Lager, Lager, Lager!!

beer

Dec 6

By Mark Ewald, aka Shep

Lager is making a resurgence and we don't mean macro lager. Shep has been predicting this trend for the past few years and is so happy to see it coming to fruition.

Lager has a long history here in the United States. Beginning in the mid 1800’s, when a large amount of German immigrants arrived, bringing with them the process and the yeast required to make crisp, clean lager. In the US they found a population that was ready to let the chunky and cloudy ales of the day become a thing of the past and, as they began experimenting with refrigeration and temperature control, the popularity of Lagers spread around the country. This lead to the exponential growth of Lager companies over the years and eventually, in a sad turn of events, American lager turned into a watery, tasteless liquid and real German lager became a distant memory.

About a 100 years later, Shep’s own love affair with lager began. As a young man (yes even before I was of legal age to drink beer) my love of lager was well underway. As a kindergartner I was already loving my dad’s lager. At 16, my appreciation grew in earnest at Mr. Dunderbach’s German Deli in Richmond, Virginia. Then there was a semester in Italy, where lager was popular, and finally a trip to Munich which truly solidified my love of lager. This stay in Munich brought visits to Lowenbrau, Augustinerbrau, and Hofbrauhaus. It was in these visits that I unveiled the subtle differences in Helles and my lifelong study of beer started.

After traveling to Amsterdam to taste a real Dutch Heineken, then to Paris to sample French Helles, I found myself at my Great Aunt Gustel's home on the outskirts of Frankfurt. Yes, Shep is full of German blood.

To stay with an elder in Germany, who didn’t speak English, while not speaking much German myself, was a special time. Aunt Gustel would ride her bike to the market at age 75 and gather food and beer for the day. She didn’t have a refrigerator so the beer was kept in the basement on the stairs. We would watch German football and drink the beer. It is one of the best memories from my time in Europe. We couldn’t speak much together but when we were drinking lager the communication would start flowing - a perfect example of how beer can connect us past generational and cultural differences.

On the last night of my study abroad program I was in Munich attending a Sting concert at the Olympic Velodrome. Augustiner Edelstof was one of the beers available, beautifully poured from a wooden barrel. I excitedly stood in line to get one when suddenly the line disappeared and I was left standing alone to approach the table. Not understanding what was happening, I watched as a large man with a larger wooden mallet mashed the tap into the wooden barrel…..Beer and foam exploded out of the barrel and drenched me from head to toe! I got the first pour out of this barrel. Today, this moment seems like of a baptism to beer that still resonates with me. My life was forever changed and the pursuit of beer became a lifelong journey.

That’s how this thing all started - With a love of lager.

Back in the United States, living on the west coast, my love of beer expanded into all different styles. I especially loved those first west coast, hoppy beers like Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and Celebration in addition to porters like Deschutes Black Butte Porter and even Belgian and English beers. This was during the beginning of the craft movement and lagers were largely forgotten about and left to the macro brewers. Even craft beer lovers didn’t understand lager. This was such a disappointment to me, but the exposure to so many other styles of beer inspired my quest for knowledge and understanding of a beers taste and sense of place.

After living on the west coast for years, a trip back east to see the Grateful Dead lead to my first taste of Sam Adams Boston Lager!! This was getting close to the great beers that I had consumed in Germany. I began to wonder - Could craft lager actually be a thing? Sam Adams was such an important brewer at the beginning of the craft beer movement and they were making lager!

Years later, my first trip to they Great American Beer Festival (GABF) resulted in very few samplings of lagers. Then a few years later the lagers started to show up, not many, but some - some good and some not so good ( full of either Diacetyl, DMS or crazy oxidized). But as the years went on, more craft lagers became available and they started to get better. Around this time I discovered Chuckanut Brewery from Bellingham, WA pouring some of the finest lagers that I had tasted outside of Germany! It was such an exciting moment - the first time that it was clear to me that lager, and not the tasteless watery American lager, was about to make its mark in the craft beer movement.

In subsequent years at GABF more and more lagers were coming on the scene. The brewers themselves were excited to share these lagers - the beers that they love to drink after a long day of brewing. Brands like the Austin Beer Garden in Texas and Heater Allen from Oregon showed up and their lagers were fantastically crafted and delicious. The movement has now grown and the German Pilsner style saw 210 entries, Helles over 200 entries, and 2149 total lagers were submitted to GABF in 2021!

Wow, have times changed. Craft lager is here.

*Shep and Shepherdess, Indy, enjoying pints of Augustiner*

There are so many great brewers making lager all over the country, and not just the German heritage states. On a recent trip to Virginia, I was so stoked to find not one, but three, great lager makers: Elation, Benchtop (who recently joined our portfolio!!) and Tabol. And of course, Schulzbräu in Knoxville (who joined our portfolio in the early days!).

The west coast still has some of the best coming from Chuckanut, Heater Allen, pFriem and Wayfinder and newcomer East Brothers in the East Bay. Colorado boasts some awesome lagers, too, with the likes of Bierstadt, Wibby Brewing and Prost! The midwest is no slouch with Bell’s from Michigan and New Glarus from Wisconsin. Then closer to home we have Suarez Family in New York, Oxbow in Maine, Fox Farm in Connecticut, and of course our homies at Schilling Beer Co. in New Hampshire.

At the Schilling Octoberfest there were so many great lagers from all over, like Boreale Pils des Mers from Montreal and all the beers from Good Word and Halfway Crooks both from Georgia. These are truly extraordinary lager times!