This coming Wednesday, January 10th, we are very excited to release our collaboration with SoMe Brewing. It’s called “I Wanna Know What Lager Is” (tip of the hat to Foreigner), and it is a crisp, clean, and extremely quaffable Helles that boasts a fruity, citrusy aroma along with a winning balance of hop spiciness and slight malt sweetness. This effervescent, light golden-colored lager has quite a lot of character for a beer with a very simple grain bill (100% Pilsen Malt from Valley Malt in Hadley, MA). The freshness of the local grain shines through, and is brightened by the addition of Saaz, Hull Melon, Grungeist, and Mandarina Bavaria hops.
At first glance, it might seem strange to launch such a light and crisp lager in the cold month of January, but, to me, it seems like the perfect beer for early 2018. 2017 was a hard year for many folks, including myself (Jan 4th marks a year since losing my mom). Even if you didn’t have a hard 2017, the new year is often a good reason for reflection, thinking positively, and feeling driven to set and accomplish goals. As I drank this beer for the first time today, it felt like the ideal beer for how I wanted to kick off 2018. It’s crisp and sunny (not heavy), pairs well with fresh and light foods, and, at 5.9%, I can still drink a full pint and manage to type this out somewhat coherently. I hope you guys enjoy this beer as much as I am. And, happy new year to you all!
Here are our tasting notes:
– Appearance: This is a fairly clear beer that is light gold in color with an ivory head. Fun fact – “Helles” actually means “pale in color”.
– Aroma: A touch of fruitiness from the hops, with an undercurrent of hop spiciness.
– Taste & Mouthfeel: This beer is clean, crisp, and quite effervescent. In fact, the bubbles dance on your tongue a bit as you swallow the beer. In terms of flavor, as mentioned above, the malt definitely shines through and contributes a touch of bready sweetness, but this is very balanced by the hops, which add primarily notes of lemon peel and hop spiciness. This is one very drinkable, refreshing brew!
– Pairing: We had this beer with pizza – it was an awesome pairing! The crisp taste and effervescent mouthfeel would make this beer pair well with fried foods like fish & chips or fried chicken. For those of you trying to be somewhat “good” in this new year, pair this beer with your salad. It won’t overpower the food, and the crispness will clean your palate from any fatty dressing.
– Serving glass: At the brewery, we will be serving this in a 16-oz pilsener glass.
– Stats – ABV 5.9% and 20 IBU.
I Wanna Know What Lager Is is on tap starting Wednesday, January 10th until it is gone! Come on by Jan 10th at 6pm and meet our lead brewer Chris and SoMe’s founder / brewer Dave.