Quick Honey, Get the Cold Filter!

(For those of you acquainted to my weekly beer write-up for that wine shop tasting, this isn't new. Also, somehow it's kind of fitting that the first post for savingales should be on lager. Nowhere to go but up! Oh zymurgy.)


I'm going to own up. I like light lager. Not only do I like light lager, I think it's my favorite style of beer. Light lager was my(and I'm sure many of your) first beer; it was what turned me on to beer. I like nothing better than to sit down in front of the fireplace with Dan Brown's latest attempt and a warm lager in a wide-mouth chalice, mulling over all its intricacies (both the beer's and the novel's.)

And yes, I'm kidding. I'm in no danger of getting into an argument over whether I like my beer to be triple-hopped or beechwood aged, but I do respect the brewer that can make a beer with almost no taste. I've tried, and my beer was a yeasty, hoppy mess. The thing about light lager is that there are no big, stand-out flavors to hide any flaws. Unlike a roasty, boozy Imperial What-Have-You, the brewer needs to be meticulous in every part of the brewing process. Didn't sanitize properly? That bacteria infection is going to be really evident. Mash temperature to high? Be ready for an overly sweet, under-attenuated beer.

It's not easy to brew, and some might claim that it isn't even satisfying when it's done right, but remember that a real beer geek likes all beer, and realizes that there's a situation even for a lowly lager. Just not in front of a fireplace (and don't encourage Dan Brown.)