Thomas Hooker Munich-Style Golden Lager

Brewed by Thomas Hooker Brewing Company
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Bloomfield, Connecticut USA

Serve in Lager glass

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Pours a light golden color with white foamy head. Aroma is grassy and malty. Taste is grainy and slightly tart with a nice clean finish. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

355mL thanks to Travlr. Low haze light orange pour. Weaker white foam. Spotty lace. Nose is mild candies, toffee, grass, hay, moldy grain, rustic. Taste is a bit bland, suddy, weak with not a lot of malt presence. Watery, suddy body.

Bottle courtesy of Adam of Somalia, thanks! Murky orange amber color, small white edge head. Aroma of dirty, earthy straw. Taste is bitter straw. Plain.

Verre de dégustation, provenant d’une bouteille de 12 oz, au Mondial de la Bière 2012 (Montréal, QC). Arôme: Légère odeur de céréales avec une pointe de noix. Apparence: La couleur est blonde pâle. Présence d’un mince col mousseux et d’une fine dentelle sur le verre. Saveur: Léger goût de céréales et d’houblons. Durée moyenne de l’arrière goût. Palette: Le corps est moyen avec une texture légèrement onctueuse. Moyenne effervescence en bouche. Légère présence de céréales en arrière goût. (Rating #4394)

A blonde lager with a thin white head. In aroma, a light chalky malt with faint herbal hops. In mouth, a crisp clean sweet malt with grassy hops and mineral notes. Bottle at Mondial 2012, June 10 2012.

One of Hooker’s better offerings. Light in three glass, crisp in three mouth with a good hours bite, a solid undertone of wheat in the body to lingers into the finish after the hops have faded.

After a recent visit from the Thomas Hooker representative, I wanted to try the full variety of brews. I’ve had most (if not all) of the Hooker beers over the past couple years, after all they are practically right down the road. There’s also a few rumors floating that some new beers are on the way, so revisiting the old favorites is becoming even more of a priority. This brew from Hooker Brewing is the Munich Style Lager. There is often a shortage of Lagers among craft brewers, largely because of the extended brewing time compared to that of Pale Ales and IPAs. This Munich Style Lager is cool-fermented and aged for 6 weeks, compared to the average ale which can be ready in just 2-3 weeks. Munich Style Lager pours out a clear golden color, with just a thin layer of white foam. The head fades back pretty quickly, as you can see by my 3-seconds too late photo. The aromas are what I think of as the quintessential smell of beer. Just a touch of hops is largely overwhelmed by the firm backbone of malts. This isn’t the candy-sweet style of malty aromas though, I’m talking about the just slightly sweet, bready/grainy style of hops. It smells much like the best lagers in the business, such as Augustiner and Weihenstephaner. On the palate, this Lager is almost exactly what I expected: crisp, clean, and easy-drinking. There’s a touch of malty sweetness up front, which just a slightly dry finish on the back-side. A deliciously balanced brew! I now know why this Munich Style Lager is ranked so highly on beerAdvocate! Why did I not try this one sooner? Located in Bloomfield, CT, Thomas Hooker brewing has received some serious accolades over the past 10+ years that they’ve been brewing. High on the "best brewery" lists from both beerAdvocate and RateBeer, this local favorite should not be over-looked!

12oz bottle in a lager glass. Pours golden with a thick, off-white head. Aroma of pale malts with a little bit of nuts, plus light hops. Flavor the same. Light texture. A decent beer.

Middle of the road. A fine beer abit boring. Medium bodied. Typical look & feel.

Bottle. Possibly an old one at that. Pours a hazed amber orange with a thin white head. Somewhat of a soured apple note, old fruit, oxidization and paper. Medium bodied, full of oxidized paper, slightly vegetal with cabbage notes. Not so tasty. Finishes with more old malt, oxidized vegetables. Not so good. Might have been a nice crisp helles at one point, but those days are long gone for this bottle.