clean, softly sweet and has a balancing spicy German hop finish. A very solid session that feels authentically German.

On tap at Pizza Port San Clemente’s Session Ale fest 2009, it’s a clear golden color, which is surprising for a vienna. Not much going on in the flavor.

Draught at the brewpub. The appearance is a little light for what I imagine a Vienna lager to be, but it’s not like it’s a style that is well defined over here; more of a light amber-orange with good clarity. The head is creamy and has good retention. The aroma has a nice bready malt quality and a light touch of grassy, herbal, piney hops. The flavor has a dry, toasty, bready malt profile and a snappy, herbal hop bitterness. Clean toasted grain lasts through the finish. Much like a pils but with a deeper, toastier malt profile. Light bodied with a lingering finish of both toasty malt and hop bitterness. Good, but missing some cohesiveness that could make it great.

tap at Blind Tiger SN event - copper pour, crackery, caramel malts. dry smooth body with a touch of grain and light fruitiness. Lightly hopped but pretty astringent finish.

Part of the sampler tray at the brewery. Tought to judge based on two ounces, but was not a big fan of this one.

Yellow orange in color... Aroma is crisp, subtle malts...Flavor is nice and crisp, reminds me of Germany... Not a huge fan of lagers, but it does a nice job accentuating the caramel flavor, and has a nice dry finish... Not bad

pours a lovely shade of dark amber, with flecks of red glinting in the background, topped with firm white head. The aroma was grass, mild herbs and some lemon in the mix. Taste was toasty with a firm caramel sweetness all balanced with an unobtrusive hop bite, medium bodied and far too easy to drink (4 mouthfuls did the trick!).

I had this on tap this past weekend at the Sierra Nevada Tap Room. The bartender informed me that this new brew has only been out for about a week at this time. Normally I prefere ales, but I’m always willing to try new brews, and occasionally I do like a lager or pilsner. Anyway, as lagers go this one was pretty good. Aroma was almost non-detectable; very slight malt. Poured nice dark golden color with a slight head which dissipated fairly quickly but left a nice lacing all the way through the pint. Carbonation was good and nice medium body. The foretaste slightly toasted malt with a nice bitter finish, much as you’d expect from an ale. As lagers go, this is among the better offerings out there and definitely worth the price of 2.25 a pint.