Smoked Lager - Cigar City Brewing

stakem

Pennsylvania

2.28/5  rDev 0%
look: 4.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 1.5

On tap at the Cigar City tasting room. Served in a standard pint glass. The brew pours a pale yellow color with a frothy white head. The cap maintains fairly decent and leaves a webby pattern of lace sticking to the glass.

The smell is strong with smoke coupled with fruit and spice. It is a perplexing combination of aromatics. There is a strange almost menthol-like coolness to the nose with a weird medicinal aspect before blending back into a sweetness and more smoke.

The taste is insane and not in a good way. That weird cooling menthol medicine quality that was in the nose is also present in the flavor. The smoke is harsh which I dont mind but when paired with the other aspects of this brew it just isnt good. There is a fruity flavor and entirely too much residual sweetness. As it warms up, some notes of cinnamon and spice come out with a touch of something almost vinous when concentrating on the sweetness of the brew.

This is a medium to light bodied brew with a modest level of carbonation. The lingering sweetness really ruins any chance of a crisp finish to this brew. Overall it is a really awkward arrangement. I enjoy smoked beers but not this one. The more I sat and thought about it, I couldnt help but wonder if the smoking wood used was something like cedar. That might explain some of the spiced aspects going on. I honestly couldnt finish my glass, I wish I would have only tried a sample. I would avoid trying this unless they find a way to clean it up and get rid of that residual sugar.

Serving type: on-tap

07-11-2012 12:48:17 | More by stakem