Dark Lager Tasting (May 13-15)

Discussion in 'The Bar' started by FBarber, May 7, 2022.

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  1. zid

    zid Grand Pooh-Bah (3,132) Feb 15, 2010 New York
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Don’t get me wrong. I wasn’t trying to be critical of anything you wrote. :beers:
     
    #21 zid, May 8, 2022
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  2. Peach63

    Peach63 Pooh-Bah (2,442) Jul 17, 2019 New York
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    If I can find one, I'll certainly join in.
     
    #22 Peach63, May 8, 2022
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  3. jesskidden

    jesskidden Grand Pooh-Bah (3,145) Aug 10, 2005 New Jersey
    Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    In 1977, when the magazine New West did a Beer Test, the winner, Anchor Steam Beer, was listed as "(dark)":
    [​IMG]
    the sub-heading of the article noted "...Dark beers were clearly preferred, in taste as well as aroma. A California entry was the grand winner; Mexican imports did well..." The latter included Indio, Dos Equis (now called "Ambar" but at the time the only Dos Equis), as well as the Philippines' San Miguel Dark.

    (Note that the Anchor label dates from when the brewery was still called simply "STEAM BEER BREWING CO.").
     
    #23 jesskidden, May 8, 2022
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  4. steveh

    steveh Grand Pooh-Bah (4,174) Oct 8, 2003 Illinois
    Society Pooh-Bah

    I'd rather stick with a Dunkel or Schwarz (even a CDL) for the tasting. Besides, I already reviewed that Bock here.
     
    #24 steveh, May 8, 2022
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  5. mvogt

    mvogt Pundit (759) Sep 10, 2021 Massachusetts

    Honestly I might just stick to the Kostrizer this weekend. Czech dark lagers are (relatively) thick on the ground around here but Kostrizer is such good value for money. Did not buy a 12-pk of Negra Modelo yesterday but was tempted.
     
    #25 mvogt, May 8, 2022
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  6. steveh

    steveh Grand Pooh-Bah (4,174) Oct 8, 2003 Illinois
    Society Pooh-Bah

    .67 cents? $4 a six-pack? And even *I* wasn't old enough to drink then. :confused:
     
    #26 steveh, May 8, 2022
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  7. beer_beer

    beer_beer Pooh-Bah (2,306) Feb 13, 2018 Finland
    Society Pooh-Bah

    Think I'm set for next weekend. "Tumma" means dark...

    [​IMG]
     
    #27 beer_beer, May 8, 2022
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  8. steveh

    steveh Grand Pooh-Bah (4,174) Oct 8, 2003 Illinois
    Society Pooh-Bah

    How does "crisp" translate in Finn? :grin:

    I always find the mix of languages in marketing to be humorous -- if not a little weird. :wink:
     
    #28 steveh, May 8, 2022
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  9. beer_beer

    beer_beer Pooh-Bah (2,306) Feb 13, 2018 Finland
    Society Pooh-Bah

    RAIKAS, would that sell?

    There's a whole series of CRISP: https://www.sinebrychoff.fi/tuotteet/?term=&brand=62853

    If you can't have alcohol, at least you can have something CRISP :grin:
     
    #29 beer_beer, May 8, 2022
    Last edited: May 8, 2022
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  10. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    That was an expensive beer back then. At your typical NorCal grocery store, Anchor steam, Heineken and maybe Beck's (if you went to the right store) were the only beers so expensive (all three were typically displayed in the tiny import section). I think Michelob was priced in the $2.79 - $2.99 range back then.

    There were some delicatessens and speciality stores where you could find more expensive imports (usually from Germany or Great Britain), but for the most part, consumers were content with AALs. Most people I knew back then weren't even aware of the distinction between lagers and ales. I know I certainly wasn't.
     
    #30 John_M, May 8, 2022
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  11. MNAle

    MNAle Initiate (0) Sep 6, 2011 Minnesota

    Would those from the UK think snack food? (crisps) :grin:
     
    #31 MNAle, May 8, 2022
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  12. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    'Back in the day' most people (including me) would just call it "beer". The vast majority of the time, "beer" meant a lager beer but I am not aware of folks using "lager" in their parlance until the later 1980's when Yuengling Traditional Lager was first brewed and then in Pennsylvania when peopled asked for a "lager" that meant they wanted a specific brand of beer: Yuengling Traditional Lager.

