culture
Inherent Weisse: Strange Love or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying & Love the Lager
Photos by Robin LeBlanc
Normally when folks hear the word “lager” the same type of beer comes to mind. Incredibly pale, a slight smell of aluminum cans, no discernable taste other than “cold,” and ads that appeal to the bro demographic (BRO BRO BRO BRO BRO). Nine times out of ten when someone tells me that they don’t like beer, they’re actually saying “The only beers I’ve known are Molson and Bud, and I don’t like them,” which, if that’s all you know, is a totally reasonable misconception to hold.
Since both Molson and Bud are lagers, many have learned to associate beer with lager, which in turn associates lager with the crap they already know. The unfortunate consequence of this is that many dark and bold lagers have been mistaken for ales and many lagers that, in style name and appearance alone, match the negative associations we’ve heard of and some fantastic, well-crafted beers get missed out on.
The fact of the matter is that the difference between ales and lagers is the family of yeast the beer is fermented from. There’s an ale yeast and a lager yeast, with both sides having many individual strains. Mostly the type of yeast dictates the conditions needed in order to ferment. While Ale yeast needs a slightly warm temperature to ferment (around 12 to 21 degrees Celsius), Lager yeast needs a near-freezing temperature to get going (3 to 10 degrees Celsius). With that being pretty much the only distinction between the two, it’s pretty easy to conclude that there is a huge variety of lagers out there.
So while in future columns I will be talking about the different varieties of lagers-the rich and beautiful Bock, the deliciously deep Dunkel, and the traditional Märzen (GODS, I love saying that word)-I’m going to dial things back a bit and get rid of those negative preconceptions some folks here might have of lagers and suggest some offerings that are a significant step above the weak, bland beers we love to hate.
First we have to go with the style that all those beers like Bud are based around: pilsners. Don’t let the similarity in style fool you you into thinking that pilsners are a bland beer. As Christina Perozzi and Hallie Beaune say in their fabulous book The Naked Pint: “Drinking a mass-produced lager and then tasting a true pilsner from the Czech Republic is like eating waxy Halloween chocolate as a kid and then, years later, tasting a bar from Italy made with 80% cacao”. It honestly is that big of a difference and you may find that, after tasting a traditional pilsner, you won’t want to go back.
I honestly can’t introduce someone top pilsners without introducing them to the one that started it all, which is Pilsner Urquell. The style is even named after the city in which the it was created in 1842, Plzeň, Czech Republic (formerly Bohemia) and where the brewery is based. With its golden wheat colour and beautifully balanced taste with a hint of caramel and a clean finish, it really is one of the beers that has set the standard for the style. Personally, Pilsner Urquell is one of the beers I frequently return to on a weekend. While it is available at LCBOs in individual cans ($2.60) or all new redesigned “heritage” bottles in a six pack ($13.75), the real treat is to find it on tap. I suggest making the trek up to The Wallace Gastropub at Yonge and Davisville, which offers some fantastic food to go with your fantastic beer.
The Toronto answer to Pilsner Urquell is, of course, Steam Whistle, which many of us are familiar with. Their beer has a lovely balance to it and a decent dry finish. I recently said in a podcast that if you can acquire a fresh Steam Whistle right off the line, you’re set. If you find yourself by the brewery anytime soon (Like oh, say, The Roundhouse Craft Beer Festival happening this weekend), be sure to try some of their unfiltered pilsner alongside their regular offering to see just what filtering a beer does to the finished product.
If you happen to have a fascination with the Germans, Mill Street makes a fine German pilsner (5% ABV) available only at their brewpub and Beer Hall. German pilsners were developed shortly after the success of the Czech pilsner and are altogether a touch sweeter with a heavier malt background to it.
Moving on to somewhat sweeter but crisp, we go into Vienna lagers. Known to have a nice amber colour, Vienna lagers have a bit more malt in the forefront but enough of a hop balance to make it just as refreshing on a warm and/or long day. The first option that comes to mind for me is Samuel Adams Boston Lager (5.1% ABV), which I find really dances the line between bitterness and sweetness nicely, and goes epically well with a lobster roll from Rock Lobster where, along with the LCBO, it happens to be sold.
For a new local option for a Vienna lager, Lake Wilcox Brewery’s Mad Quacker (4.7% ABV) comes to mind. The brewery, based out of Richmond Hill but currently brewing their beer at Railway City Brewery in St. Thomas, has come up with a pretty decent beer that, while a little too heavy on the caramel notes for my liking, has an awfully nice, clean finish, surprisingly light mouthfeel, interesting fruit notes, and a beautiful amber colour. Cans are available in the Beer Store for $2.95.
The beers I’ve given you today are only a few of the incredible examples out there of those specific styles. At the end of the day, it pays to take a step back and explore beer styles that you have previously written off as not your thing. You may just find something that will get you to reconsider.