Lakefront Riverwest Stein

Brewed by Lakefront Brewery
Style: Vienna
Milwaukee, Wisconsin USA

Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy amber with a small white head that fades to a ring and leaves minimal lacing. Aroma of caramel malt, light toasted malt, and floral hops. Taste is sweet caramel that fades to citrus hops and a light toasty finish. Medium mouthfeel with a well balanced bitterness. Very good.

"shared with eagle. Poured was a orange color. Aroma was weak not much to get out of it beside light light caramel. Flavor was caramel and sour. all wrong for the style. Not good."

My first "Vienna", tried this after actually driving through the Riverwest area on the way to a friends.. Pours a beautiful dark red/amber color. Aroma is malt with a hint of something else there. Flavor is dominated by Malt, with caramel and roasted tones to it with a crisp citrus hop aftertaste. Overall a bit malty to me, but a damn fine beer.

One of the first Lakefront beers that really piqued my attention, was their Riverwest Stein Beer. The reason I was so interested was I initially believed this beer was an actual stein bier or stone beer. What is stein bier? It is a unique German beer style where hot rocks(stones) are submerged in the brew kettle while the beer is brewing. The sugars of the malt caramelize and coat the hot rocks. These hot rocks are then allowed to cool, and are put in the lagering tanks where they add caramel/toffee flavors to the brew. As it turns out Riverwest Stein Beer is NOT a stone beer, stein in this case just refers to the drinking vessel. While I was a bit disappointed that this was not a stone beer, Lakefront more than made up for it with this beer. This beer is absolutely delicious. It is a malty/toasty amber lager with fantastic malt character, and a wonderful hop presence that balances out this beer. This beer is a Milwaukee favorite, and it is easy to see why. Riverwest Stein Beer pours to a beautiful deep amber color with a thick off white head, and a good bit of carbonation. The nose is just packed with sweet and toasty malt aromas with a subtle back drop of hop aromatics. The body is firm with lots of good sweet malt, caramel malt, and toasty flavor. A portion of unmalted barley is used in the brewing of this beer really making the malt flavors shine in this beer. Riverwest Stien beer finishes with more great malt flavor then is balanced with a nice, dry hop bitterness making this beer quite balanced at the end. This is a fantastic amber lager with really great malt flavors. This beer is the perfect foil for grilled meats such as bratwurt, or a nice juicy burger. This would also match up extremely well with pizza. If ever in the Cream City of Milwaukee, seek this beer out.

12oz bottle. Pours clear amber, with a moderate sized off-white head. sweet caramel malt aroma. Sweet, toasted caramel malt flavor, with hops in the background. finish is primarily hops. good, straightforward, well balanced beer.

Very deep, opaque reddish brown. Sweet malt aromashickory, cereal grains. Well balanced. I love the raw grain finish after a touch of grapefruit/pine hops. All kinds of malt, some chocolate, some spice, some roasted notes. Fairly clean finish. A great, dark vienna.

I don’t know what to say. I thought this beer was mediocre at best. Now I find out it’s Lakefront’s second best rated beer. No way is it a 3.6+. Let me let you in on a secret. This beer is the exact same as the Cream City Pale Ale. Only difference is this one is dominated by the malt. They used the exact same hops just steeped in more grain and used lager yeast. Too full bodied to enjoy for such a lame tasting beer.

Winey and somewhat toasty, red-brown and sparkling clear. Round, nice body, fruity, yet not too sweet. Ale or lager this? Clean finish that doesn't pucker. Thanks, David P.!