Micro breweries and lagers

Which uses a 15 month best by time-frame!!

Cheers!

 

I think not really having a dedicated lager program is the biggest detriment, with a few other factors that splinter from that. Because of that inattention, it can be equipment problems, yeast mismanagement, time (so many annoying 'keller pilsners' that are basically not lagers), process, and also ingredients.

I have met a lot of brewhouse staff that enjoy drinking a nice, crisp lager while they brew their hoppy ales and big stouts or whatever. For this reason, a brewery might keep a single lager in rotation just for something that's actually drinkable every day, and in that case, it might not actually be that high quality.

Similar to that, some breweries might whip together a pale lager just to snag a little of the macro crowd if they happen to stumble into the brewery with friends or family. My guess is that most of those lagers are not all that spectacular and the clientele doesn't really care.

Both of those reasons to brew lager, do not a lager program make.

 

Spot on.

And with OMB here, the German counterparts have become less desirable.

I still think the concept of craft guys not doing lager well is a bit overplayed. Certainly not Pilsner Urquell but some satisfying example that are a definite notch up from typical macro pale lagers.

 

There's no way in hell a 15 month old beer competes with a beers who's as old as the fingers on a hand. That's unfair to the product, if I'm a retailer I just don't bother carrying it, my reputation is on the line as well, and I'm not that guy carrying old ass beer on my shelf. If it doesn't turn I don't want it.

 

Yeah, agree with this. If I was planning to poach their head brewer for my own brewery then I might want to start with a beer that'd mercilessly expose their weaknesses, but if I'm just looking to enjoy a few beers I'll start with something forgiving and risk moving on to riskier styles if they impress there...

 

C'mon - The fingers on my hand are over 60 years old!

(I think - haven't been paying close attention to how old they are but I've had 'em all my life).

 

Its really awesome to see some small craft breweries actually getting into brewing lager beers in the slow traditional manner. We’ve always had the traditional German breweries or lager only breweries but now we’re seeing more and more breweries that can produce great modern beers right along side step or decoction mashed, 8-12 week, naturally carbonated lagers. For once the process is what’s “craft” about these beers, not just the ingredients.

As a homebrewer who is so far down the traditional lager rabbit hole but also likes to brew lots of more “modern” styles all of my beers have gotten leaps and bounds better by applying knowledge gained by trying to make the perfect Helles or Pils. The skill I’ve gained this year through research on traditional German brewing has provided me such a better fundamental understanding of brewing science and process. I would bet (or hope) the same applies for a lot of other commercial brewers. The lager resurgence might actually make a lot of craft beer better.

The beer I was most excited to try this year was a lager. I missed Hill Farmstead’s Poetica 3 times this year by a day (not bad seeing as I live 2000 miles away). The fact that they’re producing a oak lagered, single decoction, krausened, 5 month Pilsner says a lot to me. The regular Mary (and Marie) I had this year was some of the most amazing lager beer I had in the states, and I seek it out everywhere.

The breweries I’m most excited about in the US right now are the ones focused on making slow, traditional lager beer but can also make well executed modern styles. Places like Notch, Suarez, HF, Wayfinder, etc. Also excited to hopefully make it out to the new Russian River facility and have some open fermented STS.

 

In Texas there are definitely breweries making very good lagers. AGBG and Live Oak are well known but there are others.

But I definitely feel that they are far overwhelmed by the number of micro breweries putting out sub par lagers. Either technically flawed, unbalanced, or just bland and insipid.

 

I'm lucky to live in the golden triangle of Jacks Abby, Von Trappe and Saurez Family Brewery. The first two do a number of lager styles really well and the latter make two great pilsners.

 

@Roadkizzle beat me to it, but I had the chance to make ABGB for the first time last week and fell in love with their pilsners. We are lucky here in Texas because there are a few on the shelf that are year round
Live Oak Pilz (Czech Pils)
St Arnolds 5 o'clock pils (hoppy pils)
Holler in Houston usually has their Dollar Pils on tap year round with another single hop lager that is built to showcase that hop. That is one of the main reasons it is about the only brewery I go to in Houston now.

 

Unfortunately, Ontario is not known for good craft lagers. I have talked to some owners and they say that one of the reasons is the time and cost. If they were to brew a traditional German lager properly, it would cost so much and use up so much facilities and time, that the price wouldn't be able to compete with the less involved ales. Thus, for the ones they do brew, they often don't use traditional methods, resulting in less quality lagers. They use higher temperatures, lager for a far shorter time, and even sometimes use 2-row rather than pilsner malts. Another reason is that good German lagers at the Government Liquor Stores cost a LOT less than local lagers (local lagers are about $3.20 Cdn for less than 500 ml, while German lagers are anywhere from about $2.20 to about $2.60 for a full 500 ml). So craft lagers are not in much demand.

The one lager that is quite popular (Steam Whistle at the base of the CN Tower in Toronto) is indeed brewed in the traditional European way, including a double decoction, natural fermentation, no additives and untreated spring water, with European equipment, but for some reason they use 100% Canadian 2-row malt rather than pilsner malt. It comes out a little darker than the typical German pilsner as a result, and has more malt flavor. The bitterness has also been adjusted downward for the North American preference, and comes out at about 22 IBU.

