Sierra Nevada Vienna Lager
Our take on the classic European amber lager. It has bright reddish highlights and a pronounced bready malt aroma reminiscent of its Austrian counterparts. The flavor plays slightly toward caramel and toasted lager malt but remains balanced and drinkable with a clean finish perfect for a summer session.
3.4
238 reviews
Chico, United States
Community reviews
It pours a dark golden with a clear off white head. The head does not last that long. It has strong malt aromas that feature a strong toasty smell. There are toasty flavors with floral hops providing balance. It has a dry taste as well. It has a medium-light body with medium carbonation with a slightly bitter finish. Overall, it is a fairly well balanced between the malts and the hops that produces a dry and slightly bitter finish.
Pours a clear golden orange from the bottle with fluffy off-white head that leaves good lace. Aroma of earthy hops, mild sweet malts, and lager yeast. Taste follows, a bit of bitterness. I like more malty caramel viennas but this isn?t bad.
Dunkel golden, klar im Glas, wenig Schaum, leicht malzig in der Nase, leicht spritzig im antrunk, brotige Malz Aromen, leichte bittere im Abgang, gut zu trinken
Hazy golden-yellow color, puffy white head.
Aroma is bready, sweet malts with just a hint of lemon-square. Touch of lime-citrus. It’s got a wheat-like tartness that is really nice for this style. The word "pleasant" doesn’t do it justice. Bright.
The taste is a little more bitter: it’s got some Euro hops that are sharp but not unpleasant. It’s definitely more of a Euro vibe in the flavor. A little salt-n-pepper in the finish.
The feel is champagne-dry. I really like this beer; it’s a great go-to for flavor but not a ton of complexity. A really pleasant brew.
Light malty grain aroma. Clear golden color with a small white head. Moderately sweet with a light amount of bitterness in the finish.
On Tap clear golden, thin fine lasting bright white head. Soft smooth lightly toasted malt aroma and flavor. Decent noble european hop character. Somewhat pisenerish in that way. Nice refreshing.
Bottle into a dimpled mug. Pours a pale amber, with a small white head that quickly fades. Not much nose, but a faint aroma of grain. Taste is watery, bland, inoffensive. Lawnmower beer.
Pours a honey from a bottle. Speaking of honey, nose is of honey and maybe a wheat cracker, a little toast. Flavor is more of caramel. Good beer.
Soooooo, what happens when an Amber lager isn’t amber? This one wasn’t, it was pale. And it wasn’t even a good pale lager. Eh, not much flavor at all. Pass on this one. Way too many SN beers and amber lagers out there.
Hmm I've sampled this on two separate occasions and was disappointed both times by this lager from Sierra Nevada. Appearance is a nice tarnished bronze amber with a steady crown of white foam, aroma is an ok caramel and grain with grassy hops, unusually grassy for the style. Likewise the flavor is caramel malt like a Marzen, but with an unpleasant spicy grain accent that pairs poorly with a sharp herbal/grassy hop tang in the finish, simply not that appealing IMHO. Unique but not in a way that I would want to try this again.
12 Fl. Oz. Bottle. Poured clear reddish amber in color, nice white head and some moderate lacing. Aroma of caramel, bread and some apple. Taste is sweet, some fruit and quite a bit of grain and yeast; some hops in there too. Easy to drink enjoyable beer.
Bottle. Bready malt with toasted notes. Sweet caramel with some pleasant hop bitterness in the finish.
This is a rock solid lager and I want more of it. I want it in sixers and not the fall pack! Clean, light but not thin or watery. Good bready/toasty malts, lightly hopped at the finish.
Bottle. True gold in colour with medium carbonation. Aromas are of honeyed malt, wet stones, a bit of caramel, and iron. Flavors are of Vienna malt, mild green hop, crusty white bread, and minerals. Light bodied with a snappy finish. Restrained... almost a touch too simplistic, but still decent.
My kind of beer!! Great lager with tons flavor and great color from an usually lame category
Bottle at wife’s work party. Poured amber, small off white head. Aroma was malty, roast malts, bread. Taste was sweet, toasted, caramel.
