Chicagoland Lagers (2024)

Had a Pipeworks Amber Lager the other day and it was pretty good. Bready/yeasty with a bit of caramel type sweetness.

 

Have really been enjoying Kishwaukee Pollinator, their Doppelbock. Nice to see a good sixpack in bottles.

 

Definitely still has some doughy, yeast character, but also a quality corn touch. Would love to see beer like this in sixpack format. Solid stuff but not something I'd pay premium price for repeatedly.

 

Finally picked up a 12er of Rev's Cold Time Lager. Crispy but has a touch of sweetness and some nice breadiness to it. Pretty good everyday type Lager.

 

It used to be canned on date. But that’s from checking a 2017 review. Pretty sure bottles this winter were bottled on dates, but that’s just recall

 

If you get a chance, try the Bohemian Pilsner from Gold Finger. I had it on tap at Bottle Theory in Elmhurst. It may be a bit hopped up but I really enjoyed it.

 

On the topic of Goldfinger, they are releasing Heller Bock (Maibock) on Thursday. It's a collaboration with HVG German Hops, a German hops cooperative. It's replacing their regular Maibock this year. Looking forward to giving it a try.

 

If you've not caught The Beer Temple's post from today, it seems Augustiner Lagerbier Helles is a new arrival to the area. At least at the Beer Temple, hopefully other stores as well. I believe only Edelstoff and Maximator have typically been available here so some folks might be interested in trying it. Augustiner sixers are typically on the pricier side (~16-17 a sixer) so keep that in mind. Per The Beer Temple, the bottles were packaged on 17 April so quite fresh.

 

Cervecería paracaidista (a Mexico City brewery) is contracting (I think) with Pilot Project and their Mexican Lager "Fat Mariachi" is a new favorite of mine. Not sure how far out distro has gotten, but places like Bitter Pops have it. $12 for a 4-pack of 16 oz cans, really good, clean Vienna malt chugger.

 

Mexican lager seems like it doesn’t really mean much these days. Could mean like, could mean “modelo-esque”, could mean vienna.

Pictures on a different beer app show its very pale, looks much closer to modelo than Yuengling

 

Funnily enough, the brewery's last IG post talks about just that. But yeah, it's pretty pale and Vienna-forward.

 

Sounds cool.

 

The Beer Temple re-upped another 20 cases of Augustiner Lagerbier Hell today (seems they went through 40 cases). Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for my local Binny's to get a case. Ain't happening at this point it seems.

 

German lager alread available / soon to be available in Chicago:

Goller:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/1488/
These are already available on draft at Laschet's & Hopleaf. Their Helles Lager is especially good.

Mahr's:
https://www.beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/428/
Should be on draft at Laschet's in the next few weeks and packaged offerings should be available as well (but not at Binny's per a conversation I was privy to). They are contract brewing out of California, I believe. The main dude at Laschet's LOVES this brewery and is especially exited to be serving this.