“Mellow, easy, crisp, and light bodied. The name originates from it being a top-fermented brew. An older method of brewing, giving its famous fruity flavour.”

Glassware: Half Stein.

Appearance: Deep rusted amber with really faint red highlights. It forms two fingers of light tan head which slowly deconstructs. Patchy lace work clings to the glass as we imbibe.

Aroma: Malt-driven, semi sweet and tangy. Old world hops start to open up pretty quickly and present their earthy, spicy and woody characters. More of the richer aromas like toffee, gingerbread and brioche are buried a bit deeper. Picking up shades of nutty malt, toast and marmalade then dark fruits and yeast esters to round it out. Really nice…reminds us of a good Vienna Lager.

Flavour: Not as well defined as the aroma but it’s unbelievably velvety and the malt profile displays everything from light toffee, nuts, dough/toast and semi sweet honey. Rather earthy and woody…hinged on a subtle dryness which shifts into the slightly tangy, yeasty and earthy finish that really hangs on.

Mouthfeel: Silky smooth, slick and well rounded. Medium body, flat-ish Co2. 5% ABV is neither here nor there.

Overall: Definitely our least favoured of the 3 we’ve tried from this series thus far. Our knowledge on Altbier is limited though so this could be exactly what the brewers were going for. Although it’s not for us it was still a decent drop.