 

My personal favorite (and most beautiful) local brewery in Southeastern MA is Buzzards Bay Brewing.

When they first started out in the early 2000s they focused mainly on lagers. They made outstanding Dortmunder Exports, Pilsners, Black Lagers, Bocks, you name it. Anyway, fast forward to 2009 or so, they ended up shifting focus exclusively to ales in the late 2000s and have only brewed ales ever since. I think the switch to ales had something to do with cutting costs as well as fermentation time so they could free up tanks for contract brewing (a large part of their business as far as I can tell).

It's really sad to me because they were my favorite brewery when I first started cutting my teeth on good beer and, in retrospect, they easily had some of the best lagers in the state. I'd dare say they were just as good as the lagers Jack's Abby puts out. Regardless, their beer since then has been above average at best, mediocre at worst. I know the brewer, he's a really great guy and I know he has it in him to brew world class beer but he seems to be stuck between contract brewing and satisfying the local market with beer. I'd love to see them back again.

TL;DR, I really wish Buzzards Bay would consider going back to lagers, because the ale market is already saturated enough as it is. They're a dime a dozen. That being said I won't hold my breath.

 

+1 again, and again, and again...for Dovetail. Disclaimer: I'm no Lager-Hound but I make an exception for these folks. Outstanding from top to bottom from Grodziskie, to Lager, to Rauchbier and their Flemish styles. Just baller.
GET.
THERE.

 

Lager beer has always had many variations. 100 years ago in the US it was literally a different beer the next town over. Drug stores were a place you could purchase such a local commodity. I personally like Helles Lager and there are many good examples.

 

I agree with the general sentiment, but there are a lot of good lagers coming out of small to medium sized breweries in New England. Some places that have distribution and started without an IPA-focus are putting out some tasty pilsners. Breweries like Idle Hands, Zero Gravity, Notch, Jack’s Abby, Mystic’s Von Lune. The brewpub type places or NEIPA factories are where I don’t expect to find a great lager.

I’ve tried some German examples as well, and run into the age problem on most outside of Oktoberfest beers and special cases like some B United beers that are being canned in the US.

 

Would love to get @herrburgess ’s thoughts since he’s both a long time BA and the owner of Bierkeller Columbia, which specializes in German styles

http://bierkellercolumbia.com/

And while I’ve yet to visit Scott’s place (yet!) I’d also add my voice to the people recommending Suarez, if the OP ever finds themself in the Hudson Valley

 

Hill Farmstead is more renowned for their hoppy beers and Saisons but they brew high quality lagers (e.g., Mary - Pilsner).

Cheers!

 

well, id say it varies as to the reasons why.

some brewers have never really tasted the world's great lagers fresh and/or at the source and don't know what they're doing when attempting to brew them; and many honestly don't care either. for them it's good enough and that's...well...good enough. for their customers too.

some try to get lagers right but take shortcuts: use NA 2-row (or whatever's on hand) for the base malt instead of top-quality Pilsner malt; get color and/or body by using crystal/roasted malts instead of Munich for body (at lower efficiencies) and or Farbmalz for color (at recirculation and not in the mash); don't lager near long enough; use US lager yeasts; etc.

some go to greater lengths and do things like step-infusion or decoction mashing; employ longer and/or horizontal lagering techniques; spund tanks for natural carbonation. but then in things like packaging using forced CO2; serving past peak freshness; or even not getting the proper pour they can offset or even kill the benefits of all their hard work.

ive personally found that I have to take care and pay very close attention to all of these factors if I want go achieve something that gets close to my favorites from Germany. Most recently this has meant filling Bavarian gravity kegs directly from the tank using only natural pressure/gravity; serving by Bayerischer Anstich within just a few days from filling; and pouring into proper ceramic-/glassware at proper temperatures to get things just right. That all after at LEAST 9 weeks of lagering and all the above processes. It's a hell of a lot of trouble to go to, but we think it's worth it.

Still...lots more to learn. But it's been a lot of fun figuring it out

 

Yes.
Although from my one time at Holler I personally categorize their Pilsner in the unbalanced category I thought the hops were to overpowering the malt.
5 O'Clock Pils fresh at the taproom was DEFINITELY unbalanced towards the hops.

B52's Payload Pils was also a big kick of hops but a great bready malt that stood up to them.

In Austin I mentioned Live Oak and AGBG. I also really like Austin Beerworks Pearl Snap although it has an unique malt flavor.
Also St. Elmo and Oddwood make great lagers.
I've only had the first batch of lager (512) made but it was one of the best Export lagers I've had.

Real Ales Hans' Pils falls into the unbalanced category for me. All hops no malt and the hop flavor comes across to me as a tangy fruitiness.

Altstadt makes a great lager and Kölsch.

And Stesti makes very good Czech lagers.

BUT the only ones of all of those that makes it up to the DFW area are Real Ale and Saint Arnold which as I said are two that disappoint me.