Monday Rant: Lager than Life

Sometimes you just don't have that light bulb switch on in your head until you read something about a particular subject somewhere and realize how right it could be. I've even had such an experience where I read something and realized that it's so true, but I've never really figured it out enough in my own head. What I read ended up tying all of the loose ends.

You probably have no idea where I'm going with this, but I'll just make it much less complicated than I already have. If I said to you that lagers were pretty underrated in the beer world, would you agree with me?

The article I linked makes a good point about half way through. The word pilsner has been bastardized. From my point of view, that could possibly be from the numerous American lager commercials (i.e. Miller Coors etc.) claiming that they fall under this style. I know Miller Lite is assumed to be a pilsner. In my opinion, it tastes nothing like a pilsner. Maybe it tastes like the watered down American lager we've become ascertained to since the Great Depression.

A pretty damn good lager.

I also get an irking that many out there frown upon lagers because they're more traditional styles than some of the over-the-top and extremely creative brews we see in craft beer today. People flock to releases of double IPA's and barrel-aged stouts. Some breweries are forced to do away with some lagers because of time it spends taking up space in tanks. That's understandable as well as unfortunate.

I'm more of a traditional guy. I hated to see instant replay in baseball. I'm a staunch traditionalist. Maybe that's why I have a deep affinity for lagers? There's nothing wrong with enjoying some of the very exotic beers out there. Be my guest and partake. That's not hurting anything. Let's just not forget about some of the older and more traditional beer styles.

There are plenty of great and tasty styles in the lager category. A lot of good pilsners and helles lagers are popping out since we are close to summer. Before long we'll be enjoying Oktoberfests. How can I forget about Dunkels? There are a lot of good styles listed in the lager category in the previously mentioned article. Just check it out.

Great Scott!

Charlie Papazian's writings through the Examiner always tend to intrigue me as well as forcing me to ponder various beer questions. The most recent one  found by Papazian asks what might have happened if we didn't have Prohibition in the 1920's.

I tend to agree with what he thinks might have become of the beer seen here in America had that historical timeline of events not taken place. The deeper question I came up with is what would the beer scene be today if the market hadn't crashed in 1929? We obviously would have dodged the Great Depression.

As we take a slight adventure in playing with the space-time continuum in terms of the Great Depression, we know that many American breweries that started up again after Prohibition didn't make it. The ones that survived changed the final product due to economic struggle eventually became what some of us know as the evil empire i.e. Coors, Miller etc.

The final beer product became more of a riced-up and watered-down lager. Unfortunately this became the American staple for beer at the time. We all know what it led to today. Now, back to my original question. if there wasn't a Great Depression, do the major American breweries at the time keep on making better beer? Would many of the smaller breweries that we enjoy today even exist? Would Doc Brown still have poured half of a Miller High Life into Mr. Fusion?