Donzoko x Braybrooke “Vienna Lager”

Name: Vienna Lager
Brewers: Donzoko Brewing Company, Braybrooke Beer Co. (United Kingdom)
Style: Vienna Lager
ABV: 5%
Review Year: 2021

Donzoko Brewing Company and Braybrooke Beer Co. love the classic lager styles. This Vienna Lager is a manifestation of that passion and features a malt bill of Vienna and some caramel malt together with classic German hops. Braybooke’s house yeast was used to ferment this lager and was matured in cold for 30 days.

STYLE GUIDELINES

This beer is being evaluated as a Vienna Lager (7A) in the context of the 2015 Beer Style Guidelines of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). The said guidelines were used since we reviewed this beer before 29 December 2021, the date of publishing of the 2021 update. The most current version can be found on the BJCP website.

TASTING NOTES

Clear deep gold with a foamy persistent white head. Aroma profile was moderately high combining slight toasty malts with accents of sugar cane or honey. Medium-light-bodied; moderate carbonation. A rich yet rounded malt profile characterized the flavor with modest toasty, nutty, and sugar cane or honey-like qualities; a subtle spicy-floral hop flavor added complexity. Despite the sugar cane and honey-like flavors, this beer was perceived dry (low sweetness); bitterness was moderately low. This Vienna Lager concluded with lingering floral hops.

THE VERDICT

We find this Vienna Lager to be an excellent interpretation of the style. Vienna Lager harmonizes rich yet rounded malts with complementing spicy-floral hops in a thirst-quenching manner as expected in a lager. Ultimately, it is one of those beers that you would have more than one serving of.

Related Reviews:
Donzoko Brewing Company
Braybrooke Beer Co.
Craft Beer From the UK