Livin' in a Lager Desert

I'm in Philadelphia, PA, the beer capital of the country (you can argue but you won't win) and I still suffer from this at some of my local taps (walking distance). 12 taps recently consisted of 5 IPAs, a tropical APA, Wells Banana Bread, Young's Double Chocolate Stout, two other stouts, a Scottish ale, and Bud Light (luckily the only BMC product). I'm of the belief that this was because of winter, but it always seems to be like this, at least with the IPAs. Whatever happened to keeping a good solid lager on all of the time? And why not a hefeweizen or other wheat? I know it's not summer but geez, why not? At least give me a decent Pils, even if it is one of those hop-forward versions. Some of those can almost stand in for an IPA anyway.

But who's to blame? The distributor? The bar owner? The guy that orders the beer for the bar? Or us? Well I might not be a big part of the "us", but they wouldn't be pouring those beers if they weren't selling - so I say it's the consumer. Give the People what they want.

 

Well, that would be why. If it doesn't sell, they won't re-stock and also the local breweries will brew lagers seasonally at best.

Even though many of the new breweries, and even some of the established ones, are all ga-ga over turbidity, fortunately, I live in a lager rich area. Schell's is one of the best brewers of German beers in the country, and many of the locals have one or more pils in their year-round lineup, with Summit brewing one of the best Keller Pils around. We even have a couple of small breweries who specialize in German lagers, one of whom brews an absolutely wonderful Kölsch.

In your part of the country, I am surprised you can't get Von Trapp beers, and then there is always Boston Lager and Yuengling.

 

Well, IDK if the shipping costs would be worth it to you, but France 44 ships to CT. Let me know if you want to do that, and I (and other BAs from MN) would be happy to give you some recommendations on our local lagers.

 

Every bar should have a good pils on tap, no excuse. At a minimum it is a good beer to reset your palate or use for stretching the night out. I have told several bars that I frequent you need to give up that one tap for this as it is the ultimate crossover beer also.

 

@NeroFiddled I would argue that the beer capital of the country would have a good representation of lagers year round, both imported and domestic.

 

Lagers are around here, Pilsners seem to be in short supply.

 

DOH!

Haha, good point. I'm only referring to my local walking distance pubs which are technically, but not 'really' in Philly, although you do have a very good point. Not too far from me though (I could walk it in about 40 minutes) is Wissahickon Brewing Co. which always has a good Pilsner on tap.

 

Things aren't much better on the coast of CT. Rarely can you find an interesting lager on tap in Fairfield Co. Also, some breweries that once focused on lagers, like Relic, make IPAs to stay in business. Can't blame them.
What bothers me most is the lager-style beers that are actually ales. My blood boils in September when some of these "marzens" hit the shelves.

 

Lots of them in the City.

http://www.phillytapfinder.com/style/pilsenerpale-lager/

@SFACRKnight

 

And the Philly area does indeed have a wealth of riches as regards lagers but that is at the beer stores (cans/bottles). When it comes to craft beer bars it is the case that hoppy beers rule (and within the last year or so that would be the so called 'NE' style IPA).

Cheers!

P.S. And there are some bars that will have lagers (e.g., Pilsners) on tap as you can see on the Philly Tap Finder site.

 

If you are in CT and you can get Von Trapp and Jack's Abby (plus Hofbrau and their seasonals), there's not much else you should need.

 

Put up an ISO, I'm sure some nice BA in Philly who has a glut of lager and Pils would love some NE hoppy stuff. At least for a special occasion.

 

Find a good local store and establish a relationship. Rather than search for fresh options, order what you need. Just did this with Jack’s Abby Post Shift and Saxony. Have done it in the past for Von Trapp, Schlenkerla and Troegs.

Bars and restaurants - good luck! I’ve taken to ordering vodka when I go out as most tap lists are dominated by IPA/DIPA.

 

Ooops, misposted, never mind.

 

We're fortunate out here that we have several Lager focused breweries (Chuckanut, Heater-Allen, Alpine), and a lot of breweries also make very nice lagers in addition to their ales.

 

Orlison was in Casper for a while. I enjoyed their Lagers.

 

Not sure what's up with them lately though. Would see packages and draft regularly around here, but not so much lately. Maybe @woemad knows something?