50 ways to love your lager

"fifty ways to love your lagers
knock that lager back, jack
open a new can, stan
you don't need to be coy, roy
listen to lundy
hop on the beer bus, gus
you will need to discuss much
tasting's the key, lee"
paul simon, as revised by sheila of firefly

as i said, i am not the biggest lager lover
but i was game to have lundy at firefly show me 50 ways to love my lagers!



lundy, loving her lager

 i was pretty happy to see some favourites on the line up for tasting on tuesday night
like the lighthouse overboard imperial pilsner, rogue's dead guy and dirtoir black lager!

we began light, with the samuel adams noble pils
which totally smelled like a lager
but it tasted alright - crisp and clean, some resin and bitterness, but no aftertaste

then we went overboard with the lighthouse imperial pilsner
twice the hops, twice the malts, twice the flavour and colour
i'm a fan!
still smells like a lager, but its smooth and fuller-bodied and delicious!

next up was the ayinger octoberfest marzen
colour-wise we've moved on up to almost amber
this is a session beer that goes down easy
but i'm not much of a fan

number four on the tour was warsteiner's premium dunkel
darker in colour, still lagery on the nose, but getting malty
flavour-wise this one was a bit sweeter than the others
i could definitely sit down a piece with this traditional german-style lager

rogue dead guy ale is actually a lager
who knew?
i sure didn't
but it is, its a german maibock style
golden amber in colour, sweet maltier nose
with a heavier malt flavour
its an easy drinking beer, and i am quite taken with it

tree's captivator doppelbock was next
quite amber in colour
a bit belgiany and boozey on the nose
i was not a fan at first, but as i worked my way through my taster, it started to grow on me
not a session beer, but i could definitely put a whole one back sometime (650 ml and all)

vancouver island's hermannator eisbock
darker brown in colour
very much a malty nose
big, boozey flavour
in a blind tasting i would bet this one as a barleywine - doh!

last, but not least, was chatoe rogue's dirtoir black lager
this one is black as night, with a firm brown head
roasty aroma
malty flavours of coffee and caramel
35 ibus, so there's a lot of balance here
on a blind tasting i'd be hard pressed to guess this as a lager

lager on the left, rasputin on the right

so we put it next to the old rasputin just for kicks
the rasputin pours a little heavier
with more lace in the glass
definitely a hoppier tasting brew, with more body

again, lager to the left, rasputin to the right

okay, so side by side we could easily tell them apart
but i still don't like my chances in a blind tasting!

as always, good beer, great information
good times at the firefly tasting!