lager Archives | Short Brews

What’s a Maibock Beer?

Thomas Short — Thu, 21 May 2026 21:31:58 +0000

Everybody loves a classic, and the Maibock is a classic. A Maibock is a type of strong beer from Germany. By strong, I mean that the Maibock is a hefty lager, usually darker in color than you’d get from a Helles or Pilsner. The Maibock is a lighter type of Bock and is popular in the spring. Unfortunately, like other classics, the Maibock has gone largely forgotten, relegated to obscure tap lists the same way you might have to wait for Some Like It Hot to show up on Turner Classic Movies just to watch the final scene. It’s a shame. Today, I want to explore the Maibock, praise the Maibock, and make a plea: Return the Maibock. What is a Maibock? The German Maibock beer style originated from the town of Einbeck and was originally named Einbeck. However, Bavarians had an accent, so the townsfolk of Munich pronounced it as ein Bock, which means goat. Over time, people just started calling these beers Bock instead of Einbock. As a cute little nod to the past, many Bocks and Maibocks have goats on their labels. History aside, the Maibock is a Bock that’s much paler in color, so much so that another name for the beer is Heller Bock, meaning Light Bock. Maibock vs Bock: What’s the Difference? As Cold IPA is to IPA, Maibock is to Bock. A Bock is a general type of strong beer best defined by the substyle it’s brewed in. The Maibock is a style of Bock, which means it has siblings. Here’s a quick rundown of the Bock family: What Does a Maibock Taste Like? While the traditional Bock has an incredibly malty flavor, the Maibock tampers this flavor down a bit, letting the hops shine through a little more. However, don’t expect the full-blown hop blast of an IPA when you sip on a Maibock. Maibocks are still malty, just not nearly as much as the traditional Bock. Most Maibocks have this awesome amber color that you just don’t find enough at craft breweries these days. In terms of booziness, expect something in the 6%-8% ABV range, though these can easily go higher in ABV. Ode to the Maibock: The Final Verse Openly lamenting the lack of Maibocks in the craft world is admittedly whiny and pathetic, and I don’t care. As much as I love a good pale ale, IPA, or crispy boi lager, it does get to the point where I crave a little more variety. I know that most craft brewers don’t brew Maibocks because they don’t sell as well as a 7% Hazy IPA that’ll go gangbusters on Saturdays and Sundays with the 35-45 male demographic. But I can, at the very least, write this ode. O! Maibock, how that art so tasty and cool How bad I wish to drink you by the pool When the sun beats down, and the wind is fair O, my sweet Maibock, you should also be there!

The post What’s a Maibock Beer? appeared first on Short Brews.

Best Beers for Golf, Ranked for 2026

Thomas Short — Thu, 07 May 2026 15:50:40 +0000

Some things in life are always worth appreciating. A good beer. A nice round of golf. Of course, any golfer knows that you can’t just drink any beer on the course. Aside from the fact that you can’t bring your own beer (you would never do that, right?), some beers might have a more negative impact on your game and day. So, picking the right beers for golf is key. Here are the best beers for golf that you should be able to find on your course. Best Golf Beers, Ranked 1. Firestone Walker 805 There’s a lot to love about the 805. This beer is perfectly light, has good flavor, is 4.7% ABV, and doesn’t sit too heavily in your stomach. There are plenty of good occasions to grab an 805 outside of golf, but the course is a great place to enjoy this beer. 2. Ballast Point Grapefruit Sculpin IPA I know that adding an IPA is a bold call since IPAs, sunshine, and physical activity don’t mix very well. However, I think the Grapefruit Sculpin IPA gets a pass because the grapefruit flavor is just too perfect. It’s a 7% IPA that leans juicy and crisp, making it perfect to sip. Start your round with a Grapefruit Sculpin, or have one at the turn. Or have one after your round. If your golf course (or area) doesn’t carry this delicious beer, look for the regular Sculpin IPA or a Hazy Sculpin IPA. 3. Heineken Silver I don’t want to crowd this list with the “light lager” types (think Michelob Ultra, Coors Light, etc), but I’m going to highlight Heineken Silver. Why? Because it’s low-calorie and I legitimately like the flavor. It’s pretty close to the regular Heineken flavor while still being light and low-calorie, which is a great combination. 4. Deschutes Mirror Pond Pale Ale The Mirror Pond is a nice pale ale with real flavor, which I love. This beer does lean a little bitter and hoppy, but it’s just 5% ABV, meaning it packs a lot of flavor into a relatively light beer. It’s also available in most areas of the country, so it’s a safe pick if you see it on the beverage cart. 5. Local Lager Okay, this pick is a bit of a cop-out since it’s not a specific beer, but seriously consider buying a can of a local lager next time you’re golfing. Lagers are the perfect beer for sunshine, and you might find a local brewery that you enjoy! As an example, the Bandon Dunes Sheep Ranch Lager was the perfect pairing for Sheep Ranch, and I’m glad I gave it a try. 6. Athletic IPA The Athletic IPA, a great non-alcoholic beer, is legitimately one of the best beers to have on the links. Athletic does an incredible job of nailing beer flavor without any of the booze, perfect for someone who is taking their round seriously and doesn’t want alcohol affecting their swing. 7. Michelob Ultra I couldn’t honestly create a “best golf beers” list without including Michelob Ultra. Michelob Ultra is one of the best light beers and brings just enough flavor for you to notice without feeling heavy, which is perfect for a hot day on the golf course. I haven’t had a Michelob Ultra in any other setting, and I don’t think I will, but it’s great for golf. Golf Beers FAQs

