We grew up drinking lagers... There wasn't too many choices at the time. Then the craft beer scene took off and we had these amazing, full flavoured ales to choose from which was great! However, we feel the market raced off too quickly and left a big hole here for quality, flavoursome and approachable craft lagers to fill. Lagers are not all boring! Perception is a powerful thing, and in this case, it is where our battle lies!
So what exactly is a Lager you ask? Simply, it comes down to the yeast strain. Typically the lager yeast does its best work at lower temperatures, producing fewer fusel alcohols and esters that are typically associated with ales. The refined profile typical of lagers, is a true showcase of the brewers skills, with no room to hide when producing a clean refreshing delicate beer repeatedly. Don’t get us wrong, we love ales too and there are some great ones in the Australian market these days, but we are truly passionate about our lagers.
To ‘lagern’ in German means to ‘store’ which is known as lagering. In the 19th century in Germany, before modern refrigeration, the lager beer was stored underground in caves along with ice from local lakes and rivers. During the course of fermentation, all yeast creates an amount of undesirable flavours, but when the sugars are fermented the yeast goes after these undesirables and eats them up. Basically, lagering of the beer allows the yeast some time to clean up after itself. Good job little fellas!
Each person we can entice into the craft beer world with our new age lagers is a person that one day may even enjoy heavy hitting IPAs. Beer is a journey and palates evolve over time. Do not let your first craft beer experience persuade you from your next…
Cheers!