RIP Summerfest

North Coast Scrimshaw? Hiding in plain sight?

 

Scrimshaw is the one. And honestly, I did a tasting of it against (fresher) pFriem Pilsner earlier this year and was surprised by how much more I liked the scrimshaw. The rare treat that pfriem is for me had me fully expecting it to be superior to my daily drinker.

$15.99 a 12 pack around here, sometimes on sale. Cans and bottles

 

Does Bell's distribute to Cali? Lager of the Lakes is a great replacement.

The last time I had Scrimshaw it really tasted more ale-like than lager. Seemed to have some warm-ferment esters and flavors.

 

Big fat face palm on me -- wot am I thinking?

You guys in California should be looking at Trumer; fresh, perfectly-brewed German-style Pilsner.

It's delish, perfect for summer -- go, find it, thank me later.

 

At least in NorCal we do not get Bells, only Founders from that part of the country. Thumbs up for Trumer and it is available in cans as well which can be useful for summer activities.

 

@atomicpunk5151 I'm doing either Scrimshaw, Trumer, Revision's Lager, or People's Pilsner from Sudwerk. When on sale they're comparable price point of where Summerfest was at, but thats not considering grabbing it by the case at Costco.

While not a lager, I've been buying up Old Chico/Crystal Wheat as who knows when that'll get pulled too from packaged distro.

I'll have to do a Blind H2H with those, I've always found Scrimshaw thinner bodied than pFriem's Pils.

 

Modern Times Ice (pilsner) made a bit of a splash in the market a few years ago. I haven't seen it for years. It would be interesting to revisit now that I have been drinking a wide varieties of quality lagers.

 

I have had Scrimshaw. I do kind of forget about North Coast. Availability is hit or miss in Sacramento/Roseville. I will have to see if I run across cans.

Trumer is a little on the light thin side for me.

Revision RBL has also been solid, but not at a lot of grocery stores, it is at Walmart, but yeah, not going to that zoo.

 

Had Alvarado Street "Citraveza" West Coast LAGER the other day. Very Nice.... But at the $3.99 per can, a little pricey for everyday drinking.




Also, Alvarado Street PILS is excellent. But again, at the $4 per can price.



Scrimshaw may be the best value/availability to price ratio for Norcal Lagers. Other suggestions also appreciated.

 

@atomicpunk5151 By "too thin" are you referring to malt character, ABV or something else? Trumer weights in at 4.9% ABV and Scrimshaw is even lighter in that department at 4.5%. Those ABVs are in range for style.

 

Here's my post comparing them
https://www.beeradvocate.com/commun...-your-side-by-side.653775/page-4#post-7186980

Another one that is a little more expensive (usually $12/ 6x12) and not as widely distributed is Alluvium from Seismic.

 

Another expensive but tasty option (4/$16) were Original Pattern's A Night in Vienna Vienna Lager and their Hella Grungeist HELLES LAGER but for summer drinking I like better cost to oz ratio. Those aren't year round offerings from OP as far as I know. Enegren's prices are very good but shipping on a case is around $25 but that's not bad considering many of the 6 packs are less than $12.

 

Thanks! Defintely need to do a blind myself.

I keep looking for Alluvium, but the only Seismic stuff that sees distro in my area are IPAs...shocker I know.

 

Yes, and Lager of The Lakes is available in OC, though I haven't been able to get it in store for a few weeks now.

Second this, just make sure you get it in cans; for some reason, they use green bottles.

Ice got retired quite a while back along with a sizable chunk of MT's lineup. Their core lineup is only four beers now.

 

Seconded. Tremor is another to keep a lookout for, their organic AAL. It's not under the Seismic branding but it's made by them.

 

We have lots of very dominant lager/AAL-Adjacent craft brewers in the area, Schells-Grain Belt, Leinenkugels and Third St. Not to mention we're just across the river from being able to find New Glarus in every dive, gas station and liquor store.

My point wasn't that people don't drink craft lagers, just that the habits of craft-lager drinkers generally mirrors that of AAL drinkers, they stick to what they like and don't come into the store with the intention of leaving with anything new. As a category it's doing fantastic but bringing in new sku's is always a gamble, especially seasonals.

 

Gotcha, makes sense.

And again, I “think” our area is different based on what I see at stores. Always new lagers rotating in and out from craft breweries.

@fortpointmarket might be able to give a bit more insight. Fort Point Market is one of the busiest and well run craft-centric stores in MA, and it’s located in downtown Boston.

 

I've been buying it in covered 12-packs -- works well. But yeah, don't know why they're married to that old green bottle marketing BS.

 

As one of those craft lager drinkers, I beg to differ -- I'm always on the hunt for something new, and my purchases are never identical. I even grab an IPA now and again.

Today I bought a Trumer 12 pack and scanned the shelves for something else -- grabbed a six of Anchor Porter because I haven't had it in a while. I like choices in my stock.

As @AlcahueteJ says, every market is different -- I always loved when seasonals came out, but I guess that's just not as exciting as it used to be. Probably another victim of so much shelf overcrowding.

 

One day I would like to learn why Trumer selected Berkeley, of all places, to set up production stateside. Is Trumer big in Austria?