KC Bier Co. Festbier by KC Bier Co. was reviewed per the style guidelines provided by the Beer Judge Certification Program under category 7A, Vienna Lager.
A decidedly striking beer, golden in color, crystal clear with a persistent soft white head and lots of very tiny bubbles that smacked of krausening.
The aroma was malt-accented, bready and rich with only a wisp of hops to balance.
To the credit of the brewer, the intense clean malt character found here did not manifest itself via overly sweet caramel malt flavors that often accompany this style, which are avoidable through the process of time-consuming traditional German decoction mashing. As in the aroma, hops were gently expressed in only a complementary fashion.
A medium-bodied beer with soft carbonation that carried smoothly over the tongue.
This is a well-conceived Vienna Lager full of malt complexity that touches on the high end of the gravity scale yet is still highly drinkable.