Quote:
Originally Posted by jaydorn
I remember being told on a Wild Rose Brewery tour a few years ago that lagers are generally more difficult to brew all around. More equipment required, less forgiving in terms of contaminants adding additional flavours & such.
Basically dark or heavily hopped ales can are more forgiving to brew as the stronger flavours will cover up some the minor flaws that'll be more apparent in lighter bodied lagers.
The brew master with Brewsters told us most commercial brewers actually have a ton of respect for the big guys like Bud/Molson/Labatt being to able to brew such large batches of lagers with such consistently. It's apparently not an easy thing to do.
But yeah, I'm not gagga over the current IPA craze either, much prefer a nice brown or amber ale myself.
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you are correct.
The head brewer at stone brewery mentioned earlier was a AB-INBEV brewer for like 15 years before going to stone, the guys that brew commercial lagers are brew masters of the highest order.
I don't really like how commercial lagers get #### on to promote craft beer. Ales are easier, cheaper and take less time and effort to brew than lagers. Ales should be sold on their own merit, there's nothing wrong with sloshing down an ice cold lager on a hot day on the softball field. I don't want an imperial IPA at 2 in the afternoon.
The reason craft brewers by in large don't make lagers is because it's a long turn around time and it's difficult to compete with commercial lagers for taste and profile. I think, though, that it's the natural evolution of the craft beer movement, if someone had the balls to go for it.