Serving Type: DraftABV: Five percent
Appearance: Barking Squirrel Lager looked exactly like your typical amber-colored lager. It's a deep and shiny amber with a creamy head. If you look closely at the head you'll notice thousands of tiny carbonation bubbles. Look lower and watch them dance upwards to form the head. The head had pretty weak retention and didn't leave much lacing if any at all.
Smell: There wasn't a lot that I noticed when I smelled this beer. Mainly two things which were a tad of maltiness and a strong hop aroma.
Taste: The flavor of this beer was a little more complex. The malt hit my tongue first. That provided a nice roastiness along with a small taste of nuts which was also on the darker side. There was also some sweet caramel before an above-average hop kick on the finish. Unfortunately, for my palate I wanted more of a textured mouth feel from all of that carbonation I noticed at first, but I didn't get as much as I would have liked.
Overall Rating:
Coming from a brewery named Hop City I initially feared that this would be one of those beers that was made to distinctly prove the brewer can put more hops into his or her concoction than another. It was a good thing that the hops actually worked like they were supposed to and complimented the other features of the beer. They provided a tasty bitterness on the back. I really wish the head had more retention and potential to add some creaminess atop the caramel and roasted flavors this beer features. That would have only shown more of this brew off.