The post Best Beers for Golf, Ranked for 2026 appeared first on Short Brews.

Irish Beers That Aren’t Guinness: The Best Alternatives to Try

Thomas Short — Tue, 10 Mar 2026 21:59:04 +0000

Walk into any pub in Ireland and order “a pint,” and yes, there’s a decent chance you’ll get a glass of Guinness (especially if you’re a tourist like me). But Ireland’s beer culture stretches far beyond “The Black Stuff”. From Cork to Kilkenny, and a new wave of craft breweries producing everything from IPAs to barrel-aged porters, there’s never been a better time to try an Irish beer. Whether you don’t like Guinness, want to broaden your knowledge of Irish brewing, or just want to try something new on St. Patrick’s Day, here are some good Guinness alternatives to try. Irish Stouts That Aren’t Guinness Don’t want to stray too far from stouts? Don’t worry, there are some awesome Irish stouts that aren’t Guinness you can try. Murphy’s Irish Stout Brewed at the Lady’s Well Brewery in Cork since 1856, Murphy’s is probably the closest you can get to Guinness without actually getting a Guinness. It’s a nitrogen-poured dry stout with a smoother, slightly sweeter profile than Guinness. So, if Guiness is just a little too dry, or if you want something slightly different, Murphy’s is a good alternative. It’s also widely available across Ireland and in Irish pubs internationally. Style: Irish Dry Stout | ABV: 4.0% | Brewed in: Cork Beamish Irish Stout Also brewed in Cork (and now under the same ownership as Murphy’s: Heineken), Beamish is bolder than Guinness. It’s rich and malty, and it has notes of chocolate and coffee akin to many stouts in the United States. It’s also not a nitro pour, so it’ll be less smooth and creamy than Guinness or Murphy’s. If you can find this, give it a try! Style: Irish Dry Stout | ABV: 4.2% | Brewed in: Cork O’Hara’s Irish Stout From Carlow Brewing Company (one of Ireland’s first modern craft breweries, founded in 1996), O’Hara’s Irish Stout is the flagship beer. O’Hara’s is brewed using classic Irish brewing methods, so you could make an argument that it’s the most traditional style stout of anything listed. Give it a try if you’re in Ireland, and try to find it if you’re not! Style: Irish Dry Stout | ABV: 4.3% | Brewed in: Carlow Porterhouse Plain Porter If you’re in Dublin, stop by Porterhouse Brewing Company. They make a lot of tasty brews, but their Plain Porter is the best Guinness alternative to try. No, this beer isn’t plain; it has a nice toffee flavor and bitter notes. Also, it’s poured as a traditional cask ale, so no artificial carbonation! It’s a great beer to try if you have the chance. Style: Porter | ABV: 4.3% | Brewed in: Dublin How Do Irish Stouts Compare to Guinness? To make things easy (because I love tables), here’s a quick comparison of these stouts and porters. Beer Flavour Profile ABV Best For Guinness Draught Dry, roasted, slightly bitter 4.2% The benchmark Murphy’s Irish Stout Smoother, slightly sweet, less bitter 4.0% Guinness-disliker’s first try Beamish Rich, chocolate, malty, dense 4.2% Stout lovers who want more body O’Hara’s Irish Stout Dry, roasty, strong bitterness 4.3% Craft beer drinkers Porterhouse Plain Porter Toffee, light smoke, chocolate 4.3% Traditional / cask-style fans Other Irish Beers Worth Drinking Maybe the reason you want an Irish beer that isn’t Guinness is that you don’t want a dark beer. If that’s the case, there are some awesome Irish ales you can try instead. Smithwick’s Red Ale I couldn’t make a list without Smithwick’s! Brewed in Kilkenny since 1710, Smithwick’s (pronounced “Smitticks”) Red Ale is as Irish as Irish beer gets. This malty red ale has plenty of sweet caramel flavor, and it’s really easy to drink. It’s my go-to when I want an Irish beer that isn’t Guinness. It’s also available across Ireland and in many international markets. Style: Irish Red Ale | ABV: 3.8% | Brewed in: Kilkenny Kilkenny Irish Cream Ale Kilkenny is a nitrogen-poured cream ale that’s soft and…well, creamy. It’s a really approachable beer if you don’t love beer like Guinness. Personally, I don’t love cream ales, but this one gets a pass because it’s so well done. Style: Irish Cream Ale | ABV: 4.3% | Brewed in: Kilkenny Harp Lager Harp is Ireland’s best-known domestic lager, maybe because it’s bascially the lager version of Guinness; after all, they are owned by the same parent company. It’s a clean, light, crisp pale lager, perfect for anyone that wants something a little easier to sip on than a Guinness. You’ll find it on draught in most Irish pubs and in cans at grocery stores in the United States. Style: Pale Lager | ABV: 4.3% | Brewed in: Dundalk / multiple sites Where to Find Non-Guinness Irish Beers Where you can find these beers depends on where you are: In Ireland: Irish beers are found in Irish pubs pretty much everywhere. If you want a specific beer, you’re best off visiting the city where it’s brewed. Craft beers are often served in pubs dedicated specifically to craft beer, so look out for those in major cities. In the United States: Irish pubs are your best bet for finding any alternative to Guinness. Smithwicks, Murphy’s and Harp are the easiest to find, and some of them are available in grocery stores and liquor stores. Frequently Asked Questions

