Why does everybody hate lagers?

Can we re-title this thread yet to something like "lagers are an underrated style".

 

No way!
Because lagers (of course I am using the term incorrectly to refer only to AALs) are overrated!

 

Nobody who knew better has filed a change request to correct an 18 year old entry?

 

Well, pretty sure I had - several times - but I don't "review" beers or otherwise pay much attention to that aspect of the website.

Looks like the "STYLES" here on BA have recently been updated - added/changed a few names/descriptions, including one called "American Lager" - dropped the "Pale", and deleted the "all malt" reference with no mention of adjunct usage.

Yuengling Premium is now listed under "American Lager" --- but there's still no apparent reason why it's not an AAL and YP certainly doesn't fit that "IBU: 30-45" requirement.

 

All corn and rice adjunct pale lagers should be in the same swill category...

 

I'm not sure if it would be correct to compare "yellow" adjunct lagers with amber ones, though. The use of Vienna, Munich, Caramel or other darker malts in addition to Pilsner and rice and/or corn does create notably different attributes.

Why not have a specific American Red/Amber Adjunct Lager to distinguish them from all-malt ambers?

 

I didn't get into this hobby because I like lagers. I like flavor and lots of it. Not something "light" and "crisp". And I know not all Lagers are yellow and fizzy, but the majority don't have much flavor. And when they do, it's not very pleasant.

 

Sure glad I'm not drinking the lagers you are.

 

For years I drank Schlitz and Pabst because that's what the shady haunts I frequented served as their cheapest brew. Then I quit smoking cigarettes. My sense of (literal) taste began rejuvenating at the same time that I stopped spending eight bucks and change each day for smokes. More expensive beer beckoned. I haven't gone back to Schlitz or Pabst since, except when someone offers me one, in which case I say please and thank you, and I like 'em just fine.

But that's all about AAL. In re: lager, I still drink lager all the time, most regularly in the form of Jack's Abby varieties. Wahey!

 

Thank you for this. This website has lost its ability to have fervent discussion. Seems like the majority of people just want to talk about canned IPA or stroke off brewers from MA and VT.

I really appreciate a descenting opinion, even if I don't agree with it.

 

Give it some time. I stared out pretty close to what you described but over the years the lagers are as good as it gets for me at least.

 

I agree, light and crisp is not a good attribute of beer. Everytime I have a (light) lager, I am reminded why I don't like them!

I just had the spruce lager in the Sam Adams fall pack, and it had that same shitty light lager taste, albeit with more malty character. The rest of the pack is good. I really enjoy the dark lager and the classic SA lager, mainly because they taste like good beer should!

But since 99% of all lagers are that same light lager style with that horrible light lager taste, that's why beer people hate them!

 

And, 99% of all statistics quoted on the Internet are made up on the spot.

By lager styles? No.

By total sales volume? Probably not even there, but at least that would be closer.

 

I am beginning to think that Pilsner-type lagers may not be the best demonstration of what a lager can do. To really demonstrate that, darker types like Dunkel, Schwarz, and Oktober are better and might be more appealing to non-lager drinks.

On the other hand, I think that India Pale Lagers demonstrate the flavor of hops better than their IPA counterparts. However, not many breweries make these in their regular line-up except for places like Jack's Abby and Von Trapp.

 

Not to beat a dead horse, but malted grains and milled grains are pretty similar too, no?

 

How do you feel about NEIPAS with crappie adjuncts like oats or wheat or lactose added to make it creamy and soften the mouthfeel? Or to make it a milkshake, and then you add fruit to that mix too.

 

Are you implying lagers are entry level beerswhen itcomes to craft?

Only if they skipped thediacetyl rest.

 

Your broad brush over simplified generalization would include several excellent beers. For example, the Flying Fish Exit 7

https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/339/56716/

which is far from being even close to what you seem to think of as being "swill."

 

Hardly.

I was talking about the understanding that 'Lager' is a broad class of beers and not just the single industrial pale variety.