    Interestingly in the area I grew up (Philly area) Ballantine did produce two brands:

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]

    I had a good childhood friend whose father was a regular Ballantine Beer (i.e., lager) drinker but I was not aware of any father's in the neighborhood who drank Ballantine Ale.

    I have a friend today (a bit older than me) who told me that 'back in the day' his father was a regular Ballantine Ale beer drinker.

    I really don't know what was the first ale that I ever drank. Maybe it was Victory Hop Devil in the mid 1990's?

    Cheers!
     
    #32 JackHorzempa, May 8, 2022
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  13. steveh

    steveh Grand Pooh-Bah (4,174) Oct 8, 2003 Illinois
    Society Pooh-Bah

    I probably bought my first six-pack of import beer in 1978 -- Swiss Lowenbrau, if I was to guess. But I couldn't tell you what I paid if I had to save my life! :grin:

    But I'd been studying up on beer and definitely knew the difference between Lager & Ale -- after all, those Canadian beers were all ales and they'd kick your butt! :wink:
     
    #33 steveh, May 8, 2022
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  14. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Exactly Jack. Back then, the term beer, lager and ale were all used interchangeably. I think Rainier might have been making an ale back then, but even then, it wasn't entirely clear to me just what that meant.
     
    #34 John_M, May 8, 2022
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  15. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Probably a lot. I would guess in the $5.99 range.

    I was in the army from 73 to 76, and went home to visit an army buddy in Santa Cruz in 75 I think (he got out of the service roughly a year before I did). Having lived in Germany for several years, we thought we were beer conniesseurs, and disdained drinking BMC stuff. In truth, the American AALS really did taste pretty watered down after drinking German lagers for so long. Anyway, my friend took me to some specialty store where they had bottles of German Lowenbrau (among other things). Individual bottles (11.2 ounces as I recall) were around $1.29 a bottle, which I thought was obscene at the time. We bought a couple of other German imports as well. Nothing tasted very good to us, and my guess is that there was probably a freshness problem. The store owner acknowledged that there wasn't much demand for them (a couple of regular customers that would order some from time to time), so there was no telling how long they'd been sitting out (they weren't refrigerated of course).
     
    #35 John_M, May 8, 2022
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  16. unlikelyspiderperson

    unlikelyspiderperson Grand Pooh-Bah (3,966) Mar 12, 2013 California
    Pooh-Bah Trader

    Some of the lessons of youth stick with us for a lifetime, eh? :wink:
     
    #36 unlikelyspiderperson, May 8, 2022
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  17. John_M

    John_M Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,849) Oct 25, 2003 Washington
    Mod Team Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Indeed. However, I actually drank quite a lot of BMC stuff in college, with no noticeable ill effects. It wasn't until I started getting into microbrew/craft, and observed the reaction by the big boys (who clearly wanted it to go away in the worst way, and weren't adverse to employing illegal practices if that's what it took), that I became a bit more intolerant of BMC type products.

    These days, there's so much well made craft lager available, my current feelings about BMC are largely irrelevant. I avoid drinking AALs because, at least to my palate, craft lagers are far superior and more enjoyable.
     
    #37 John_M, May 8, 2022
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  18. steveh

    steveh Grand Pooh-Bah (4,174) Oct 8, 2003 Illinois
    Society Pooh-Bah

    Other than my GPA. :grimacing::rolling_eyes::wink:
     
    #38 steveh, May 8, 2022
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  19. mvogt

    mvogt Pundit (759) Sep 10, 2021 Massachusetts

    ...and my relationship choices...
     
    #39 mvogt, May 8, 2022
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  20. steveh

    steveh Grand Pooh-Bah (4,174) Oct 8, 2003 Illinois
    Society Pooh-Bah

    I've forgotten all but the good ones. :grin:
     
    #40 steveh, May 8, 2022
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