The year is 1995, it’s summer time and my mother was sick of looking at me hanging around the house so she did what mothers do and organised a job for me “Thanks Mom”. The four Star Rochestown Park Hotel was where I cut my gastronomical teeth and began to work with beer for the first time.
The international brands like Carlsberg, Heineken and Budweiser (American) were the bigger sellers on the lager front and of course Guinness, Murphy’s and Beamish stout plus Bulmers cider were all popular choices too. Additionally Smithwicks was also available on draught but was a slow mover to put it kindly. That Summer I learned about hard work, customer service and the social skills that to this day prove very valuable but ironically, I didn’t learn much about beer.
So lets talk about beer and specifically lager and the three guys who are responsible for what has become the worlds most popular style. Firstly and most importantly what differentiates lager from other beers like IPA, porter or belgian blonde is the type of fermentation which is known as “bottom fermentation”. It really just means that a specific type of yeast “Saccharomyces pastorianus” is used to ferment at a relatively low temperature somewhere between 7 and 15 degrees centigrade and it takes that bit longer ( usually in total 4 to 6 weeks) untill you have a wonderfully refreshing drink. Also worth noting is the german verb “Lagern” means to store, referring to the longer fermentation and maturation process.
The people in the know say that lager was invented in the first half on the 19th century and if my memory serves me right, probably in the 1830s and was pioneered by Gabriel Sedlmayr of the bavrian, Spaten brewery. The lager that was produced is something similar to the modern-day “Dunkles” that is still widely available in southern Germany and central europe. By 1840 Anton Dreher was also brewing an Amber coloured lager at what is now the Schwechater brewery near to Vienna, Austria. The style has seen a recent resurgance in popularity possibly as a crafty option for those who dont favour hoppy, aromatic, bitter beers. Of all the original lager styles, it is the golden lager first produced by Josef Groll in Pilzen (modern day Czech republic) in 1842 that has flourished internationally. The original brand Pilsner Urquel is still much-loved world-wide and is an amazing beverage especially when poured directly from Tank “Tankovna” (It is important to mention that the soft water in Pilzen was a key element in the development of the style) and is the inspiration for so many of the golden lagers we see today.
When talking about craft beer, the conversation often starts with IPA’s moves on to barrel aged strong beers (with brett or maybe not) and recently seems to include sour and spontaneously fermented fruit beers, but where does lager fit in? The answer for me is the little creative subtleties of maybe dry hopping a pilsner with a fruity american hop like citra or as mentioned previously a Vienna Style lager that could be unfiltered, an imperial lager (higher in alcohol content) balanced with a nice bitterness or maybe a hybrid style like California Common.
When talking to brewers, importers and beer geeks in general, the consensus is that the golden lager when brewed correctly is not only one of the most amazing beer styles, it’s also one of the most challenging from the brewers perspective. Get it right and its so rewarding but get it wrong and it leaves you with no place to hide.
I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog. Please feel free to post, comment, give feedback or totally disagree with me. I would love to hear from you.
Cheers!
Darren
That Beer Guy 