The post Irish Beers That Aren’t Guinness: The Best Alternatives to Try appeared first on Short Brews.

What Are the Different Types of Lagers?

Thomas Short — Fri, 13 Jun 2025 16:04:53 +0000

Earlier this blog, we talked about what a lager is (mostly as opposed to an ale). If you missed that, you can learn more about what a lager is. Of course, we also know that ales come in different forms – pale ale, IPA, etc. Similarly, lagers come in different forms. To start, there are three main lager groups: pale, dark and Vienna. Pale lagers are…wait for it…golden in color (you thought I would say pale, didn’t you?). Dark lagers are dark in color. Typically, a dark brown, these lagers can also be a dark red color, and they tend to be a little bit heavier in ABV than their counterparts. Vienna lagers, as you might imagine, originated in Vienna. Interestingly, most famous Vienna lagers that you’ve probably heard about are Mexican beers. Here are some styles of lagers, their defining qualities and classic examples: Main Types of Lagers The Pale Lagers Pilsner: My personal favorite lager style, pilsners originate from Plzen, current day Czech Republic. Pilsners are pale lagers, and they made quite a splash when they first came around. While there are different styles of pilsners out there, expect all of them to be light and slightly malty/sweet. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Short Brews Beer Blog (@shortbrews) Helles: Helles lagers are named after hell, which in German means “bright” or “pale.” These are similar to pilsners in color and flavor, but they tend to be a little less sweet. Bock: The bock style of lager is sort of like the IPA of lagers…that being that they come in all sorts of styles. Maibocks, arguably the most popular version, is paler and hoppier than other versions. Then there’s doppelbock, which is basically like a double IPA – it’s just stronger all around. There’s also eisbock, a super strong lager, but those are far less common than the other two. Marzen: Marzen lagers are full bodied and malty, designed to be clean on the finish. They come a little darker in shade than pilsners and helles lagers, and, like basically any other beer, can vary depending on the style of marzen being brewed. The Dark Lagers Dunkel: My personal favorite dark lager, dunkels are a classic German beer. Incredibly dark in color, dunkels are basically all malt and can add in other types of flavors. This is a pretty popular Oktoberfest beer (which, by the way, is coming up). Schwarzbier: Literally “black beer,” the schwarzbier breaks down beer barriers…and by that I mean that, for all practical intents and purposes, may as well be deemed a lighter stout. Schwarzbiers can have coffee and chocolate flavors (like stouts), are dark and opaque (like stouts) and are very malty (like stouts). Doppelbock: Doppelbock makes a return! Depending on what style of doppelbock you get, you can classify it as a pale or a dark lager. I feel that dark lager is a better classification, but then again what do I know – there’s only been hundreds of styles brewed over hundreds of years. The Vienna Lager Truth be told, there isn’t much to say about the Vienna lager, but I did write an entire article about it so I don’t know. Vienna lagers are sort of the bridge between pale and dark lagers, and while someone out there would argue that you have to use certain temperatures and densities for a beer to be considered, you could easily find someone who says something completely different. The American Lager For better or for worse, we here in the United States have our own style of lager…and yes, it’s basically just cheap beer like PBR, Budweiser, Miller, and so on. I will say that breweries have started to put a spin on this style, and by spin I mean massive improvement. If you see an American Lager at your local brewery, give it a try. The Japanese Rice Lager A style that’s really gaining in popularity lately, the Japanese Rice Lager is pretty much exactly what it sounds like — a lager with rice. While tons of different beers incorporate rice, Japanese Rice Lagers are known for being clear, clean, and delicious. Well, that last one is my opinion. What Makes a Lager a Lager? Lagers differ from ales in a few ways, starting with yeasts as lagers use lager yeasts. Lagers are also cold fermented unlike ales which ferment at warmer temperatures. All of this (when done correctly) yields a beer that tends to have a lighter color and hop flavor profile than a pale ale would.

