Viennese Whirl

I was running early for work, and by work I mean a shift behind the bar at Starr Hill, so I pottered into a supermarket near the brewery to peruse the beer selection, you know, just in case. In many ways it was a fairly standard Harris Teeter beer aisle, and fair play to them they generally have some good beer. In with the cases was Sierra Nevada's 'Fall Pack' mix case, a selection of 4 beers, 3 bottles of the Pale Ale, Tumbler, Oktoberfest, and Vienna. Having not had the Oktoberfest at all  or the Vienna in quite some time, I got myself one and drove off to work.

As I drove home after work, I decided that a blind tasting was in order. I recalled Sierra Nevada's Vienna Lager being rather nice when I had it on draft a few years back at a Beer Run tap takeover (they also had Torpedo on cask, and it is much better than the kegged product), so I decided to compare Viennas. To that end I got another couple of representations of the style, and with the aid of my beautiful assistant, Mrs V, set to comparing the following:

• Sierra Nevada Vienna
• Devils Backbone Vienna Lager
• Starr Hill Jomo Vienna Lager

Here are my notes, in the style of Cyclops as usual.

Beer A

• Sight - amber, large fluffy head, lots of carbonation
• Smell - dominated by bready malts, light honey notes, some earthiness
• Taste - juicy cereal/graininess, soft caramel like sweetness, gentle hop bite, clean
• Sweet - 2/5
• Bitter - 3.5/5
• Notes - slightly slick mouthfeel, bit on the watery side but nicely refreshing

Beer B

• Sight - orange/copper, large slightly off white head, no noticeable bubbles
• Smell - grain, general sweet aroma, light toast, grass
• Taste - clean malt flavour, bready, slight syrup, undertones of earthy hops
• Sweet - 2/5
• Bitter - 3/5
• Notes - Slightly on the sweet side, medium bodied, nice carbonation, easy drinking

Beer C

• Sight - rich copper, medium sized ivory head
• Smell - some toast, juicy sweet honey
• Taste - richly malty, honey/maple syrup, fresh scones, clean crisp hop bite
• Sweet - 2/5
• Bitter - 3/5
• Notes - Complex array of malt flavours, balanced really well with a clean hop bitterness, refreshing and moreish, slightly slick mothfeel

Rather than try to identify the beers, I decided to just note the order in which I preferred them, and was as backward as C, B, A, which turned to be as follows:

1. Devils Backbone Vienna Lager
2. Starr Hill Jomo Vienna Lager
3. Sierra Nevada Vienna

All three beers are perfectly drinkable, but Devils Backbone's Vienna, as befits a multiple award winning beer just stands out with its complexity. It really is one of the best lagers in general in the US in my utterly unhumble opinion.