Beer Geeking
ABV – 3.2 – 6%
IBUs – 5-25
SRM – 2-6
Tasting Notes: This very pale lager should have only the faintest hints of hops, if any at all. It should be crisp, clean-tasting, and can have a small amount of sweetness.
Food Pairing Suggestions: This really isn’t a beer to pair with food in order to taste/compliment the beer, as there’s very little TO taste. That being said, American lagers’ crispness can be an excellent compliment to fatty foods like barbecue or pizza because they cut through the thicker mouthfeel of the food.
Ideal Glass Choice: A nice pilsner glass will emphasize the light, fizzy nature of the beer.
The beer America is known for: yellow, highly carbonated, served as cold as possible, and almost flavorless. Amazingly, or sadly, American lagers are the best selling beers in the world. Easy drinking and inoffensive, these beers are not “bad,” as many a beer snob will opine. They’re simply bland and mediocre.
Despite being inspired by German Pilsner beers, American lagers are an ocean apart from their European counterparts. In fact, the only real similarity between the two lies in the color, with none rising above 6 SRM. German Pilsners like Pilsner Urquell are complex, faintly hoppy, and do well in the “warm beer” test … which is why Europeans don’t mind warm beers. Try drinking a warm Bud/Miller/Coors and learn just how critical it is that those Rocky Mountains are blue on the cold-activated can. Read more