The post What Are the Different Types of Lagers? appeared first on Short Brews.

Yeasts In Beer: What Does Yeast Do?

Thomas Short — Tue, 23 May 2023 17:47:52 +0000

At one point during in this blog I delineated all beer types into two distinct groups: ales and lagers. Is this oversimplifying? Yes. But guess what? I had a good reason to do it: Yeast. Yeast is up there with mold in the category of things that I don’t completely understand and don’t have a burning desire to learn everything about. But both are types of fungi and I do love mushrooms on pizza. And I also love beer, which uses yeast as one the main ingredients. The main yeast in beer, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is the type of yeast used in baking, wine making and brewing. But there are various strains of this, much like there are different types of mold. Top-fermenting yeast is used for ales, and bottom-fermenting yeast is used for lagers. Top-fermenting yeast, if you were wondering, works well in warmer temperatures. It got its name because the yeast rises to the top of the beer during the fermenting process. Bottom-fermenting yeast, if you were still wondering, likes colder temperatures. It got its name because the yeast settles at the bottom of the brew. And the other differences between how these yeasts work? Well, you can learn more by reading about lagers and ales. (Spoiler: they create different types of beer.) But guess what! That’s not the only yeast involved in beer. No sir, not anymore. Gettin’ Hyphae With Yeasts Yeasts sometimes have little guys called hyphae, which is pronounced “hyphy.” I probably could have come up with a better joke or pun but I didn’t (get over it). Ok, here’s how yeasts work: yeasts are alive and they love sugar. The more sugar they eat, the more byproduct they produce, which is alcohol and carbon dioxide. Just think of alcohol as yeast poops and carbon dioxide as yeast farts, and you get the idea. So, the alcoholic content and the fun fizziness of your barley pop comes from the yeasts. Without yeasts, you would just have a sweet, sugary, flat drink. The yeasts also produce a lot of the unique flavors you find in beer. The neat thing is that we’re still learning about all the different yeasts and how they can make us better beers. Being Picky With Yeast In today’s modern world of brewing, brewers are able to use pure strains of yeast, giving them better control over beer. But this wasn’t always the case. Back in the good old days (before people really started understanding yeast), most beer was a little sour. Why? Because yeast types were mixing together! This is sometimes referred to as spontaneous fermentation. Where is this sour flavor coming from? Our good yeasty friend Brettanomyces Lambicus. Brett, for those who don’t regularly drink funky farmhouse beers, is what we call both the flavor of the beer and the goo left at the bottom of the bottle. The goo is just the Brettanomyces yeasts. What flavor does this produce, you ask? Why, the sour flavor! So, if I were to revise the beer categories, I might say there are three types of beer: ales, lagers and sours. This is because they are using very different types of yeast. Brettanomyces is making a huge comeback nowadays. For decades, brewers tried to get pure strains of Sacc. Today, brewers are looking for pure strains of Brett. As brewers gain better knowledge of yeasts, there will be many more exciting beer flavors produced!

