Our First Lager
We will be releasing our very first lager, Jagged Little Pils (5.9%), on tap today, January 11th.
We’ve wanted to brew a craft pilsner for quite some time, but being a smaller brewery always trying to keep up, we haven’t had the extra time to lay a lager down. Lagers traditionally take a lot longer to age than ales, as lager yeast likes to work at colder temperatures, which means it takes them a little longer to get the job done. Finally, last month we were able to take a breather and make a lager a reality.
Interestingly the craft beer revolution started out as a backlash to the light, bland lagers that dominated the American beer landscape for decades. Among craft beer drinkers, ‘lager’ was thought of as a dirty word associated with the mass produced light lagers from the big macro-beer brands (you know the ones). Craft brewers revolted and brought us pale ales, stouts, IPAs, etc.
But while IPAs have been all the rage in the craft beer world, lagers are making a comeback of late. On a recent ‘work’ trip to Denver, Colorado last year, we were brought face to face with the growing lager trend. There was a fabulous lager-only brewery a few blocks from where we were staying, Bierstadt Lagerhaus. We came back day after day for their Slow Pour Pils or Dry Hopped Lager. We also saw pilsners and India Pale Lagers (like a lager-style IPA) at other breweries around the city, and found ourselves reaching for a lager versus an IPA. Maybe it had something to do with the dry, relentless heat of summer in Denver?
Enjoying the Slow Pour Pils from Bierstadt Lagerhaus.
We returned inspired and were determined to craft our own lager. As the summer craziness wound down, we finally got around to brewing a pilsner last November. Of course, we don’t have the traditional lagerering tanks, but we gave it our best with what we have. We selected 100% German pilsner malt to provide that characteristic light grainy malt flavour, along with new-age hop varieties developed in Germany for a more modern twist. This is our first time playing around with the Huell (Hüll) Melon and Hallertau Blanc hop varieties, which are not your traditional noble German hops. Huell Melon lends aromatics of melon and strawberry while Hallertau Blanc provides floral and fruity aromatics like pineapple, grape, elderflower and lemongrass.
Available for growler fills, pints and tasters while supplies last!
German Best Pilsner Malt.