Best lager breweries

Jacks Abby. Thread over.

 

Von Trapp if you want traditional style lagers.

 

Obviously Von Trapp for straight up traditional lagers & Jacks Abby for geekified ones - tho their House Lager is really hitting my lager sweet spot recently.

Smuttynose Vunderbar Pils is excellent & Notch does some great classic European lagers too.

Definitely no shortage of regional lager choices nowadays.

 

Lost Nation makes some examples as well that are worth taking note.

 

I haven't been a HUGE fan of it in the past (wasn't bad, just wasn't great), but Jack's Abby's Sunny Ridge Pils this season was excellent. At least the one bottle I've had so far. It was only five days old, so I'm sure freshness plays a role. But if you see it, I'd pick some up.

 

Fort Hill out of Easthampton, MA makes some pretty solid traditional lagers. Their rauchbier is solid and I really like their double bock. Not sure what their distro footprint is though, but it's readily available around Western Mass at least. I wouldn't be surprised if you could find it in some of the larger Central/Eastern MA stores like Julio's, Marty's, Etc.

Their Red Flag is their flagship and it's crisp and clean. They also have a more modern session IPL that's pretty tasty.

 

Wachusett's New England Lager is a tasty new local beer.

 

Jacks Abby House Lager is like gourmet Schlitz. Hope they never stop making it.

 

IMO the JA House Lager is really dialed in now after some initial inconsistency in the cans.

I can buy those Von Trapp variety 12-packs all the time.

 

Notch Zwickel is great. Cambridge Brewing has a Zwickel now as well. I believe it replaced Regatta Golden as a year round and is available in liters at the brewpub. Haven't had it yet.

 

Schilling is doing some good stuff in New Hampsh. I like sitting outside on the deck and drinkin' some LAGAAAAAAAAASSS (Bill Burr reference).

 

Gotta love threads where you know what everyone's answer is going to be before you click on it.

 

My favorite mix pack.

 

On the Zwickel line, Jack’s Abby’s has a "Vienna keller" on at the brewery right now that I absolutely loved. Man was it good. I think I like it better than the recent Weihenstaphaner 1516 keller... a little less hop presence, but in an awesome way.

 

Looking forward to that Notch tap room in Salem to be kicking out some quality czech styles.

 

When was Notch planning to open it's doors?

 

Another one for Jack's Abby and the House Lager ... wow ... loving that in the 16 oz format

 

Thought I saw Von Trapp Vienna was going into 16oz cans. Just had OB Beerito this weekend, great beer!

 

Yep I saw 16 oz Trapp Vienna Lager cans a couple weeks ago