The post Yeasts In Beer: What Does Yeast Do? appeared first on Short Brews.

Beers In Chile And Peru: What To Drink In South America

Thomas Short — Tue, 03 Mar 2020 01:23:36 +0000

Sometimes you need to leave the humdrum of the city and go to another city. Sometimes that city is a little far from home. Say, 5,730 miles from home. If I haven’t posted lately it’s not because I’m forgetful or lazy, it’s because I traveled to Chile and Peru to try the beers they brew (among other things). The beer scene in Chile and Peru reminded me of Europe, meaning that most breweries didn’t offer a hazy IPA. While I did find one place that brewed “American-craft style beer” including a hazy IPA, the choices at most places were lager, lager, and lager (with a couple of ales). So, if you’re planning a trip to Chile or Peru, or if you live in Chile or Peru, or if you wanted to find out what you’re missing by neither visiting nor living in Chile or Peru, here are the beers that I drank and enjoyed. Kunstmann View this post on Instagram A post shared by Short Brews Beer Blog (@shortbrews) Kunstmann is a big-time beer producer in Chile. Based in Torobayo, Valdivia, Chile Kunstmann was founded by German immigrants who essentially dominated the Valdivia beer scene after another brewery was destroyed by an earthquake. Yup. The main Kunstmann beer to try is Torobayo, named after the city the brewery is based in. This mainstay has an amber color, though the malt flavor was lighter than what you’d find in most ambers brewed in the U.S. The closest thing to a stout I tried was the Bock, which Kunstmann describes as a cerveza negra, or a black beer. It had plenty of smoky and chocolaty flavors, and while I’m sure there are plenty of stouts available in Chile and Peru, I’d bet stout drinkers would prefer this bock anyway. But my personal favorite of the bunch was the Kunstmann Lager, which as you can guess, was a lager. Austral Based in Punta Arenas, Magallanes, Austral is so far south that I’m pretty sure they’re the first major brewer north of Antarctica. The brewery is literally located on a street named Patagona, which translates to Patagonia if you needed help. The cool thing about a brewery located so close to Antarctica is the ingredients they use. Calafate, a beer named after a berry-type fruit used in the beer, tastes like…well, calafate. The calafate flavor is somewhere between a blueberry and a general fruit sweetness, but the taste is so subtle compared to the lager that someone had to explain to me that fruit was in the beer because I’m that clueless. Well done, Austral. Another beer I only got to try once was the Torres del Paine, named after the famous national park where many Patagonia hikers go to get their next profile picture taken. Too much time is spent hiking and not enough spent enjoying this well-bodied lager.Perhaps the biggest crowd-pleaser from Austral would be the Lager, which is a lager. Cusquena The last beer that seemed to be everywhere in both Chile and Peru is the Cusco-based Cusquena. As a tourist, I had no clue as to the scale of any of these breweries, but Cusquena seemed to be pretty big, and I’d bet you can find it just about anywhere in Peru and Northern Chile. The main Cusquena beer I tried was Dorado, which long-time fans of the film The Road to El Dorado will correctly assume that this is a golden lager. Dorado was perhaps the best golden lager I tried, though I admittedly spent a lot of time drinking pisco sours and not beer.Roja, which was really more of a blonde/amber color than red, didn’t pop up as much for me, so I only tried it once (that I know of). What I remember was a pleasantly bitter flavor, but nowhere near the realms of pale ales and IPAs. The only other beer I tried from Cusquena was Trigo, and oh boy, I have no idea how to explain this one. It’s good, and the green coloring on the bottle made me think of a super-bitter IPA (thanks, Sierra Nevada). It felt sort of heavy like an IPA, but the flavor was still malty and much closer to a traditional lager. And there you have it! Some of the wonderful beers of Chile and Peru. I swear that someday I will return to finally try calafate sie-by-side with the Austral Calafate.

