The Bar Towel

S. St. Jeb wrote:

seangm wrote:

S. St. Jeb wrote:So over the last few years the "trends" seem to have been IPAs, NEIPAs, and then starting last year, everyone seemed to have some type of sour.

This year? By my observation, there have been quite a few "Mexican Lagers" introduced. Not judging, but definitely not as exciting for me.

I've seen a lot of Mexican lagers pop up for sure, but also variety in type of lager offered seems to be the trend lately. Thinking back to a few years ago a lot of breweries just had some sort of generic "Craft Lager" offering, but are now attempting more regional and stylistic variants. Perhaps not as exciting but I've definitely found a big improvement in quality vs. the afterthought lager most breweries were offering.

The "not as exciting" for me was specific to "Mexican Lagers" which I perceive to be somewhat bland. But I am quite happy to see more lagers in general, especially if they offer something a little different or unique.

Ah, got it. They are pretty mild although I enjoy them as no nonsense lawnmower type beers.

matt7215 wrote:Which breweries have made Mexican lagers lately?

Amsterdam, Muddy York, Rorschach, Ace Hill, Sawdust City to name a few off the top of my head. I've seen a number of other breweries offer them as well although can't remember which ones at the moment.

seangm wrote:

matt7215 wrote:Which breweries have made Mexican lagers lately?

Amsterdam, Muddy York, Rorschach, Ace Hill, Sawdust City to name a few off the top of my head. I've seen a number of other breweries offer them as well although can't remember which ones at the moment.

I know I said "Mexican" because I had seen that word actually used on some beers, but I was also thinking of some lighter lagers in general. Can add Muskoka Tread Lightly, Riverhead Cerveza Mexican Lager, Spearhead Lighter Lager, Steam Whistle Session Lager, Mill St Big Little Lager, Kichesippi BC Light, Lost Craft Daylite....oh, and Coors Organic Light.

Also add Railway City Train Reaction Cerveza

I know the light lager trend has been brewing (sorry) for a while, and is part of chasing a session market, including radlers and hard sodas (spritzers?). But I wonder how much is influenced by the closing of bars. I can see people choosing packaged alcohol on the basis of when and where they are going to consume it, after all, lot's of people do have lawns to mow.

When I walk into a bar (please let this be soon), and I suspect others do this too, I look at tap heads or a list to see what might be an interesting beer to try that I haven't seen before. I am highly unlikely to seek out a lawnmower beer if there are some more substantial options available. This then translates to package sales. If I have a great beer fresh on tap, I'm likely to seek it out in the future at the LCBO.

Without that bar step, I wonder if people are just buying stuff to get them through eight hours of Zoom tedium every day. If my theory holds, this is not really so much a trend as it is brewers chasing some sales and when things get normalish again, they might be back in the lab trying to find new recipes to stand out from the crowd.

Though I fear that will just be a race to a new over the top style. Boston Clam Chowder IPA anyone?

Tapsucker wrote:I know the light lager trend has been brewing (sorry) for a while, and is part of chasing a session market, including radlers and hard sodas (spritzers?). But I wonder how much is influenced by the closing of bars. I can see people choosing packaged alcohol on the basis of when and where they are going to consume it, after all, lot's of people do have lawns to mow.

When I walk into a bar (please let this be soon), and I suspect others do this too, I look at tap heads or a list to see what might be an interesting beer to try that I haven't seen before. I am highly unlikely to seek out a lawnmower beer if there are some more substantial options available. This then translates to package sales. If I have a great beer fresh on tap, I'm likely to seek it out in the future at the LCBO.

Without that bar step, I wonder if people are just buying stuff to get them through eight hours of Zoom tedium every day. If my theory holds, this is not really so much a trend as it is brewers chasing some sales and when things get normalish again, they might be back in the lab trying to find new recipes to stand out from the crowd.

Though I fear that will just be a race to a new over the top style. Boston Clam Chowder IPA anyone?

I could definitely see that being the case. Granted even before covid I'd always keep a healthy stock of easy drinking beers on hand, but like you I rarely order them when I go out for drinks- I'm more likely to try something different/more adventurous. There does seem to be a correlation with lockdown measures and an uptick in simple ales/lagers, which would make sense since people are probably sitting around at home and drinking more in general. It's a lot easier to have several lagers in a session than it is triple fruited sours or milkshake IPAs while puttering around the house.

That said I do hope the lager trend continues even once things are back to normal. I used to buy a lot of German or Czech imports for my helles/pils/etc fix, but haven't needed to since everyone seems to be making solid examples nowadays.

seangm wrote: I could definitely see that being the case. Granted even before covid I'd always keep a healthy stock of easy drinking beers on hand, but like you I rarely order them when I go out for drinks- I'm more likely to try something different/more adventurous. There does seem to be a correlation with lockdown measures and an uptick in simple ales/lagers, which would make sense since people are probably sitting around at home and drinking more in general. It's a lot easier to have several lagers in a session than it is triple fruited sours or milkshake IPAs while puttering around the house.

That said I do hope the lager trend continues even once things are back to normal. I used to buy a lot of German or Czech imports for my helles/pils/etc fix, but haven't needed to since everyone seems to be making solid examples nowadays.

I'm glad to see more lagers available too, but we are going to have to be vigilant to find the good quality ones.

I wonder if the sudden influx of "Mexican Lagers" is is an attempt to cash in on Corona's possibly declining market share.

Good theories,. But most breweries I imagine had lagers in the tanks before the shutdown happened. The cerveza at my brewery was pilot batched last year for LCBO submission for this summer. I couldn't tell you why so many breweries have them this year though.

Add Kichesippi Frederico Mexican Cerveza