New England Lagers

This is a really excellent point, and @meefmoff you’re right, it is unfair to compare them to breweries that are smaller/operate differently.

That being said, two counterpoints to that (one which is personal):

1). Unless things have changed, I visited the brewery a couple of years ago and their tap room has the same basic offerings you see in stores. They can easily brew brewery only releases that are more nuanced akin to Notch’s Single Series or Jack’s Abby’s Keller Series.

2). As I’ve made known many times I’m a bit biased because price is the last factor for me when purchasing beer (I often don’t factor it in at all). I would say for this reason alone it’s hard for me to judge Von Trapp properly.

Interesting, I actually like their dark beers like Trosten and the Dunkel (although I haven't’ had this one in forever, and there’s much better local Dunkels that have come out over the past few years).

Their Helles is decent, and I actually like their IPL, but I usually don’t buy IPLs, so that’s that. The Pils and Vienna are just ok to me, and if I want a Czech Pils I think we all know which brewery I’m buying from...their name rhymes with “Scotch”.

Finally, I do like their Oktoberfest, and I’m an INCREDIBLY harsh critic of that style, so kudos to them there. In particular I recall really digging this year’s.

Their Maibock is very good, and it’s phenomenal on cask...so pissed that their Maifest was canceled last year when they roll this out in a firkin.

 

Their Black Lager is among my favorites in that category and the Meyer Lemon Gose is light, tart and refreshing in the warmer weather.

 

Just dropping by, in case folks from Schilling read this thread, to say that if Schilling were to introduce competitively priced 12 packs they would basically own a portion of my fridge. That is, unless Notch somehow captures the magic of their Salem production in their contract 12 packs...

 

That’s what Allagash White did for my fridge. The first to do it was Jack’s with House Lager 15 pack, though. For me, a happy fridge is a fridge filled with 27 House/Whites.

 

I have a feeling neither will happen, at least not anytime soon. The "magic" has a lot to do with their brewing set up at their facility (speaking about Notch) here. Schilling could be in the same boat.

Decoction mashing (and the extra time it takes), open fermentation for their Hefe...etc. might not be something that can be done through contract brewing.

I know Chris has actually been on these forums saying The Standard actually doesn't make them money when they produce it for distribution.

Jack's Abby and Allagash for example all produce A LOT of beer from their facilities relative to Salem for Notch. And while I haven't been to Schilling's facility, it doesn't sound like they're a huge operation either (I could be wrong). It would take major expansions to accomplish this, and coming out of a pandemic probably isn't the time to do this...but then again Notch's Brighton location is opening soon...

Disclaimer: I have no experience in this area, just spit balling here...

 

The only thing limiting @AlcahueteJ is the space in his lambo...

I love VT’a helles, it’s the beer I drink most from them. Bavarian Pils has been very good, and I really like their dunkel and Vienna. That’s said, I don’t like any smoke in my beer and haven’t even tried trösten, and I didn’t like their Oktoberfest this year.

I guess that’s all to say, to each their own.

 

I'd like to go on record to say I drive a Corolla. It's not even new either, it's certified pre-owned.

Two cars before that I did own an Acura, but it didn't take long parking on the street in Somerville to realize that's a terrible idea...

Ohh yeah, the Bavarian Pils, I recall really liking that one too.

 

Counterweight does some great lagers. My favorite is Show Pony, but I am also partial to Ein Helles and Vltava. Elm City Pilsner and Raising Helles from Nebco are solid, to style offerings as well. Also, count me in on team Vonn Trapp, their lagers are amazing in my opinion especially their Helles and Bavarian Style Pilsner; their Kölsch is pretty good too. And of course Jack's...who can beat the quality and pricing of House Lager 15 packs? I haven't had the opportunity to try Notch yet, but I am looking forward to it once things start returning to normal (fingers crossed).

 

Schilling continues to be my lager go-to - so many specialty styles, somewhat local, great place to visit for food & bev enroute to Portland. Everything beautifully brewed, including their occasional bottle-conditioned brett beers. And, we have distro in VT!!

 

I had an older one that was great, loved it. Then it was totaled and just bought another one. Also great and reliable.

I'm not a car guy so I just want something that's reliable and allows me to put more money towards beer so I can appear like I'm wealthy on Beeradvocate.

 

Two more I really like that I forgot to mention are Green State Lager by Zero Gravity and Prince Percy from Maine Beer Co. Thought it's harder to find Green State fresh here in CT....at least for me it is, and I only get Prince Percy when I am in Maine for the summer.

 

Notch and Schilling are .. But one of my other go tos and they do not get a lot of love is medusa brewing. Duchovni is great when then drop it, and they always have a couple lagers in can.. I have not but will try bone city this weekend.

 

Medusa is a hidden gem. Their IPAs being their weakest offerings probably hurts them a bit. Their tap room just recently re-opened (reservation only maybe?), and they opened a 2nd one just up the road.

 

I'm probably posting nothing but repeats but my favorite lagers in New England are:

JA House Lager
Oxbow Luppolo
Fox Farm Gather
Anything Notch, though their Kolsch is probably my favorite from them.

 

Really? What Dunkels have you had locally that are much better than Trapp’s? I love the style, and don’t see it much. I love Schilling but didn’t love the recent batch of Georg. JA did a great Dunkel a couple years ago but think that was a one off. I have not had Notch’s, but assume they make a great one.

Need more Dunkel.

 

I definitely need to revisit Von Trapp’s Dunkel, so I wouldn’t say “much better”, that’s not fair to Von Trapp if I haven’t had it recently.

But here’s some I like in New England...

-Jack’s Abby Red Tape (admittedly a bit on the amber side for the style, but still good)
-Notch’s - tap only unfortunately, or in a mini keg recently
-Focal Point from Exhibit A
-And this speaks to palates varying, but I think Georg from Schilling is the best Munich Dunkel in New England

This gives me a good reason to revisit Von Trapp’s...my one “knock” on it, is that the ABV is a bit high for the style. But honestly that’s nit picking since it’s not egregious at 5.4%.

 

Not a huge dunkel fan, but yeah imho Jacks's version is inferior to Von Trapp's if we are grading to style.

 

Notch somewhat recently canned a Dunkel, beirsal, but it was smoked. Not that it being smoked is a knock on the beer but it might not be what your looking for. With that said I loved it, and I can still get it at my local shop which is a huge plus.

 

What are you using as a benchmark?

Not that’s it’s the be-all end-all but here’s how the BJCP describes the appearance of the style:

“Appearance: Deep copper to dark brown, often with a red or garnet tint. Creamy, light to medium tan head. Usually clear, although murky unfiltered versions exist.”

It’s certainly a lighter amber, but I would say it’s still to style.

The BJCP has the ABV range topping out at 5.6%, so while Von Trapp’s is on the high end compared to imports, it’s still within style guidelines at 5.4%.

So I suppose it’s more what you’re looking for in a Dunkel.

But a Munich Dunkel can definitely be lighter in color. Think of it this way, it’s more or less an amber Oktoberfest “light”. In fact, if I recall correctly Dunkel was the original style at Oktoberfest.

This is similar to how the pale Oktoberfest style is a heftier version of a Munich Helles.

To your point though, Dunkel does mean “dark” in German.