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

Definitely know the Track. I should go there right now and get a taste of Bolt Cutter . . .

 

I didn't want to disclose the location since my point was more of a commentary on the current state of the craft beer scene and not a slight toward any of RI's fine drinking establishments.

BTW - I didn't see any lagers on tap at Julian's either when I was there a few weeks ago...

 

Scott, from what I can tell all of the ‘sexy’ lagers from Jack’s Abby are American Pale Lagers. For example: Hoponius Union & Jabby Brau are both American Pale Lagers.

Based upon your past discussion on New Belgium Shift Pale Lager I think that it is safe to say: nothing for you to see here!?!

Cheers!

 

I'm not a big lager fan so even though their hoppy lagers are decent, I'd rather an ale so I can't judge there straight up Lagers compared to others. They won an award at the GABF for their Smoke & Dagger so doesn't sound like they are a one hit wonder with hops.

 

True, they're not, I was only speaking generally, not in absolutes. Regarding S&D, this is simply where my own personal tastes comes into play. I know most people love that beer. I thought it was fine with a plate of BBQ, but I don't care that much for it on its own. That beer is also indicative of my previous point about many of their lagers not hitting a crave for a traditional take. S&D is kinda schwarzbier, kinda rauchbier, but neither. If I want a great schwarzbier I don't think of Jack's Abby. If I want a kick-ass rauchbier, I DID have to look elsewhere until Jack's came out with Fire in the Ham this past fall. I'll give them much due respect for that one, it's delicious.

 

I would buy them more if I saw more.

 

I love lagers and it depresses me how few they are in market. The IPA/RIS-centric view of craft annoys the shit out of me, and in my opinion is a very Non-BA outlook.

Spring will be here soon, and with St Boisterous no longer in bottles, I expect a big bleeping void for what I will so desperately crave.

 

More American-brewed craft lagers would be A-OK with me, but before that happens I'd like the percentage we already have take a major jump in the quality department. I'm satisfied with the Pilsners I can get, but not much else these days- some excellent helles and dunkels sure would be nice.

 

lagers, baby, lagers

 

Lagers are what got me into craft brewing in the first place, they will always have a special place in my heart and yes, I definitely wouldn't mind seeing more GOOD Lagers out there. But to break the issue down, as mentioned earlier, the economics of them are a tough sell for the smaller breweries. And as my palate has developed I have to admit that Lagers are a bit one-dimensional and they all pretty much taste the same when you get right down to it [in comparison to Ales vs. Ales] and the taste profile is nothing like an Ale's. This is not a bad thing depending on how you look at it and this is what I feel exactly what the purpose of Lagers are...almost a white vs. red wine thing.

So take the economics + the taste profile and that you can typically do a lot less with a Lager than you can with an Ale, and you have a pretty tough sell for many craft breweries.

Another can of worms argument is that there are enough Macro Lagers out there (and while we can be harsh and for good reason, they are not all total garbage), so why even bother with the Lager category if you are a craft brewer?

 

Apparently your palate's expansion is inversely related to your sphere of reference's contraction. Wow....

 

I'd also love more excellent craft brewed lagers of all styles. Dortmunders, kellers, and schwarzbiers are underrated. And I have a serious desire to see more excellent craft brewed rauchbiers. Oh yes.

 

BMC beers are adjunct lagers. When someone discovers Craft Beer Ales are a Brave New World. There are good lagers; Pilseners are great in the Summer, Vienna Lagers are always great, Dopplebocks in the Winter but for the most part Ales (IPA's, EPA's, Bitters, Stouts, Porters) are the domain of craft drinkers (including me)

 

I think it is because lagers are generally pretty similar to each other. Ales have such a wide range of types they can be.

Lagers: Lager, bock, dopplebock.
Ales: Double, triple, sour, ipa, stout, barleywine, and the list goes on.

Ales just covers a more broad range of beers, rather than lagers which has a limited amount of styles that are actually lagered.

 

“Apparently your palate's expansion is inversely related to your sphere of reference's contraction.”

Woo-whew! That is some mighty fancy verbiage there.

Next thing you know we are gonna hear a fancy word like “nostomania !?!

Cheers!

 

Not all lagers taste the same. Even Budweiser doesn't taste the same as Miller High Life or Coors and this is BMC we're talking about. When you go from helles to dunkel, the taste is different, but both are lagers. Ditto for Dortmunder to schwarzbier and so on. There's a lot of good flavor in a fresh, well-crafted lager because the malt and hop profiles really have to shine here. Then when you get into rauchbiers, it's a completely new world for a lager experience.