Simple Things Fermentations Vienna Lager

Simple Things Fermentation - Glasgow, Scotland

"First brewed in the same year as its close relative, the classic Oktoberfest Märzen - and a year before the world's first pilsner - Vienna Lager is a supremely delicate, crisp, and well-balanced beer. Slightly lighter in alcohol and body than its Munich-based cousin, there’s also a touch more happening hop-wise.

Golden-amber in colour, this is a delectable malt-driven brew with inviting aromas of orange, caramel and toasted bread. German Mandarina Bavaria hops are employed judiciously and offer candy orange-citrus and subtle floral notes in the glass. As you’d expect from STF it’s soft and smooth; unfined, unfiltered and naturally carbonated. There’s a solid, reliable drinkability and a crisp, dry finish that makes this a highly sessionable beer. You’ll want more than one."

440ml Can

Contains; Gluten

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Vienna Lager. Just beautiful. Very much in the Festbier mould both in looks and flavour but with a slightly higher hopping rate; I'd still put it at moderate to low even by lager standards but there's just enough Mandarina Bavaria to give the beer a lovely orange note that compliments the bready Vienna/Pilsner/Munich grist perfectly.

Description

To celebrate Oktoberfest Simple Things have brewed a Vienna Lager. Chilled its a delicious crisp lager but as it warms up there are notes of candied orange courtesy of Mandarina Bavaria hops, which were used both in the boil and as light dry hop; it’s an ideal match for the toasty-caramel malt and along with the crisp, dry finish makes for a superbly moreish beer.

A Vienna Lager isn’t the typical Oktoberfest style, but there are historical links between the Oktoberfest Märzen lager and a Vienna. The story goes that way back in the 1840s, brewery-owning pals Mr Dreher from Vienna and Mr Sedlmayr from Munich were on a fact-finding mission/booze cruise around Europe, looking for ways to improve their beers and found – in Britain, as it happens – innovative techniques that resulted in beer lighter in colour than anyone had managed previously. The resulting brews, Vienna Lager and Märzen, were at the time the palest beers anyone had produced and prized accordingly. A year later, your man Josef Groll did the same thing but a few shades lighter still, Pilsner was born and we’ve never looked back. But enough of the history lesson!

Simple Things say “Märzen is the beer style most closely associated with Oktoberfest. Vienna Lager, a touch lighter in ABV and with slightly more hop character, is a very similar beer but offers a slightly different take and is far less easy to find these days. That being very much our thing, we thought we’d take the opportunity to bring it to the lager party.”

5.5%

440ml can