Pennichuck Ladder 1 Lager

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

12oz bottle. Poured a medium and slightly hazy amber color with a small sized off white head. Aromas of toasted malts, grass, caramel, and bready. Tastes of caramel, bread, and a had a light grassy finish.

bottle poured a caramel amber in color with minimal carbination. smell is spicy, light anise, malts, and a little cider. taste is smooth on the pallet, slightly dry on the finish, and has that same anise spice as in the smell. good solid beer, very drinkable, and has a good finish

12 oz bottle, Julio’s Liquors. Pours a clear dark gold to light copper body under a minimal covering of foamy white head. Lots of visible carbonation. The nose is quite grainy and has some off notes that shouldn’t be there in a clean lager. A little soap and cooked veggies specificly. The flavor is quite dulled with the cooked veggie taste. Minimal vienna malt showing through. Light to moderate hoppiness that’s washed away on the somewhat watery finish. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with a slight doughy stickiness on the finish. Very light carbonation. Overall, this wasn’t a winner. It just needs to be cleaned up some, possibly with a different yeast and or a little more time in the tanks.

6 ounce draught sample at the Vermont Brewer’s Fest (July 2007). Clear but slightly oily gold, with very little head though what there is lasts....dry strong noble-hop aroma, lightly spicy, grassy, a bit of pepper, growing in intensity with warmth, faint hints of caramel and smoky-toasty grains....flavor that follows is entirely predictable from the nose, offering mostly lightly caramelized malt, grassy/earthy dryness towards the finish, perhaps a touch of honey, and a little bit of metallic character at the very end. Pretty decent.

Poured darker than I expected...a deep copper-amber color. Not much head/lacing. Aroma is soapy, hoppy, and a bit fruity. This particular one didn’t do much for me. It tasted like a home brew that had been bottled too soon. Maybe a bad batch. No date on this bottle.

2007 bottle drunk on 5/1/07
The perfect example of the rater’s dilemna. I enjoyed this beer immensely, and I think it’s a well-made beer, it’s just not much of a vienna. First of all, you’ve got a ton of fruitiness (cherries, strawberries), part of which is definitely coming from the yeast. On top of that, there’s a ton of actual yeast flavor (lots of chewy doughiness). The very mild carbonation, yeastiness and soft malts give it a creamy consistency which is quite a bit different than the crisp, somewhat bready/toasty notes you’d expect from a vienna (and vienna malts). Not to say you can’t have a softer-textured lager, and actually, DeCapo Wiener was quite fruity, soft and easygoing for a vienna (and I loved that one too), but I guess stylistically, it dosent really make me think of a vienna. Very low toastiness, not much on the dark fruit or melanoidin character and too much doughiness for a lager. I’ll definitely grant them that the soft carbonation, regardless of style is almost always preferential (except in the case of a pilsner, perhaps), but I do think the beer should be a little more brisk/assertive and show more caramel/toffee and toasted character. As is, it’s got plenty of base malt sweetness, giving light vanilla and mixing with yeast esters. Caramel is mild, though evident. Alcohol not perceived, no flaws other than the yeastiness which should be conditioned out. As with their red ale, the hops are mostly floral and moderate in strength, with medium-low bitterness and some light citrus notes.
Great appearance, almost perfect, with mountains of off-white head and very strong retention. Medium caramel-amber color with some darker cola tints and a high clarity with a touch of very light haze. In the end, I’m not going to take off points for being not-to-style, as I find that silly and pointless in cases where the resulting product is still highly enjoyable.

Bottle - Pours a very clear dark amber in color with a small whitish head. Aroma is light of flowery hops with a small malt undertone. Flavor is slightly sweet with a hint of vanilla and some light fruit. Good beer...

12 oz bottle. Pours a nice, clear amber in color. Alot of smooth caramel in the aroma with some fruit, vanilla and floral hops. Taste is smooth caramel, with some cherry like fruit and light bitterness that lingers into the finish. Don’t think I’ve had many Viennas, but this beer seems to be very well made.