Why does everybody hate lagers?

As others have said when others have raised this point, in my opinion, this is just not true. A good Helles, Dunkel, Pilsner, Bock, Doppelbock, Kölsch, Alt, Rauchbier, Schwarzbier, and so on have just as much depth and flavor as any other styles. It may take acclamation and maybe more attention, but the depth is there in good examples of the styles.

 

Those we examples but sure. The thing is, I don't see Lager in your list. That's the subject of the thread, and that was what I was referring to as bland compared to my preferred styles. Of course there are other flavorful styles out there. I love a good Bock, and I'm starting to learn to like Kolsch and sours. But in my opinion, a vast majority of Lagers are very very plain and bland, and when I'm limiting how much I drink I prefer to not waste my time on something like that.

 

FTFY

Probably

Correct.

 

You are confusing "Lager" with "AAL". Please stop it.

 

"Lager" is not a style in and of itself. It is a category of styles involving beers fermented with lager yeast and lagered (stored cold for a time); I won't go into exceptions like California Common and Kölsch. American Adjunct Lager, which is what I think you are referring to as @EvenMoreJesus said, is a type of lager, but it is very inaccurate to refer to American Adjunct Lagers as simply "lagers" because they are not representative of everything that falls under the lager umbrella.

Specificity is important when confusion can easily stem from being too vague.

And if I am misunderstanding you and you think helles and pilsner are "very, very plain and bland," I have to assume you have never had a good example of either style.

 

Vagueness can be useful as well, especially when running for office.

 

I think you need further education on what a lager is and is not.

On this list you reference, only the alt and the Kölsch generate discussion on whether they are ales or lagers.

All the rest are lagers.

 

Touché. I should probably have omitted Alt, seeing as it is one of those hybrids.

 

I had a bourbon barrel aged double black lager last night, so maybe there is hope for lagers after all

 

Fair. I'm new here and that's why I'm here, to learn. But every beer I've had described only as "Lager", eg. Lakewood Lager, has just been tasteless.

 

Standard industry naming conventions probably exacerbate this confusion. We talk of India Pale Ales, Amber Ales, and Belgian Ales but of Schwarzbiers instead of Black Lagers, Bocks instead of Bock Lagers, and Pilsners instead of Pilsen Lagers. I do realize there are some counterexamples in both directions (Stouts, Vienna Lagers, etc.).

 

The world of lagers is diverse and wonderful. Let me be the first one to encourage you to get out there and taste the rainbow, ************. (insert funny meme here that's not allowed)

 

Lakewood Lager is not what most people would generically call a "Lager". It is a Vienna Lager.

It depends on when and how I've had it how good it is. I've had it on tap a few times and thought it was really flavorful. Toasty bready predominantly. But other times I've had it seemed bland.

 

Well, two of the most notable and largest selling beers with "lager" feature prominently in their brand name, Samuel Adams Boston Lager and Yuengling Traditional Lager, are closer to the color of a Vienna lager than the standard US macro AAL's - Budweiser, Coors 'Banquet' and Miller High Life - none of which use the term as part of their branding (though AB was doing so for Budweiser for a while there, calling it "The Great American Lager").

In its home market of Pennsylvania, Yuengling's flagship beer is often referred to only as "Lager" by customers and bartenders (much to the confusion of many). BBC calls SABL a "Vienna lager" on it's website (or did at one time - they're constantly changing the website).

 

Yes, they are indeed continually changing the Sam Adams website.

If you visit the website today (8/11/18) they state that Sam Adams Boston Lager:

“Style: Lager”

I have not visited the website in quite some time and I was surprised to read:

“Did you know that Jim Koch tastes each batch of Boston Lager before it leaves the brewery to make sure that it reaches our high standards?”

How do you suppose this is done? Do you think they ship samples from the Ohio and PA breweries to Jim Koch for his “OK to package” approval?

Cheers!

https://www.samueladams.com/our-beers/originals/lager/boston-lager

 

Yeah, used to look like this "snip" from their BEER STYLE page:

Yeah, probably. AB under the Busch family apparently did something similar (Busch III was supposed to be a "super-taster" and "...could tell whether a beer was five days old or fifteen" according to Bitter Brew). They also send samples of batches of Budweiser to all their other breweries, so the local brewmaster and their tasting panel could compare their Budweiser to the other breweries' Budweiser everyday.

 

It was my understanding that this effort by AB at the St. Louis facility was to conduct these regular taste testing as a continuing QA/QC effort with the goal to as best they could ensure that all of the AB breweries were brewing Budweiser consistently with the ultimate goal being that a Budweiser produced at the Newark brewery was 'exactly' the same as the Budweiser beers brewed at St. Louis, Houston, Ft. Collins, etc.

I have never read that this AB taste testing was to determine when a batch was ready to be packaged.

Maybe Peter Wolfe (@Peter_Wolfe) can better educate me here?

Cheers!

 

I currently have Eliot Ness, Boston Lager, a German marzen, Pivo Pils, and Prima Pils in my fridge. I'd say I dabble in the lager world.

 

Largely flavorless

 

I love the craft beers ones I had mostly. I say craft with a wink, hated some of them. goes without saying I hated macro stuff, but kind of like miller lite, Mexican lagers dark ones anyway...
my SAM Adams review of that hoppy lager I felt was excellent.