Bottle from Market Basket
Slightly hazy deep golden color with a small but long lasting bubbly white head. Sweet bready pilsner maltiness with a hint of toast. Light floral hop moderate spicy hop flavor. Pretty nice drinker.
2015 BJCP Category: 7A Vienna Lager
AROMA: Malt-forward nose with mostly pale and amber malt. Slight toasty character. Faint floral hop presence. Clean fermentation character. 9/12
APPEARANCE: Dark golden/amber proper hue. Crystal clear with effervescence visible. Average, white, foam; little to no lacing. 2/3
FLAVOR: Mostly amber malt with slight honey-on-toast flavor. More malty than sweet. Firm hop bitterness on the finish with medium-low floral/spicy flavor. Malts and hops both linger in the aftertaste. Clean fermentation. 18/20
MOUTHFEEL: Medium-ish body and carbonation. Consistently crisp. Goes down smooth. Aftertaste is a bit starchy, but faint. 4/5
OVERALL IMPRESSION: One of the best commercial examples of the style. It’d be perfect with just a few tweaks. 9/10
TOTAL SCORE: 42/50
NOTE: I am a rank-pending BJCP judge. I am reviewing commercial beer to BJCP specs to hone my judging skills.
Rating #2237 - 2015.12.09 - Draught @CraftBeerYYC. Clear dark brown pour with a foamy tan head, medium retention. Aroma is doughy, hints of pastry, butterscotch, and a mild citrus/fruit sweetness. Medium carbonation, crisp mouthfeel. Taste is a hint of toffee, toasted pumpernickel. Lovely malt-forward amber.
Solid hop balance with a grass body, a bit of vanilla, and a bubbly finish.
12oz. Bottle from fall sampler - nose is cardboard, grass, and toast. Sip adds wild grass and cereal. Lots of flavor and balanced. Cloying finish but not too much.
Pour from a 12oz bottle. Deeper shade of gold with thin fizzy head that instantly vanishes leaving no ring or lacing. Aroma of sweet malt with toasty notes, a little citrus and hay. Taste is light sweet malt up front with some grass and lemon citrus in the finish. Even though the tastes are all very restrained it comes across as somewhat clumsy and unbalanced. Palate is somewhat full bodied but both bottles I sampled were very weakly carbonated. Disappointed.
It is a very tasty beer. Yeast, malt and hops all playing their part, but playing it lightly. It’s tasty and well-crafted but I’m not sure I’ll remember it y’know.
Poured from bottle. Smelling malt, lemon, spice. Looks more gold than amber. I taste dry malt, hay, crisp hops, touch of citrus and vanilla. Refreshing feel. Not bad.
Bottle. Pours a clear golden beer with modest head. Has slight caramel and bread notes with light fresh hops. Light bodied. Average carbonation. This is very refreshing. Smooth and crisp with just enough flavor. Well done! Once in a while it is nice not to have to drink a hop bomb beer. They are getting way overdone. This is just what the doctor ordered.
A decent Vienna. Light aroma of lager yeast and sweet malt. Pour was a nice medium gold with a thin off white film for a head. Taste was typical lager. The caramel maltiness combined with a slightly sweet graininess for a light refreshing beer. Just a slight hint of hops in he finish. Finish was dry and quick. Not a huge fan of the style but this is as good as any. Good carbonation.
12 oz. bottle, part of a mixed 12 pack. Pours a clear copper with a one finger off white head that recedes to a ring. Minimal lace. Biscuit & honey aroma. Semi sweet flavor. More biscuit balanced with light grassy hops. Medium bodied and easy to drink. Nice.
Bottle from LaBodega, crystal clear amber beer, white head. Aroma lager nuttiness, malt, hint of floral honey. Taste is malt, lager nuttiness, hint of honey. Palate is light, carbonation moderate, finish has a touch of hops.
Golden pour with a thin white head. Nice bready aroma. Malty flavor with bread and biscuit notes and a bitter hop finish.
Slight spicy notes from hops with biscuit overtones. Pours a clear light amber with a dusting of white head. Touch of toast and bread in the flavor, nice crisp hop finish. Light bodied, and a nice summer beer, which makes it a bit strange that it’s in the Autumn mix pack.