Lager as an extreme beer?

I think your title says it all, lager is not (generally) an extreme beer; and 'most' people are not able to rate a wide variety of items across the board equally whether it be cars, beer, music, etc..

It was a good article, but it's a complex subject and there are a lot of factors involved. One thing that is certain is that there are trends in the craft brew movement that are driven by inexperienced tasters - however, that just as well explains the rise in popularity of Yuengling Traditional Lager as it does strong beers, IPAs, and sour beers as well.

What it comes down to is that it's much easier to recognize bold strength, bitterness, hoppiness, or sour acidity than it is balance, nuance, and refinement. And until those palates become more experienced "bigger is better" will always prevail, regardless of what form it takes.

Social media, right? Or is it a bad thing? That question will stand for years on its own.

 

I'll throw my two cents in and of course I did not read it. I usually wait for all the others to comment and then I know what the article was about. ssh.

The lager has made a comeback? really no. basically it says that we are determining a future for a product that is not what some originally thought and it's gaining speed. the lager, the pilsner, the styles are all what have brought craft beer drinkers online to find out which one of these is good. And the author is right that robert parker did that for wine. Do you buy any cheap wine or do you look at the shelf tags? so then it mentions us and ratebeer. If the best of list from either site which is used to define the palate of the craft beer drinker is now set at 9.5% after fallign from 11.5% that is still not the lager.

The lager , the most consumed beer on the planet is not new and has always made the most money.

 

@Maltanator, perhaps you will find some sense of solace in knowing that the vast majority of beer drinkers worldwide prefer to drink non-extreme beers which happen to be lagers:

· US: Bud Light

· Canada: Bud

· UK: Carling Lager

· Belgium: Jupiler

· Etc.

Craft beer drinkers are a minority of the overall beer drinking community and Beer Geeks (e.g., BAs) are a small minority of that minority.

Cheers!

 

I'd like to argue that to some degree, lagers were the original extreme beer ! Bock biers have been around for centuries, and Eisbocks and Doppelbocks specifically have generally always had higher, maybe even the highest alcohol content (up into the 50%'s!!! I know that ABV is only one part of "extreme" potential). Anyhow, lagers aren't going anywhere, and have been more prevalent in recent times in the craft scene as I have noticed. From IPL's to stripped down pilsners, I am glad to see this coming full circle, because I personally have always enjoyed the crispness of (most of) them. Cheers!

 

How do you make a lager extreme?!? You IPL it i.e. India Pale Lager it. Instant hype train.

 

The article was posted in 2014. I wonder in 2016 if the blogger isn't patting themselves on the back, for the pilsener has made a huge comeback from what I can tell. Not in terms of making the Top 250 here on BA or on any other Top 10, Top 50, Top 100 or Top Whatever list, but in terms of market saturation. And what about the always-growing Oktoberfest craze? Every brewer has to make those now, at least one pils and a seasonal Oktoberfest.

Plus, I thought exactly what @Lingenbrau rightly pointed out ... for me, one word: eisbock. There is arguably no more extreme beer of the 104 styles BA lists. It still trips me out thinking about freezing a beer, chopping out all that dumb water and *then* doing some serious ABV drinking.

I get what the article is saying, but our lagers aren't going anywhere, extreme or not.

 

Allow me to just say, Eku 28; the original "extreme" beer, and a lager.

 

I can't go too long without a good helles or bock. You don't get much higher quality than some of these old traditional German beers that have had so long to perfect their practices. That said, 90% of the beer I drink is ale.

 

That makes sense, since 90% of the beers I see on shelves anymore are Ales.

(okay, maybe 99% )

 

Schlenkerla Eiche. /thread

The lager "extreme" enough to make any novice hop-head-fan-boy turn up their nose, but the versed beer advocate appreciates.

 

Truer words have never been spoken. Drinkability is an underappreciated aspect of beers. The difference between a pat on the back and a sucker punch to the kidneys is intensity. In this regard less can most certainly be more.

One of my (many) favorite aspects of well made lagers (Munich Helles, for instance) is related to how damn refreshing they are. More refreshing than water on a hot day. Its interesting to me that this isn't as picked up on in the greater craft beer world.

 

A good, well made lager is a testament to a brewer's superior skill at the craft of brewing. It can effectively illustrate a range of skills that many current small, local ale brewers sorely lack.

 

Firstly let me state that I am personally a fan of lager beers (I homebrew them) and I also enjoy drinking commercially brewed craft beer versions (e.g., Sly Fox, Victory, etc.)

Permit me to play Devils Advocate here: why would other craft breweries produce lager beers vs. ales given the craft beer drinker's demands? I have no real desire to go into the commercial brewing business but if I did the vast majority (all?) of the beers I would brew would be ales. Why wouldn't I give the craft beer customers what they want?

Cheers!

 

What does this have to do with secure shell (ssh)?

 

Given what a basic lager is, aren't AALs extreme lagers? ; ) Albeit the opposite direction from current craft trends, but still rather extreme, compared to the historical norm.

 

If I were a commercial brewer, all I would want to produce would be pretty straight laced moderate gravity German lagers, English ales, and Belgian ales

That being said, how do you NOT, as a commercial brewer, make an IPA your flagship, or at least concentrate on mostly hoppy beer styles, if you want to make a living these days?

 

I think that there is definitely an upturn with lager interest. Seems like people are discovering Von Trappe finally. I've had friends bring some back from Vermont last year and thought the pilsner and helles lager were delicious to style, but not a peep going on the boards. Now in last month or so I've heard several people mention them. Stone released a Pilsner for the first time, so something is changing with the wind.

 

Everything you say is totally true, and I know you are a lager advocate (we're a small but vocal group here). But I agree with the guy that you replied to that they are somewhat harder to brew, not a brewer myself but I assume it is way harder to hide flaws in lagers as they demand subtly and balance of flavors much more so than ales.

Also lagers do take more time as well to brew. Overall, if its an issue of money, brewing ales is also more profitable since it takes less time to brew them.

But you are absolutely right, in a capitalist society one must absolutely meet the demands of the consumer base, unless they find a niche (von Trapp is a great example)

 

Well, Jack's Abby has successfully made a lager analog of just about every extreme ale style, so...