Every time I opened my fridge for the past week, I glanced at this label and thought that it said WinXP on the boombox for some reason. It turns out, it does not. It is actually a local radio station here in Nashville. In fact, it's a public radio station. Genuinely, I didn't know that this radio station existed. I'm not really a terrestrial radio kind of guy, and it turns out I have passed their station a bunch of times without noticing. It's interesting that they have their frequency as 91.1. I assume 911 was an intentional choice. Notably, it appears that their predecessor occupied this channel since well before September 11.
4.9% ABV seems exceedingly low these days. I am spending a little too much time in the stratospheric ABV of the double IPA or even some of those delicious creams. The beer pours out a clear copper with a reasonable, off-white head. The aroma of thick bread malt is forward, but a strange, almost vinegar scent is attached to it. I'm not sure where that's coming from, and I'm definitely not sure it's going to be good.First sip has no remnant of the vinegar that was, for some reason, in the aroma. Instead, a bread malt is thick, but it isn't particularly sweet. As a result, the beer has heft with very little taste. I believe that the malt is bringing some yeast with it, but, like I said, there just doesn't seem to be a whole lot to taste. Of course, trying to sip a beer that is meant to be quaffed is its own folly.
Tip-in is moderate carbonation burn with bread and honey introducing themselves. The middle turns a bit dry as the heavy bread runs its way down the throat with some unexpected light spices attending. The finish is where the yeast seems to come in, but it doesn't wreck the relatively clean taste from the rest of the beer - but it hangs on for the trail off.
Bottom Line: More complex than most lagers I've had.
3.0/5