I ran into Tim Graul recently. Tim has a St. Louis connection, home of the Schlafly Brewing Co. Regular readers might recall a few months back when Tim delivered a delicious Schlafly stout. This time he had a Schlafly Helles-style Summer Lager for me.
I poured it into a deep, narrow lager glass and marveled at the implosion of bubbles from this beautiful, soft golden lager, with an incredibly white and inviting foamy head.
Lager is such a sadly maligned beer. Lager might actually be my very favorite style of beer, but it has to be done right. It was once the very definition of beer in America because everyone made it, which is also the major problem why so few have respect for lager.
To me there is not much more of a beautiful sight than a golden lager effervescing in a classy glass while you’re sitting in a great bar next to a friend. Perfection!
The taste is light – but not lite – and bright. Malt and hops are so tightly combined in flavor that I really can’t separate them. While I know there is no lemon in this beer, I get a distinctly pure citrus bang out of it. At least that is how my palate is interpreting the onslaught of concentrated flavors with each sip.
Hey, Tim, thanks again for another great beer!
Well, geez, it’s early yet. I think I’ll hit something else. Excuse me will I reach into the magic fridge and pull out…a Flensburger Pilsener!
Oh, they’re so cute! Flensburger comes in a squat 11.2 ounce bottle with a Grolsch-style swing top. I would have loved these bottles when I was still homebrewing.
I’ve never run into this stuff before, but the four-pack was so darn cute I couldn’t resist. And that I should extract another lager style beer without meaning to do so, I guess it was meant to be.
First thing I notice when I pour this German lager into the same glass is that while the head is just as white as the Schlalfly, it isn’t as tight. And the beer appears a shade paler.
This northern German version of pilsner has a bigger hop bite than the soft Czech pilsners I love first and foremost, but other than that, yup, this is beer! Don’t know what hop variety they use, but it has a very upfront greenness to it that cuts right through the maltiness.
Lager rules!