Vienna Lagers

The Name

The Moose of Marshalton is the latest flagship beer that I am trying to add to the rotation. One of my biggest goals of Brookmeade is to make craft beer “approachable”. What do I mean by that? You’ve probably been to a brewery once or twice and you check out the menu and it is full of double hopped, milkshake, girl scout cookie infused, nitro chile beer (or something like that). No disrespect to those brewers. It takes creativity, skill, and hard work to be able to innovate like that. But sometimes you just want a beer that tastes like beer. It’s important for me to have a good Vienna Lager because I think it is a great introduction to the craft beer world for someone who rarely shies from an American lager.

If you know me, or follow @brookmeade_brewing, you know the namesake comes from our loveable, handsome, playful, and sometimes dopey 3 year old golden retriever named Moose. Photos below for your viewing pleasure.

The “Marshalton” (Marshallton? Still not sure) aspect comes from the small village tucked five minutes away from downtown West Chester where the lively main street turns to rolling farms and open space. The dichotomy is really what makes West Chester so great in my opinion. So that’s where the name comes from…what about the beer?

The Beer

Some believe the Vienna Lager was inspired by the Billy Joel track “Vienna” from The Stranger. Those people are idiots. Actually, they don’t even exist, because I just made that up. Stop believing everything you read on the internet. The true history of the Vienna Lager dates back to the mid 19th Century by Anton Dreher. Dreher, the owner of Schewchat Brewery, kilned his malts at a higher temperature than the traditional pale malts at the time. This was due to a new kilning technology that was developed in England a few years earlier. The result of the malt was a reddish-brown color with a toasted bread flavor. The beer draws similarities to an Oktoberfest-Marzen, a German lager with slightly stronger malt presence and increased ABV. You typically see this beer around (you guessed it) Oktoberfest. The Vienna Lager rapidly gained popularity through Vienna, Austria, and Europe. As Immigrants from Germany and Austria came to the United States, they brought their culture and their beer with them.

The popularity stalled into the 20th century as Pilsners and American Light Lagers took over. Today, there has been a bit of a resurgence as craft brewers explore past, present, and future beer styles.

The Process

Like most beers, a Vienna Lager distinguishes itself from the rest by its ingredients and process. As the name suggests, the beer needs the bulk of the grain bill to be Vienna and Munich malts. This should give it the dark red/brown color and bread/caramel flavor. While decoction mashing can be used for the lager, I will be sticking to a standard mash for this first iteration. As I play around with new versions, I plan to focus on different mash methods (if that is the proper term). Noble hops should be used in the brew as they are traditional European hop varieties: Hallertau, Tettnang, etc. Obviously a lager yeast should also be utilized to produce the crisp, clean flavor one would expect from a lager. Lastly, the beer needs to go through the lagering process. It should be stored at a cold temperature for several weeks/months. Here is the recipe for the first version of “The Moose of Marshalton”:

Grain bill:

  • 8 lbs Vienna malt

  • 2 lbs Munich malt

  • 4 oz Caramunich malt

  • 4 oz Carafoam malt

Hops:

  • 1 oz Hallertau Mittelfruh hops (60 min)

  • 1 oz Hallertau Mittelfruh hops (30 min)

Yeast:

  • Imperial Yeast's L17 Harvest yeast

Nothing fancy here.

Flavor and Pairings

I’ve already alluded to this, but the beer is known for its rich malt flavor, typically identified as toasted bread or caramel. The hops should offer just enough bitterness to even out the sweetness of the malt. As with most lagers, it should be smooth, clean, clear, and crisp. The color should be amber to copper, and the ABV should land right around 5%

What should you pair this beer with? I have no idea. I’m nowhere near as well versed on this topic as I should be to recommend something like that. Pizza? Pizza and beer always plays. Anyway, I googled it… and it turns out many people have already written much much much better Vienna Lager summaries than me. Like this one from kegerator.com here is what they recommend:

Bratwursts, Spicy Chicken Wings, Venison, Any Grilled Meat, Fish & Chips, Mild Pepper Jack and Gruyere Cheeses, Coconut Flan, Almond Biscotti

Alright we got pretty specific at the end there but that is a much better list than I could ever put together.

Popular Vienna Lagers and Vienna-ish Lagers

Here are a few Vienna Lagers that I’ve had and really enjoyed (disclaimer, not sure if all of these even classify as Vienna Lagers but if you’re still reading you probably didn’t stick around for my accuracy and knowledge):

  • Danish Red Lager - Fig Mountain Brewing Co.

  • Samuel Adams Boston Lager - Samuel Adams

  • Vienna Style Lager - Sierra Nevada Brewing Co.

  • Vienna Lager - Devils Backbone Brewing Co.

  • Vienna Red Lager - Iron Hill Brewery

What are your thoughts on Vienna Lagers? Did I miss any popular ones on my list? If so, sound off in the comments. Brew day is scheduled for Saturday, January 28th. Hopefully I can add this brew to the “popular” list!

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