IPAs still rule the day, but lagers are edging into the craft beer scene.
With the American beer scene still climbing toward peak IPA – it’s not there yet, really – finding a tasty craft lager can prove tricky.
But that is starting to change.
“I think that all brewers out there secretly have a soft spot for lagers,” says Justin Rivard, head brewer at Peter B’s Brewpub. “As a brewer, sometimes you just want a beer, and to drink a couple without being absolutely slammed.”
Since lagers take a few weeks longer to make than ales, it means breweries have to tie up their equipment and other resources longer to make them. Nonetheless, lagers’ popularity among craft brewers is on the rise.
“[Lager] has exploded this year,” says Alvarado Street Brewery’s J.C. Hill, who adds that’s especially true with craft breweries doing Mexican-style lagers. Adjunct lager, a style used for domestics that substitutes rice or corn for barley malt, is still rare among craft brewers.
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