Rusty Chain - Flying Bison Brewing Company

    Rusty Chain Vienna Style Beer is an Amber Ale created by Flying Bison Brewing Company which is located in Buffalo, New York. The beer was created in an attempt to promote bicycle culture in Buffalo, and to celebrate life on two wheels. As someone who hasn't been on a bicycle since middle-school, I'm a little worried that this beer won't like me very much...

    Rusty Chain pours a rusty red-amber color with a small off-white head with low retention.

    The beer smells very malty-sweet, toasty and lightly spicy. There is a small bit of a citrus hops presence as well.

    Rusty Chain is light-bodied though the carbonation level is quite high, making the mouthfeel seem larger at swallowing. It's not quite such a high level of carbonation that you feel as though you are just swallowing foam, but it's close. There seems to be a bit of alcohol warmth to the beer, even though it has a low alcohol content of 5% ABV.

The only beer that can give you Tetanus.

    This Vienna Style Beer is dominated by sweet, toasty malt flavors. This has to be one of the sweetest beers I have ever tasted. The aftertaste reminds me of brown sugar, though there is a bit of a nuttyness to it as well. Only the tiniest hops bitterness can be perceived in the beer's flavor.

    I've heard from friends that craft beer culture and bicycle culture overlap in many cities. The unfortunate truth of the majority of my city's "bicycle culture" involves most of the population swerving to hit bicyclists for being hippies (ok not really, but it's close). The only overlap between beer and bicycle culture here is  DUI offenders having to ride to work after losing their license. As the rustychainbeer.com website for promoting bicycle culture in Buffalo now routes to some random Chinese language blog, I'm assuming Flying Bison had little luck with championing their cause.

    Overall, Rusty Chain is an extremely sweet Amber Ale. I'd almost call this a brown ale, except for its red/amber color and light body. The beer is drinkable, though the sweetness gets to be overbearing after many sips of the beer.

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