Great Lakes Vienna Lager (5%)
Toronto’s Great Lakes Brewery has just released a new Zwei Ziegen Doppelbock, which the brewery was kind enough to deliver to me for review. Included in the package drop, however, was their Vienna Lager, which I had enjoyed previously and planned to make notes on purely for my files, rather than for Beaumont Drinks. But owing to my having suffered quite recently through the St. André no-longer-a-Vienna-lager for my Value Beers story, I decided to treat myself to a review of the Great Lakes interpretation and return to the Doppelbock at a later date.
Vienna lager is a tricky style to define, as it is both seldom brewed and widely misunderstood, even or perhaps especially by the very people who one might think would know it best, Viennese brewers. In broad strokes, however, it should have a rich and toasty, but not roasty aroma, with a malt-forward palate that boasts light caramel and other flavours, and a drying, not too bitter finish. The Great Lakes version is arguably a shade dark for the style, but does offer a terrifically rich and nuanced aroma, with caramel, light toffee, wild flowers, a bit of mocha, and even a whiff of brown spice.
The palate entry is certainly to style, as well, with caramelly sweetness up front both buoyed and moderated by notes of toasted malt and a subtle and slightly tannic hoppiness. The body dries slightly as it develops a faint peppery notes, presumably from the hops, but remains rich, sweet, and toffee-ish, with the floral element of the aroma contributing retro-olfactory complexity. The tannins of the body develop further in the finish, drying it out nicely, but not quite enough for my tastes, leaving the overall flavour impact just a bit over-sweet.
While I would certainly prefer a little more dryness on the finish of this Vienna, and while I would describe it as being perhaps a shade too round and rich for the style – I wonder how long it spends lagering and if a bit longer would be to its benefit – this is, all in all, a lovely beer and one of the few solid examples of its style available in Ontario, perhaps Canada today.
81 ($11.60/ 4 x 473 ml can from the brewery)