Four days ago @trumpman started the 7 day beer challenge. I was nominated today by @abigail-dantes and I couldn't be more excited to participate!

This the perfect time for a beer challenge as I just moved to Upstate New York and there are a ton of new breweries to try. I know a lot of people scoff at beer in the US, but the craft beer scene is rapidly growing all across the country. Most cities have multiple small local breweries these days and they're all experimenting with different ways to make beer. Although they're not all perfect, the competition means that tons of varieties are available and the overall quality is quite high.

The only US beer I'm not going to defend is that produced by the large commercial breweries. Budweiser, Coors, and all those other cheap beers aren't always terrible, but they're boring and devoid of flavor. Thus, this challenge will attempt to capture some of the interesting variety you can find in america's smaller breweries.

Today's beer is Flying Bison's Rusty Chain. It calls itself a Vienna style beer, but I don't really know what that means. They mention on the bottle that its made from "European malts and three different hops" so I'm guessing that some of those ingredients come from Vienna? At any rate, this is one of the flagship beers of the Flying Bison Brewing Company. Flying Bison is a small brewery located in Buffalo NY. It's been around since 2000 which is way longer than the average craft brewery. Pictures are below:

Review

When I poured out the beer, it had a nice amber color and a malty aroma. It didn't foam too much when poured. I decided to drink it with my dinner which, in retrospect, was a very good choice.

For a flagship beer, Rusty Chain plays it pretty safe. It tastes like a standard pale ale or lager. However, I'd describe the flavor as balanced rather than plain. It has enough tasty malt to complement the mild hops overall make a very drinkable beer. Most importantly, it has none of the negative flavor or smell I often get with cheaper ales.

I'm not the only one who lacks the capacity to describe this beer. My wife's exact words to explain the taste was "it was a good beer, but nondescript." I think that's a pretty good summary of how I feel as well.

I'm going to nominate @justtryme90 for this challenge. I think I remember him featuring a craft beer in his black and white photo challenge so he's already got one entry.

These are the rules to be taken into account:

• You have to try a new beer every day, for 7 days
• The beer must be something you have never tasted before
• You must put a photo of the beer and write a few words about it
• Nominate someone every day
• If you are a social outcast with no friends to invite you just join the fun. You have every excuse to drink!
• Use the tag "#sevendaybeerchallenge" as one of your five tags.