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Beer Reviews

Sieben’s

Gray’s Brewing Company
Janesville, WI
USA
http://www.graybrewing.com/

Style: Lager

Baby-Boy’s Rating:
   (Outstanding within its style.)


Comments:
The magazine for drinkers, Imbibe, ran an article on lagers in its last issue. That inspired me to pick up a six of Sieben’s, which is a straight-ahead lager. I wanted to try one that wasn’t mass-produced swill. The article touted the merits of this kind of beer.

Now, as a dark beer drinker, I have to say I much prefer the porters or the stouts. But this is a fine, fine beer.

Sieben’s was first brewed in 1865 in Chicago by Michael Sieben, an immigrant from Ebersheim, Germany. The beer went through its ups and downs until its brewery closed in 1967 because it couldn’t keep up with the mass-produced swill. In 2006, Richard Sieben became the fourth generation brewer and brought the beer back.

And a good thing he did. This beer has a good amber color, and a classic beer smell. Nothing in there overwhelms the nose.

The flavor is what makes this beer great. Some hops and some malt meet in the middle to compromise and create a smooth, drinkable flavor. This beer has the flavor a lager should have.

But the one note to this beer is that it must be served very cold. Once it starts to warm up, it loses some of its lager goodness. Still, on a hot day, if you wanted something to pull out of the cooler at a barbeque and weren’t drinking water or its light beer equivalent, Sieben’s is a beer you would want to reach for.

Reviewed by Baby-Boy Jackson on June 19, 2007.

Drinkin’ And Thinkin’

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