Chicagoland Lagers

Enjoyed this much more than I expected to. Really nice flavor, not much sweetness, had a crisp cracker quality with a little spiciness from the hops. Very clean tasting and refreshing.

 

"Crisp cracker" is like my favorite taste to look for in a lager.

 

they call it a helles

 

I just hate the format. 8oz. is not enough of a lager. It's a style mismatch: 8oz. of imperial stout or similarly heavy styles would be awesome, but I'd rather 19.2, 22 or 25.4oz four-packs became the norm for beers like this that are meant to be drank in quantity.

 

I will admit that an 8 oz lager is basically 2 sips for me.

 

8oz cans are just another way for breweries to increase price without it looking like it. The $10 6 pack became the $10 4 pack. Maybe next it'll be the $10 6 pack of 8oz cans.

 

We're just doomed to end up back at bombers again, right? That or airplane bottles.

 

Are you a strategist over at Mikerphone that plans to ruin everything???

 

That's actually not far from what I paid. $6 4-pack translates to a $9 sixer. For a 4.7% helles. Could have had twice as much NvU for $2 more

Still, I really enjoyed it...and I guess it's cheaper than a crowler?

 

Excited for the pipeworks schwarzbier.

Also really think people are going to love by the new lagunitas lager. Hopped with loral. True lager heads might poo poo it, but i know plenty of hop heads that will love a nice fruity and floral helles type of beer

 

I feel like "true lager heads" are the same people that roll their eyes at hazy IPAs. Let us have our fun!

 

hey, this is jake. i work for the brewery. i think you oughta look at it from a different perspective. we think there are different sizes for different occasions, and we aren't alone on that. we also offer lagers in 12 and 16 oz, so it's not as if there is a lack of options at the larger format with us, much less the market as a whole. there are times that call for smaller pours (regardless of style) and we wanted to offer something for that on the craft side (lots of small format beers have existed on the macro side for a while). think beerback for a bloody mary, a sidecar to your glass of whiskey, etc.

we always approached it that we would need to take a price hit (relative to our typical margins) to make lil buddy work, which we do. cost of goods to produce are higher with 8oz cans (the individual cans cost as much as 12 and 16oz). at the end of the day, even at the top end of price these aren't going to net breweries any more money than they made from bombers. we just want to offer you the format you're asking for.

 

I understand that and have bought your lagers in both formats. I'm clearly not the intended consumer for Lil' Buddy, and that's fine. It's selling well at the stores I frequent, so clearly I'm in the minority. I'm the guy that's ordering 1L pours of Helles at Laschet's, though, so if there's ever a time that I drink only 8oz. of the style, it's because it's not a good Helles. I'm not disparaging Lil' Buddy (I haven't had it, though I do dig First Lager), just saying that the format and the price point just do not make any sense to me for the style. You guys do you, though; I'm just tossing my $0.02 into the well just like everyone else.

 

Well, you could just pour all 4 cans into a stein and you're only an ounce-and-change away.

Seriously though, if you're a lager fan, you should check this out. Palates differ, YMMV, and all the other caveats, but I enjoyed it waaaaaaay more than I expected. Even my dad, whose typical response is "Mmm, not bad" said "Damn! That's good."

 

Totally get why it costs more per ounce to package it in an 8oz format which is why it's an even more puzzling decision to choose that format for a lager. Are people really asking for 8oz of a lager (as you mentioned)? If so, fair play, I just have never really encountered that person. If it sells it sells I guess.

 

interestingly enough, more people than we originally thought are looking for that size, even with a sessionable beer. we first came up with the concept specifically for bars and restaurants as a way to offer a craft alternative to the miller high life pony bottles, for instance. as i mentioned, something that would be a beerback to a bloody mary, a beer + shot special, etc. but it has absolutely blown up at liquor stores. at first that was pretty surprising, but since the release we've heard people give us different scenarios in which the smaller serving size is perfect. some examples: nightcap at home, quick beer before giving the baby a bath, palate cleanser during bottle share; there are plenty i'm forgetting. at the end of the day, it's just another serving size for a really versatile style of beer, so it will obviously have its applications.

regarding pricing, we hope to continue to drive that price down, especially for off-premise. we're currently retailing at $6 for a 4-pack (which, you know, it isn't THAT crazy to spend the equivalent of $12 4-pack 16oz of craft lager these days), but honestly $5 is a nice sweet spot. in any case, it was our #2 seller last quarter. so yeah, it's performing very healthily at the moment. we'll see if the trend continues.

 

Fair play, and thanks for the explanation of it. I'm personally surprised it's working but glad for you guys that it is.