Lost Rhino RhinO’fest
Man, I’ve got a huge backlog of reviews to get through. Just to show you how far behind I am, this bottle of Lost Rhino’s RhinO’fest was originally enjoyed back on October first.
At any rate, Lost Rhino is a a very new — they’ve only been selling their product since June of this year — local brewery out of Ashburn, Va that is slowly spreading across the state. I recently ran across a couple bottles of their RhinO’fest seasonal offering and immediately picked up a couple.
I haven’t run across any of their other stuff just yet on shelves, but since enjoying their Oktoberfest marzen, I’ve been able to sample their New River Pale Ale on tap at a couple of local restaurants. If this rich, malty brew and that pale ale are any indication, I expect these guys to do quite well for themselves.
Appearance
RhinO’fest pours with a one finger white head that rests atop the clear, amber liquid.
Aroma
The nose smells the part of a marzen with a grainy, biscuity malt backbone. With the malt is a light sweetness, subtle fruit notes and a light grassy hop presence.
Taste
The flavors mimic the nose perfectly as the pale malt brings hints of grain, toast and caramel to the table. The malt transitions smoothly to a light hop presence that lingers slightly before disappearing. This is a clean drinking brew that, at 5.5% ABV, is just about sessionable. It’s got a relatively crisp mouthfeel and is well balanced between all the flavors.
Overall
As my first introduction to Lost Rhino, this brew really impressed me. It’s got a great balance between the sweeter, grainy malts and a light hop bitterness. RhinO’fest is a smooth drinking beer that has plenty of flavor and a well rounded character. Needless to say, I have enjoyed this brew a couple times over since first cracking open a bottle back in early October.
Rating: 3.75/5