Small Stash Reserve - Horner Beer by Seedstock Brewery is a Horner bier and is being evaluated as a Historical Beer (category 27 in the 2015 BJCP Beer Style Guidelines). The historical beer category is a catch-all category for styles that have all but died out in current times; no subcategory exists for the Horner bier style. Horner bier is an extinct Austrian style named for the city of Horn, Austria. Horner biers are brewed exclusively with oat malt and were typically flavored with cream of tartar for a light sourness. Small Stash Reserve - Horner Beer was brewed with 100% malted oats and with a little cream of tartar.

This beer pours golden in color, very hazy with a fluffy but quickly fading white head. The aroma is of moderately light oats with a light lemony ester and no hops. The flavor is similarly of moderately light oats with a light acidity. The body is thin and moderately high in carbonation. The beer finishes lightly bittered with, yet again, a moderately light oat flavor and a gentle acidity.

While this might be a typical example of the extinct Horner bier style (as described by Andreas Krennmair in the book Historic German and Austrian Beers for the Home Brewer), the flavor profile is not very pleasant. The almost singular flavor of malted oats is very cereal-like. The low alcohol content (Horner Beer measures at 3% ABV), moderately high carbonation level and gentle acidity make this refreshing. Try this one out to see what beer in 18th- and 19th-century Austria tasted like.