Lager is summer's cool brew
By Joey Redner, TBT Lush
Published June 8, 2007
I am not often asked about a good beer style for summer. That's probably because the answer is fairly obvious: Easy-drinking light-bodied lagers are probably the perfect summer beer.
Sure, many people enjoy wheat beers when summer rolls around. In fact, many craft breweries release a wheat beer as their summer seasonal beer because they are so refreshing.
But the many types of pale colored lagers are undeniably suited to warm weather. Lagers are mostly light bodied so they don't sit in your stomach like a pound of grain. Plus, lager yeast tends to yield a crisper, cleaner-tasting beer than ale yeast.
One reason some brewers tend to focus more on wheat beers is because lagers are more expensive to make. You can't make a real lager without refrigeration, and cooling beer through all phases of production requires more money. Lagers also take longer to make than ales. The word lager is German and means "to store, " referring to cold storing beer to allow it to filter.
Many brewers also claim lagers take more skill to make than ales. It is generally true that flaws stand out more in lighter tasting beers. So, many lagers are more delicate than ales not just in flavor, but in terms of what can go wrong during brewing.
But increasingly smaller batch brewers are tackling lager styles and doing so with excellent results. Full Sail Session Premium Lager from the employee-owned brewery in Hood River, Ore., is an excellent example of a great all-malt pale colored American lager.
Session Premium Lager has light honey and grass notes to the aroma and a more full-bodied mouthfeel. The flavor again has hints of honey, but is mostly clean with some light citrus-tinged hop notes. Session Premium Lager takes its name from the term for a beer that is lower in alcohol and is suited for a "session" of several beers at a sitting, something higher alcohol beers are poorly suited for.
Another lager perfect for summer is Brooklyn Lager, a caramel malt accented brew with floral hops and balancing bitterness. This lager pairs well with grilled foods and just about any summer fare you can dream up, even watermelon.
Tommyknocker Alpine Glacier Lager from the former mining town of Idaho Springs, Colo., has very lightly toasted malt notes, cereal grains and an unusual nutty note. It's one of the cleaner tasting micro lagers I have come across.
Finally there's Stoudt's Pils brewed in Adamstown, Pa. This brew is heavily hopped by the standards of most lagers and features ample qualities of the noble Saaz hop variety. This high aroma, low bitterness hop imparts mild spicy and earthy aromas. Stoudt's Pils also offers floral, mild citrus and dry malt aromas. The flavor is very clean and dry with low sweetness and a faint kiss of grapefruit.