What are your feelings on the amount of readily accesible craft lagers vs ales?

Appreciation of a good, well made Lager takes more palate refinement and understanding of the brewers' craft. Ales can simply mouthf-ck you into submission which explains why most people on here seem to prefer big bruisers to something subtle.

 

Most craft breweries can't spend the time on lagers, as the tank time can be used to crank out 3 or 4 batches of ale. It is a business decision for them. I know some that would like to make more lagers, but they want to stay in business and make a buck.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing some more Imperial Pils.

 

I wouldn't mind seeing more good lagers, but 9 out of 10 times I'll reach for an ale so it doesn't really bother me much.

That said, just give me Dortmunder Gold for my lager fix and I am good to go.

 

The only thing you said that's in the realm of accurate.

 

Now that I immediately associate the word Lager with Jacks Abby, I most definitely want more!

 

I wish I could get FRESH lagers...they (besides SABL) seem to just sit on the shelves due to, I guess, the lack of demand/appreciation. I haven't been that impressed by Jack's Abby due mainly to my inability to get nice, fresh ones. Lately, I've been reaching for St. Pauli Girl since it's the freshest pale lager in my local bottle shop....it's either that or buy up the 3-month out-of-date Brooklyn Lager in the hopes that they'll restock.

 

More fresh lagers would be great. Unfortunately, it takes more time to make lagers than it does to make ales. People need to make money and ales make the most money. But if you're a home brewer with enough time and the capability to lager, then getting fresh lagers wouldn't be much of a problem.

 

Since I've discovered ales, I haven't paid much attention to lagers....but after reading about Jack's Abby beer, I think that will change.

 

You could move to Wisconsin. Lagers a plenty here, between NG, Capital, and Schells out of MN I would say the shelves here are more 75/25

 

Lagers just don't hit the spot like most ales do, for me at least. Even when presented with a nice lager selection, there is typically always an ale I'd reach for first. The only lagers I consistently go back for are GL Oktoberfest and Eliot Ness.

 

Ales (and I include stouts and porters here for the sake of argument) tend to have much more flavour than their equivalent strength lagers.For those who prize flavour above all else they are very attractive. They also require much less in the way of brewery overheads-plant and time in particular -so are more attrative to breweries which are starting up.
But there's plenty of room for both and we should welcome the choice.

 

I run into the same problem with homebrewing lagers as the craft breweries do - not enough refrigeration space to fulfill demand

 

I live in Massachusetts and we have full access to Jack's Abby Brewing which only does lagers and a great variety of them so I'm good with the ratio.

 

I'm happy with the lager choices in Ohio. Sometimes GL Dortmunder Gold or Victory Prima Pilsner hits the spot, but most of my purchases are ales, stouts and porters.

 

I'm mostly an ale guy (non-palate wrecking IPA's, Stouts, Porters mostly), but there's something about a nice, crisp, biscuity lager (pils, really), especially in the summertime or with nice meal (burrito, plate of pasta, even perhaps a nice burger come to mind) that really appeals to me. I bet if you re-posted this poll in May or June, you'd get a different mix of answers as well.

Here in Michigan, I don't have (or at least haven't found) many good lagers that I can regularly get with the freshness they deserve. Great Lakes makes some quality lagers from what I've read and is readily available here, but I didn't like their Dortmunder or Oktoberfest (although I found their seasonal Wright Pils quite good, and will inevitably revisit their Oktoberfest next fall).

I haven't found my "go-to" lager yet (although I really haven't tried). This thread though, may have me doing some more exploring soon. Been wanting to try try the Prima Pils, Scrimshaw Pils, and Lagunitas Pils for a while - maybe those will make their way into my fridge this weekend!

I also enjoy the occasional dark lager (although lean toward not too sticky or fruity). Sorry for the partial thread-jack, but any ideas for darker lagers to try? Dunkels, maybe? Preference given to domestically (US) produced beers.

 

I would directly attribute it to cost for the brewers and market demand. Craft Market is nuts over DIPAs,Imp Stouts,Etc..