Hoppy Lagers - Would you like more?

The beer styles you mentioned are indeed malt forward beers and typically modestly hopped. I am not aware of any breweries that are making hoppy Helles beers or hoppy Dunkels, etc. Are you?

“Companies like Victory and Troegs do the styles justice…” I agree wholeheartedly with that comment.

Cheers!

 

I would probably buy them more often, but my styles of choice will still be IPAs and stouts

 

Not that I know of. Having said that, I don't think I would be interested in trying 'hopped up' versions of Helles or Munich Dunkel lagers.

 

I really enjoy well-executed hoppy pilsners. Prima Pils is an excellent example, as is August Schell's Arminius, and I also really liked the SN/FW Torpedo Pilsner.

 

This whole trend of making traditionally un-hoppy beers hoppy is an abomination that needs to end. That's just me though. as long as people are enjoying them, more power to them.

 

Not only is that horse out of the barn, the barn has been burned down.

 

Pilsners were traditionally "hoppy lagers". During a 1901 meeting of the American Brewing Institute, the brewers in attendance noted that the beers of Pilsen "...are famous for their hop flavor and bitter flavor..." and that they used“…not only the best obtainable Saaz hops but plenty of them – so evident a fact was this, that (one) might almost describe the city of Pilsen as steeped in hops and redolent of hop aroma.”

And only a few years later, 100 Years of Brewing (a US history of beer) noted that "The Bohemian beers...possess a fine and strongly noticeable hop flavor (and) a bitter taste...".

"Hoppy lagers" is a return to form in the US, not some "craft brewers" innovation or perversion of a classic style.

 

yet another fallacy smack-down by the inimitable jesskidden

 

Maybe, but do you suppose today's hop-head would really consider the Pilsners of 1901 worthy of their cravings? There are still a lot of beers hopped with Saaz, but I imagine today's IPA addicts would scoff at the idea of them being "hoppy."

 

Noble Ale Works - Pistol Whip'd
FW - PIVO Pils
Victory - Prima Pils
Cismontane - Pilsner

Great beers that I enjoy thoroughly, particularly the NAW. I would definitely like to see more of these around.

 

Have you tried Jacks Abbey? I realize there's no distribution there but maybe through a trade?
All they do is lagers and I think they make a damn good one....IPLS etc. Since I'm fairly new to BA maybe a trade is in order? ( or I'll just send u sum) ')

 

Left Hands Polestar Pilsener is one that is excellent that often gets overlooked due to the popularity of their Milk Stout.

 

I'll be on the lookout for that one.

 

Bring on the IPilsAs!

 

Abso-friggin-lutely! Lager is one of my favorite styles, especially Pilsner. I just enjoyed a Full Sail Cascade Pilsner - a very hoppy rendition of the style that's just downright tasty.

 

Just tried the SN Hoppy Lager and I liked it very much. It would be very easy for me to pick this one out of a lineup of the SN hoppy ales. Bring them on (Just don't call them India pale lagers please!)

 

Lucky enough to live a short drive from Jack's Abby, so I consume maybe 2 growlers of Hoponius a month, filled at the brewery. The best I've tasted of that style, although I love Prima Pils which was the first hoppy lager I had tasted.

 

I'll agree as I've said in many posts on BA they brew all lagers .....just unheard of in brewing today.
And they are experts. I love Jacks!!!

 

Many IPAs are clean, have low to no fruity flavors from esters (low levels are acceptable though), and they can and do certainly have a dry finish. Does a lager yeast cause a beer to be cleaner, with NO fruity flavors, and a drier finish than when an ale yeast is used? Sure.

Is it harder (if at all possible depending on how heavily hopped the beer is) to distinguish what is used in an IPA/IPL? I would say yes, you would say no.

So, are these characteristics technically IN the beer that uses the lager yeast? Yes. But we will have to agree to disagree if most can detect these differences (apparently you can). But, much like the choice of malt doesn't matter as much in a beer so hop forward such as an IPL, I would argue neither does the yeast. And who says the malt should be neutral?

Why the folks at Jack's Abby do......and there's definitely a difference in a beer that uses American 2-row and pilsner malt, just like there's differences between using an ale yeast and a lager yeast......

'On the question, "Do you use a different grain bill for an IPL than a traditional lager?"

Jack Hendler from Jack's Abby replies: "For extra-hoppy American-hopped IPLs, a neutral 2-row malt works best to minimize competing flavors. Why buy expensive and unique base malt when those flavors will only get muted out and negatively affect the hop character?"

On the question, "What type of balance are you looking for in your IPL?"

Hendler replies, "Balance can come in many forms, it's not just a malt-to-hop balance. You can balance bitterness with aroma, yeast flavor with hops, malt with alcohol, etc. Most of our IPLs tend to minimize malt and highlight hops."'

 

For me its not so much about "hoppy" lager as much as fresh hopped lager. Prima and Jever boardline on bitter to me (perhaps just a tad too much). FW Pivo, Sixpoint Crisp, Noble Pils, Urquell, Starr Hill etc. when fresh you can taste the hop strain and its just wonderful.

PS: I wasn't too excited about the Nooner Pilsner by SNI tried just the other night. Couldn't really get that noble hop flavor out of it I was hoping for.