Let's Give Lagers Some Love (2024)

No, nuh-uh, nope, never.

 

Probably one of my top 3 favorite beers.
Lakefront Brewery - Eastside Dark
https://lakefrontbrewery.com/beer/eastside-dark

'

 

Needless to say but "best" is a very subjective term.

There are a wealth of choices in the Philly area. There are certain brands that 'represent' best to me but the brewery that gets a lot of 'hype' here is Human Robot. I have had a number of brands from Human Robot and they all have been good, varying from good/very good to excellent.

I am still on the lookout for Jack's Abby SLO Lager which was collaboratively brewed with Human Robot.

In a past NBW thread I discussed a Pilsner from Von Trapp that was collaboratively brewed with Human Robot:



https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-weekend-178.675419/#post-7891007

Na Zdravi

 

Best Lager Beer Festival

The above discussion about “best” reminded me that in a past NBW thread I discussed the Lager Beer Festival (2023) in Philly called Logjammin’. This festival is organized/sponsored by Human Robot.

Here is a link to that discussion which includes lots of photos:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-weekend-150.673044/page-4#post-7782522

Logjammin’ will be occurring again this year (June 1, 204) so I would encourage folks who love lagers to attend:

https://www.humanrobotbeer.com/logjammin-iv

Cheers!

 

Well, why not? Saranac Adirondack Lager is a pretty good Lager. Has a nice spiciness to it.

 

In the distant past I was able to purchase Saranac Black Forest Lager (part of a variety pack) and I really enjoyed that beer. Not the most complex beer in the world but it had great drinkability.

A stock photo:



Cheers!

 

That was my second craft love after Long Trail Ale. I was able to get some last year jn the Saranac throwback variety pack, other than that it isn’t available here anymore.

They recently brought back six packs as the “brewers choice” at Saranac. Unfortunately it is/was only at the brewery I believe.

 

Sounds like a trade in the future, eh?

 

Should I ever really get the itch for it I guess I now know where to go

 

I only had that beer once (so it's grain of salt time), but I thought it was really great.

 

I hear you. I think the "catches" are numerous though - I'll add consistency, price, lack of dating, and monthly availability to your distribution comment. The biggest issue is that imports just don't seem to move nearly as much - granted there are likely numerous factors working together that cause this. I never thought I'd have the problem of Hofbrau Original being too old in my area. Konig, my previous go-to, went from being a great choice to being permanently frozen in suspended animation on the shelves. I keep flipping over the same cans to see the date like Sisyphus.

While it might look like there are more great options now than in the last decade, for me it really feels like there are less options than before (once the real world factors set in).

 

Well, if the requirement for a brewery being "best" is the need for national distribution then this would indeed be problematic.

I believe a point you are making is that when it comes to craft breweries producing lagers it is a local/regional thing.

I attended the National Homebrewers Conference (HomebrewCon) in Portland back in 2018 and I was quite pleased to enjoy a number of lagers from local breweries.

A few highlights:

My wife and I took a day trip along the Columbia River Gorge and we visited the pFreim brewpub for a late lunch. Even though it was midweek (a Tuesday?) and around 2-2:30 we still had to wait 45 minutes to get a table. The lagers at pFreim were very tasty.

We visited Belmont Station where I enjoyed lagers from Heater Allen and Chuckanut breweries.

At the recommendation of Shane Welch (former owner of Sixpoint) we took a day trip to Astoria and had lunch and lagers at Buoy Brewing which I greatly enjoyed.

We also visited Occidental Brewing and I enjoyed the lagers there.

Another very pleasant discovery was when we were just walking around sightseeing we stopped into Von Ebert which I never heard of before (they opened in 2018) and I really liked a German Pilsner they had on tap.

Needless to say lots of tasty non-lagers in Portland as well, We even visited Hair of the Dog brewery during our stay there.

Cheers!

 

I've been drinking and following Schells for 25+ years...drinking it longer...I don't remember that one...any idesa when it was out?

 

Thanks....Yeah and their website and social media is usually of no help regarding "Beer"
related information or news. Did a quick search and did surprisingly find this on INSTAGRUM

Introducing Schell’s Northland Gold, the perfect Session Lager crafted for easy enjoyment. With an ABV of 4.9%, striking the perfect… | Instagram

 

I wasn't serious.

In southern California it's Enegren and Two Coast.
Two Coast is fairly new and i can't wait to see what they put out.

. https://www.twocoastbrewing.com/

 

Since we are discussing our love of lagers, I thought some folks might enjoy this recent (posted 10 hours ago) video of a blind side-by-side tasting of Paulaner Pils vs. Wolters Pils.



Prost!

P.S. I discussed Wolters in a NBS thread in 2016:

https://www.beeradvocate.com/community/threads/new-beer-sunday-week-596.437296/#post-4917107