The post Beers In Chile And Peru: What To Drink In South America appeared first on Short Brews.

4 Beer Cocktails for Every Beer Drinker

Thomas Short — Tue, 26 Jun 2018 22:25:02 +0000

Got a favorite type of beer? Maybe a style you like most? Let’s spice it up and hopefully make it better by using it in a cocktail. Beer cocktails aren’t super common, mostly because beer flavors are either too subtle or strong to blend well with other flavors. But with the right combination, you can get a tasty drink that has more than just beer in it! What’s not to love? Instead of just throwing cocktails at you, I’ve decided to split them up. The different recipes on here are based on different beer styles, so instead of just blindly looking at different recipes and guessing whether or not you’ll like them, you can start with your favorite type of beer and go from there. Also, keep in mind that I like my cocktails to taste a little boozy. If that’s not your thing, I recommend playing with the measurements a little bit. So, on to the recipes, all based on beer. IPAs Keep in mind that by IPAs, I mean those bitter, hoppy IPAs. If you’re drinking hazy IPAs, you might as well pour some champagne in there and call it a mimosa. So, the best drink I found is basically a gin and juice, but with some beer. Ingredients: IPA (hoppy and bitter) Gin Lemon juice Flavored syrup You mix a shot of gin with half a 12 oz bottle of IPA. Next, mix in roughly a shot of lemon juice. Splash it with a flavored syrup if you want to add some flavor and thicken the consistency. Stouts/Porters and Ales If you are thinking to yourself “I just love all beer,” then let’s stick with what works: the good ole black and tan. Ingredients: Pale ale Stout The key to a good black and tan is the pour. Start with the ale and fill up your glass halfway. After, pour the stout carefully into the glass. We want to get the nice separation. If we don’t, we don’t have a black and tan – well, we will, it just doesn’t look like one. Mexican Lagers (Pacifico, Modelo, by all means not Corona) This is going to blow your mind: you should mix Mexican lagers with a margarita. But we won’t be using Corona because there are plenty of Mexican lagers with much more flavor. Corona will just get lost in the booze. Ingredients: 1 can/bottle of Mexican lager 1-2 shots of tequila (depending on your mood) 16 ounces of margarita mix The goal with this one is to complement the margarita since everybody already loves margs. Another goal is to create something a little less trashy than a beerarita. Cheap Lagers (PBR, Hamms, Budweiser) If these are your favorite beers then you’re probably only drinking for one reason: to get drunk. Let me help: Ingredients: 1 can/bottle of cheap lager 1 shot of everclear ½ can of Redbull No subtlety here, folks. I took a classic club drink (a vodka Redbull), made it boozier by adding gross beer. No, this will not taste good. But I assume that after one of these you won’t be able to taste anything, anyway. I do NOT recommend drinking these in excess since you will be getting some very bad looks from the people you love.

The post 4 Beer Cocktails for Every Beer Drinker appeared first on Short Brews.

