Pennichuck Ladder 1 Lager

Brewed by Pennichuck Brewing Company
Style: Vienna
Milford, New Hampshire USA

12 oz bottle bonus fro Alldaydrinkier. Pours with a nice deep dark copper with a foamy frothey cloud-like head that doesnt die. That is wierd for a Vienna usually. Ah- there it is- it is because it is infected with Brett!! Sweet! Actually a pleasing aroma brett infection- bready., doughy , farmhousy, earth and herbal. Good. Flavor is malty, bready, a bit tart, and sweet-tart, smarties candy, earth and spice- not as much brett character in the flavor as aroma. A bit plasticy and phenolicy but smooth. Not bad- I drank the whole thing so that is good.

Bottle: Nice amber pour with good carbonation and decent but average head. The aroma is sour and, well, quite frankly nasty. Same for the flavor ... quite sour, almost giving me the impression of a Flemish ... It mellows a bit as I go, but I think at least my sample is funked. Not good. (#3274, 1/6/2008)

(12oz bottle) Small off-white head atop lightly hazed amber body. Aroma is medium sweet, caramel, bread, light mint. Taste is medium sweet, orange, caramel/bread, light earthy/mint. Light-medium body.

Bottle... Clear, deeply golden lager with a small, creamy, white head. Decent retention. The lactic aroma hints at oxidation and caramel malt with an insinuation of perfume. Light to medium-bodied with a prickly mouthfeel. Leans only a touch toward the bitter side of balance. No residual sweetness; thin and very dry. Short, crisp, meekly bitter finish. Thanks go out to mcbackus for providing this bottle!

Clear dark caramel hue rapidly becomes headless. Strangely spicy nose has a mild leafiness from its hops, but also something that might resemble cinnamon or ginger – quite out of place really. It’s hard to identify, but there is something out of context in there, the closest I can think of is pencil shavings, but it’s not accurate, there is a faint rooty tang also.. quite dry awkward note anyway and unfortunately, it grabs all your attention simply because there is not much else to be studied. Light bodied, hesitant carbonation, faint leafy finish. Plain poor.

My Bottom Line:
This flaccid Vienna offered but a few biscuity base malts to munch on, and a few citrusy, herbal hops throughout the yeasty apples. Surely, it wasn’t in prime form, but there is no apparent date on the bottle...

Further Personal Perceptions:
-A thin veil of foam skirts the clear pale amber.
-That obvious fruitiness was disturbing at first for the style, but then comprised most of the remaining flavors, so I got used to them.
-Hoppiness was definitely not "distinctive" in the aroma, which the commercial description suggests.
-The body was frail and carbonation very low, making its mouthfeel quite watery.
-There is no way to tell if this bottle was fresh or not, which is a shame, but after reading other ratings, I have a feeling that it wasn’t. How was I supposed to tell?

Bottle.

Crisp, clean pour with golden color and frothy head. Aroma of malts and grassy hops. Some sweetness noted with a nice smooth bitter finish.

bottle from mcox90 thanks: pours a clean and clear golden honey with a foamy extra white head, that leaves a nce thin line. wonderful bready sweet caramel aroma with some earth floral notes. i love vienna armoas. flavour is toasty bread and caramel malt with a slight earthy hop bitter and a smooth and almost buttery fruit finish. really loving this style and loving that a brewery is make a fine line of sessionable beers. big thanks to mcox90 again