Five on Five: Lager Recs from the Pros

Not for me. I think that earlier statement about the brewers' favorite lagers "run the gamut" tells me that these 5 beers are good, but there is a 'gamut-full' of other choices. I'll still search out on my own and investigate those lagers that are available to me, mostly from Territorial Brewing because the beers are local and fresh. Come visit the next time you come to Michigan. The offer still stands, the first couple are on me. (Then I have to go home; I can't drink more than that anymore. )

 

Since my last post I looked further at the website of my second favorite store, which has 6 other locations, and 3 brands of Augustiner are listed but are out of stock - Augustiner Brau, Dark and Edelstoff. Some of their other stores have one or two of these brands, but they're expensive ($16-$18 plus tax and deposit). So Augustiner is available in Michigan

Same for Schlenkerla. A couple of their stores list one or two brands, so they are also available in Michigan. I just have to look in the right places (and drive 20+ miles).

 

Edelstoff never clicked with me but I should revisit it.

 

I'd give up my left chestnut for some of those Eisbocks!

 

If you do, let us know what you're paying per six out that way.

 

I would love it if we got the Schlenkerla Helles here. We get the Marzen regularly which is great, and other parts of the country get the Urbock (my favourite) and the Eiche (my least favourite). Is the Helles widely available in the US?

 

I did violate my rule to not purchase undated beer a few years ago.

I conducted a side-by-side tasting of Weihenstephaner Festbier and Augustiner Edelstoff for a NBS post:



https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-709.588887/#post-6187913

Prost!

 

.....

 

If Augustiner doesn't date their beers, it's likely that I'll be avoiding them. Or maybe I'll gauge my purchase an whether there is any dust on the bottles. It seems from reading these threads that German beers can stand the test of time better than US beers, so maybe I'll gamble and find out.

 

Fairly certain Augustiner has a date code on their bottles. Well, they used to anyhow. From the German Imports date codes thread,

Augustiner – LDDD##YY## (L153072033 = L means nothing, 153rd day of 2020)

 

Thanks for that. I should have looked it up in that thread, but was going on what I had read earlier in this thread. That's good news!

 

They didn't in the past. It is good they do so now.

Just to confirm: L153072033. The two digits I underlined is the year? Any idea what "07" and "33" mean?

Cheers!

 

Given that imported German beers can have a rough journey across the Atlantic I do not 'buy' that they last longer. Pale lagers are particularly sensitive to staling.

If you are interested in science I would encourage you to read the article: "Influence of transport and storage conditions on beer quality and flavour stability".

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jib.535

Cheers!

 

Correct! No idea on the other 4 digits, sorry.

 

Just here to say fuck yes to Enegren.
i have had a shitload of their stuff and will have more.
Their distro used to suck cowtits but recently they joined Stone Distribution so maybe that will nake them more popular.
@Troy-Hawaii just gonna add that reviews on here usually should be taken with a grain of salt.

Short Story : the other day i was at bristol farms and there was this jackass speaking into his phone searching google with the microphone function. This is what he was saying :
" Beer Advocate Fremont Lush........Beer Advocate El Segundo Mayberry IPA..........Beer Advocate Fremont Disco Wolf......." he did it about 4 more times and looked like a fool.

Don't be that guy, just buy beer and form your own opinion.
I've had 15 or so different Enegren beers and think i have only reviewed one in here and I'm sure 70% of people who drink couldn't care less about reviewing it .

Cheers Everyone.

 

You're missing the point which was that the poster said he found it hard to believe that people haven't heard of them and I said that with so few reviews it looks like most people haven't. Outside of California how many people have?

The 70% who you say drink and don't care about reviewing are probably the ones who are not on this site and just drink macrobrews since they don't care about what they drink. I find value in reading about beers on this site I haven't had especially given the price of some of them. Don't want to spend a lot on a beer just to find out it isn't worth it after the first sip.

If you find little value on others opinions on this site then you just don't need to look at them instead of telling other people to be like you and not use this site. How do the rest of you feel about beer reviews on this site?

 

The Augustiner Helles and Schlenkerla Helles are wonderful beers.

As to not having heard of the breweries the brewers making the recommendations come from, two are in Europe. KC Bier makes some fine lagers in the middle of the flyover country. Maybe that is why some haven't heard of those breweries?

 

I value the reviews on this site, at least those by people I’ve gotten to know in one way or another. I similarly value the ratings by people on Untappd who I know and trust.

I think the point above to which you were responding was that, leaving aside macro beer drinkers, the vast majority of craft beer drinkers do not check in their beers on Untappd, let alone review here. For local or regional breweries I bet that only 1-2% - on the wry high end - of a particular beer consumed gets noted here either in a rating or a review. Even less for beers from outside the US.

So, I’d say, one good remark about a beer or brewery by a user I recognize here is more than enough for me to want to give it a try. Whether a review, a rating or a comment in a thread, it all counts for me.

I’d also add that, despite being up here in the Great White North, I’ve heard of four of the five beers/breweries mentioned, and each has been well spoken of.

 

Since I know my palate, and what I like or not, I usually review for myself to record my trials. So if I'm searching BA at a store it's probably to remind myself whether I've had a beer.

That said, there are a few members whose tastes run similar to mine and I often check their opinions too, but that's being selective because I know most reviews don't give me solid info.

 

I hate these lists. Initially I am excited at the possibility of finding a new beer I am not familiar with. But all the beers I can’t get and the one I can, by Enegren I already drink it and like it.