Blind Taste Test: Lager Style

Thomas Short — Fri, 15 Sep 2017 14:30:05 +0000

Last week, Holy Mountain, a popular Seattle brewery, released a few limited-stock beers that I was fortunate to buy before they ran out. The first was a double IPA, hazy as the day is long and delicious by all standards of flavor. Yum. The second, interestingly enough, was a helles lager called Second Death. My friends and I have always joked that lager releases were a little weird because, as we like to say, “a lager’s a lager, how good can it get?” We say that for good reason, since lagers are, by most standards, pretty similar to each other without much diversity (especially when compared to ales). Devon, in his infinite wisdom, brought up that it would be funny to do a side-by-side comparison between Second Death another lager – one of our favorite lagers, to be exact. Montucky Cold Snacks. Yes, there is an obvious difference in quality between the two. Second Death was a limited-release lager that was $18 for a four pack, and it has subtleties that only high-caliber lagers posess. A six pack of Montucky Cold Snack 16 oz. beers is $5.99 if you shop it right. Anyway, we decided that a blind taste test was a good idea. We brought in James, Franny and Colin to diversify our palates and added Olympia as a third beer (so if it came down to guessing it wasn’t just 50-50). We had a neutral third party pour each of us the three beers in cups with numbers on the bottom, so we couldn’t even discuss the flavors among each other. We quickly guessed which was which…and it wasn’t pretty. Fortunately, nobody got all three beer guesses wrong…but you can see the results below: This graphic tells you two things: I can’t make graphics very well. We (except for Franny) are very bad at differentiating beer. If you can’t decipher this, I’ll spell it out: everywhere someone got a green check mark, they guessed the corresponding beer correctly. A red X means that they mistook the beer for the other beer marked with a red X. For example, I thought Oly was a Cold Snack, and vice versa. What does this blind taste test tell us about the true complexity of Second Death compared to the mass-market appeal of Olympia? Nothing! It was just a fun thing to do. And, for the record, I knew which one was the expensive lager right off the bat. I’ve got the taste.

The post Blind Taste Test: Lager Style appeared first on Short Brews.

What’s a Lager?

Thomas Short — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 23:04:33 +0000

In the past, I went over the basics of an ale. Because there really are only two main types of beer (and because I have a fun article planned for Friday), I figured it was time to talk about lagers. If you’ve had beer, then you’ve had a lager…but you might not know it. Here’s a little spoiler: if your beer is famous for being the coldest beer with the coldest mountain water, your beer is a lager. Get to the Point, What’s a Lager The best way to describe a lager is to show how it’s different from ales. First, lagers use a different type of yeast than ales – specifically, they use saccharomyces pastorianus. From here on out, we’ll replace this long, science name with our own name: lager yeast. Second, lager ferments when it’s cold while ales ferment in warmer conditions. The cool temperature is great for the lager yeast, and it allows the beer to take in all the malty and hoppy flavors. Third, lagers take quite a bit more time than typical ales. While an IPA can be banged out in a handful of weeks, most lagers will take at least a few months to reach peak-drinkability. Fun fact: lager comes from the German lager, which means storeroom, or more specially a cold storeroom. So, lagers use a different yeast and fermentation process than IPAs. Why Are Lagers Boring? Every so often I get asked (and after drinking shitty, cheap beer, find myself asking) “why are lagers so boring?” The answer? They aren’t boring, you’re boring! Lagering is a difficult, time-consuming process. There are tons of spots where a brewer can make an error and the lager can come out tasting like liquid garbage. When done correctly, the result is a flawless, crisp beer. However, there’s beauty in simplicity. A well-done lager should be appreciated for what it is – a well-done lager. No, you aren’t going to have some hazy, juicy, hoppy lager. If that’s what you want, buy an IPA. Also, have you ever had so many IPAs that you can’t imagine drinking another? Yup, any beer seems boring when you drink it enough. Lagers will always have a place, and there will always be a time when you want a lager. Oh, by the way, you probably drink lagers, anyway. Lagers You Know And (Hopefully Don’t) Love Here are some famous lagers: Budweiser, Miller, Hamms, PBR, Ranier, Olymipa, etc., etc., etc. Why do these guys make lagers instead of ales? Because it’s cheap and easy for them. Yes, it does take them roughly 6-7 weeks to get a batch of beer out, but the process is so simple for them by this point. “But Thomas, you said lagering is harder than making ales!” It is…if you want a good beer. Beers produced by these big companies, by all standards, are not good beers. Look, I can point out myriad reasons on why these big companies insist on making lagers instead of ales. Instead, I’ll point out one truth consistent among any large corporation: They cut costs. They are brewing as cheaply as they can. They know what they’re doing. These types of beers mostly get a bad rep in America because of these big guys, but if you’ve ever had a European style Helles, Pilsner, Dunkel or other variety of lager, then you understand why people ever liked them to begin with.

The post What’s a Lager? appeared first on Short Brews.