Never Mind the PEBKAC, We’re Talking Lager
Imagine throwing a party and no one shows up. It’s a haunting thought. Now, imagine throwing a party, but you’ve locked the front door so no one can get in and you think no one came. This is both a sad spectacle but also an absurd one—yet it’s exactly what happened for our inaugural Fireside Chat. (Background on the discussion series here.) I have no idea how I managed to lock the meeting moments after opening the waiting room, but I apologize to everyone who tried to get in and couldn’t. Fortunately, we have video! (You’ll see at the start that one of the hosts looks slightly bewildered as he gropes at the computer—it may actually be the moment the disaster occurred.)
Despite the “technical glitches”*, it was a fascinating discussion. One thing that really emerged for me is that, while there’s not much regionality to IPAs (see this article I wrote that documents it), there is with lagers. Not only do people drink different amounts of lager in different places, and different kinds of lagers, but they also relate to them differently in part because of old, pre-craft lager breweries and the consciousness they created. It was fortunate that we had panelists from four cities across the US, because this little quirk of history and place emerged from the discussion. I think anyone interested in lagers, craft beer, or American beer culture will find it a rewarding listen. Here’s the video:
As a quick reminder, our panelists, as I introduced them from west to east, were:
Lisa Allen is the Head Brewer and co-owner of Heater Allen, which now includes the newly unveiled side-project Gold Dot. Heater Allen was founded in McMinnville, Oregon, an hour southwest of Portland, in 2007, and Lisa joined her father at the brewery in 2009.
Ashleigh Carter is the co-founder and Head Brewer of Denver’s Bierstadt. She started brewing professionally at Dry Dock in 2011, and then started Bierstadt in 2016 with partner Bill Eye. Bierstadt has made the “slow pour” a phenomenon among lagerheads nationwide.
Will Jaquiss is the co-founder and head brewer of Meanwhile Brewing in Austin, TX. Will got his start in the cellar at Rogue in 2013 and then went to Breakside. Meanwhile was founded in 2019.
Finally, Jack Hendler co-founded Jack’s Abby with his two brothers in Framingham, MA, about 20 miles due west of Faneuil Hall. The brewery was founded in 2011, just before the IPA revolution hit Boston. Jack is also working on a book about lager beer for Brewers Publications.
I’ll announce our next chat in a couple weeks; my partner at Breakside, Ben Edmunds, is in the midst of planning the judging for the Oregon Beer Awards. I promise here to make sure you can all attend live next time.
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*My techie friends alerted me to their snide reference to these kind of “technical” glitches. They refer to them as Pebkac, which is not something they can fix. It stands for “problem exists between keyboard and chair”—or as a consequence of user blundering.
COVER PHOTO: Bierstadt Lagerhaus