Lakefront Riverwest Stein

12oz. bottle. Predominantly malty aroma, plenty of dark caramel sweetness, nut and toasted grain, along with a gently fruity, floral background that shows hints of apple and berry. Clear deep amber color with a very slight, subsiding head. Flavor is lightly bitter and spicy to start, turning malty and somewhat sweet thereafter, with further toasty caramel, breadiness and an herbal, tangy, fruity finish. Smooth and easy-going mouthfeel, body is medium. Very drinkable, tasty and balanced throughout, certainly one of the best of its style.

Poured a clear orangeish amber coloring with a small ring of white foam. Sweet toffee malt aroma, with a tiny amount of nuttiness. Grainy malt sweetness, with a bit of citrus hop bitterness. Balanced and very drinkable. NIce flavors without being over the top.

Rating #1000.

12 oz. Bottle purchased at Metcalf Discount Liquors on 91st St in Overland Park, KS. Mar WK4 notched on side of the bottle. Pour is clear copper ruby with a two inch dirty white head that fades to reveal nice lacing. Aroma of sweet caramel biscuit maltiness and some nuttiness. There is also some faint chemical dirtiness present. Taste is muted sweet hazelnut and maltiness. The palate is slick, thin and quite drinkable. The aftertaste lingers a bit long, once again with the chemical dirtiness. Nice, quaffable beer.

Why did I choose this beer for #1000? Simple, it was the first craft beer I ever tasted, and it had a profound impression on the way I looked at beer. Previous to sampling this beer at one of the early Lakefront brewery tours in 1991, I thought beer was pissy yellow stuff that was consumed solely to remove sobriety. This beer was different, and the approach of the brewers was different. The Lakefront guys taught us about what beer was, and how they, as an extremely small brewery at the time, had gotten to where they were. I was completely consumed by the story, and the beer was fantastic. Granted, Lakefront was far from the first to do this, they were just the first one I noticed. Would I have become a craft beer enthusiast without this beer? Of course, I think that was inevitable. However, this beer is singularly present in my mind as the beer that showed beer could be something more, and something important. In a not so small way, this singular experience opened my mind to exploring food, wine, coffee, etc, the list could go on and on. Thank you Jim. Thank you Russ.

Bottle: Poured a dark amber color with not much head. The aroma was sweet and malty. The flavor was nicely balanced, some nice hop character. This is a refreshing beer and style. Vienna’s are becoming a favorite of mine.

Thanks to buckybeer for this one. Clear dark amber over a choppy off-white head. Sweet, ,fruity, malty. Some diacetyl maybe? Easy drinking.