Lancaster Brewing Rumspringa

I love gifts.  More than regular gifts, I love beer gifts.  The next beer for review was a gift given to me by my good friends Matt and Erin Milanese.  They thought this beer was amusing and I'm happy to drink it.  This one is made by Lancaster Brewing and is called, Rumspringa.  Those of you familiar with the Amish culture know what a Rumspringa is, but if you aren't, here is an explanation.  I love witty beer names and this one definitely provides some humor that will last forever.  But will the beer be something to be taken seriously?

First let's look at the style.  The can states that this one is a Golden Bock.  This is really a hybrid between a couple of styles in the Lager family.  If you are looking around for information on Golden Bocks, you won't find much.  This beer falls more into the category of a Heller Bock, which to me is kind of like a cross between a Maibock and Helles Lager.  It's all a little confusing, but what you should know is that this is a lager, not an Ale, which already puts this one at a disadvantage for me because I'm not a huge fan of Bocks in the first place.  Fun fact, did you know there are really only two major families of beer?  Ales and Lagers. That's it.  Every beer out there falls into one of those 2 families.

What do the beer geeks think of this one?  Read more here.

Choose Your Vessel:  I went with the standard pint glass with DMB firedance logo today.  The style doesn't really require anything special, although a Lager glass may have been more appropriate.....I don't have a Lager glass....so Pint glass it  is.

The Pour:  True to its name, this one pours a Golden color with maybe a slight amber hue.  Thick white head, zero lacing on the glass.  Typically, these beers would be fairly clear, but this one is definitely not.

Aroma:  My first note was "Smells like a Golden Lager".  Noticeable are the pale malt aromas, smells a little of fermented corn.  Maybe a touch of caramel and toffee.  Incredibly sweet smelling, which may be due to the unmistakable presence of that Lancaster honey.  Minimal hop aroma.

Taste:  Sweet.  Some earthiness to it.  Honey present throughout.  Light to medium bodied with a good amount of carbonation.  Lots of pale malt and corn flavors, reminding me of a light lager.  Rather unpleasant for me mostly.  I keep searching for those "feisty" hops the brewery claims are in this one, but I can't find them much at all.  Maybe a touch in the finish.  The honey in this brew helps me get halfway through it before turning the rest of the glass over to my wife to finish it off.  I did intentionally plan to share it with her.

Overall:  Just not a lot going on with this one.  It was already disadvantaged because of my dislike for the style, but I imagine that the honey makes this one a more interesting brew in its family.  My wife, on the other hand, took her first sip and stated "Oooooh, I could drink that".  She very much appreciated the sweetness of the beer.  I appreciated the gift and the opportunity to try a rather unique beer....but I don't need to have it again, unless it's for shits and giggles.