Wooden Shoe Lager

Brewed by Elevator Brewing Company
Style: Dortmunder/Helles
Columbus, Ohio USA

From the bottle, courtesy of Summer Secret Santa 07, pours a clear pale yellow with a thick white foamy head, nice lacing. Rather corny aroma and a bit malty, a bit sweet. Flavor is quite sweet, a lot like juice, I might call this a white wine before a beer, if I didn’t know better. Pretty good beer.

22 oz provided by Gary Jones. Clear golden pour with almost no head. Sweet malt aroma (corn?) with nothing noticeably off. The favor, again, has nothing really wrong or offensive to it. Notes of sweet malt all through this brew with only a hint of grain or hop character. It’s not bad and you do eventually start to get a bit of earthy hop in the after taste. Generally one dimensional and a bit sweet. Medium body with a wet mouth feel. I actually used this in a deer chili I was making and was happy with the results.

Another one from Amy. Another interesting beer. There are some odd herbal notes in here, I hate to say oregano, b/c that’s not quite right, but that’s the herb that’s coming to mind. Pair the herbs with some very staright up sugar-sweet notes and I am wondering where they are going with this. There are also flavors of bicuit and cracker, and grassiness and some fruit.

22oz bottle acquired in trade with shigadeyo (thanks!). Poured a lighter and slightly hazy yellow color with an larger sized white head. Aromas of wet grass, spices, and biscuit/bread. Tastes grapes and lemons (a little puckering) that kinda drowned out anything else going on. Thinner body.

22 oz bottle pours a chill hazed golden body with a one inch white head. Good retention with some patchy lacing. Aroma is bready malt, spicy and floral hops and a hint of cottage cheese. Medium body and carbonation. Taste is sweet bready malt, bitter spicy hops, and the odd sour lactic note. Enjoyable lager with some flaws.

22 ounce bottle from Argo0 at RBSG, consumed at my parents’ house on June 25 2007 a little above fridge temperature from a Corsendonk Christmas Ale glass. Translucent gold pour with a largish white foamy head, quite quick-dying, spot of lacing....plenty of biscuity, fresh pils malt in the aroma, odd herbal tones show up amidst the dry grassy hops...tarragon? a bit strange but not really damaging....quite sweet, with some welcome woody, bitter dry hops showing up midpalate, fairly dry finish but lingering honey sugariness makes it a bit sticky and an artificial, saccharine quality at the finish isn’t helping matters. All in all, it’s ok.

Sampled at the RBSG ’07 Grand Tasting and picked up in a trade with squire. Nice to see a former Ohio beer brand revived by Barrel House Brewing, including a 1940s beer label design. Pours a hazy golden pale blonde brew with a thick white head with good retention. Aroma of multi-grain, toffee and some flowery hops. Taste is light caramel malt, some buttery tones, with a breakfast cereal flavor. Finish is slightly dry with some floral hop aftertaste. I don’t believe this is the original Wooden Shoe recipe, but at least a pretty good average brew.

22 ounce bomber from Arrow Wine and Spirits. Deep gold/ copper color, big head with good retention and lacing, typical lager aroma mixed with sweet floral notes, fine somewhat sweet flavor with floral notes and good hop and malt balance. A very fine lager, and a big raspberry to those who routinely dismiss the style. Once again, Barrelhouse shows how it’s done.