Your Top 5 U.S Lager Breweries

I should have phrased that differently. I can find those examples, I was implying that to find a good one is less common...relative to say an IPA, sours, pastry stouts. I can find EXCELLENT examples of each...today at Notch if I wanted!

I do have to say though, at least in my area, a good Hefeweizen from a local brewer is hard to find. Kind of hard to find period...anyone else from the Northeast wants to chime in, I might just be missing some.

 

Paulaner Weizen 12-packs seem like big sellers around here -- and I see HB Weizen on tap in a lot of places.

 

There is that name again. That business should pay you 'royalties' for all the advertising you give them!

Sorry to hear that. I enjoy the choices I have local to me (e.g., Workhorse but several others as well). Hefeweizen is a great heat wave beer for me (and this latest heat wave just seems to go on forever ).

Cheers!

 

Oh yeah we have plenty of imports. Weihenstephan Hef is everywhere on tap.

When I said “local” I meant locally brewed, sorry for the confusion.

Just checked, about five breweries in the area and not one had a Hef on tap right now.

Some typically have a Witbier though.

 

For all the hundreds of breweries in my state, very few make a Hefe any more, and even fewer very good examples.

 

Well, you said "Kind of hard to find period." So I took that as all Weizen.

 

Besides Workhorse which I discussed previously a number of other local craft breweries have a Hefeweizen available now: Root Down, Locust Lane, Sly Fox, Iron Hill and then I got bored of web surfing.

I suppose that there is more demand for Hefeweizen in my area?

Generally speaking there are a lot of German style beers available in my area and lately Czech too: I discussed several new Bohemian (Czech) Pilsners this summer in various NBW threads.

During my web surfing I learned of another Czech Dark Lager being available (Von C Brewing):

“Černé Speciál Lager - Dark

5.9% ABV

Norristown, PA

Our Černé Speciál is a Czech dark style of lager that is rarely seen in the states. The “Speciál” delineation is assigned to beers with a higher starting gravity and abv. Medium to medium full bodied with flavors of toast, coffee, Munich malt, and dark fruit. Fans of our Schwarzbier will love this special limited batch.”

https://voncbrewing.com/draft-menu

About a year ago I gave Jay (co-owner and brewer’s helper at Von C) a bottle of my homebrewed Czech Dark Lager to see if I could inspire Von C to make this sort of beer. Maybe my strategy worked here?

I will have to visit Von C this weekend to see how their Czech Dark Lager turned out.

Na Zdravi

@rotsaruch

 

My new favorite local made one recently, but I didn't get to try it. Couple others make them, but it's a style I have to be in the right mood for.

 

Live Oak, Austin, TX.

 

Golden Age Beer Company

Not an elite brewery but an up and coming brewery that just opened recently. My local BA friends recommended I check this place out and it did not disappoint. I am looking forward to another visit. Pretty good reviews on untappd if that means anything.

https://www.goldenagebeer.com/our-beers

https://www.goldenagebeer.com/

 

They will soon be releasing an Alsatian Pilsner. Maybe schedule a re-visit to try this beer? This would be a good beer to discuss in a NBW thread.

Cheers!

 

Good to know! I may stop in for a pint this weekend and a crowler to go.
Cheers!

 

Pretty much a carbon copy here for me and in no particular order. I can go hot/cold on Notch and did not enjoy their taproom one bit but I like their approach. Von Trapp is up there, too. Jack's Abby since the beginning for me, but I've had a lot of great beers from Schilling recently no that they are available pretty regularly. Schilling, OEC, Fox - all on my must visit list too - lots of interesting things at OEC and Schilling just looks like a great setting.

 

What did you not like about the Notch taproom?

 

Larry, what did you dislike about the taproom?

Cheers!

 

Same question for me with a couple follow ups. Was it Salem or Brighton?

What beers are you hot/cold on from Notch? And are these mostly their canned beers?

 

@zid @JackHorzempa @AlcahueteJ

Just for the record, I'm not trying to slam Notch at all. We visited the Salem taproom, it was fairly early in the day but well after they had opened and it seemed like nothing was really ready. It's a great spot, and Brighton wasn't open back then, so it was hopefully an anomaly. Some of the listed beers were not available, so maybe just a weird timing thing.

We did think one of the on tap beers we tried came through a dirty line, maybe.

I like their Kolsch a lot - the latest edition is very good. The Tmavy I like. Some of the iterations on pilsner have seemed a little inconsistent to me. I don't like their altbier but I don't particularly like anybody's altbier so that doesn't count. Granted not a huge sampling, but I will generally grab one of their beers when I see it, although I have not reviewed them. Maybe I just default to JA out of habit and greater familiarity.

I like the whole concept of focusing on lower ABV lagers and wider range of styles than many breweries, so I'm not a naysayers by any means.

 

Well, if the beer tasted like it came through a "dirty line" that would be disappointing to me as well.

If they had certain beers 'on the board' and they were indeed not available I too would be a bit frustrated with that aspect.

When I obtain a certain brand from a brewery I too have an expectation for consistency. I have read posts from BAs who seem to be more forgiving here, sorta like craft breweries are permitted to have 'variability' with their brands. From my personal perspective a quality brewery should be able to produce consistent product per a given brand name.

Thanks for providing some input here.

Cheers!

 

Yes, Vonn Trapp is awesome as well. We're so spoiled. I checked out Fox Farm in early January. It was great.

 

Thanks for the quick reply and info!

I can say that experience is far from the norm. And to give you an idea of my sample size, I visit them every 1-2 weeks (mostly Brighton, but I did go to Salem this past Sunday). And before Brighton was open I was at Salem quite a bit.

I would definitely give them another whirl, their draft beer is absolutely out of this world (in my opinion).