Pale Lager and Kölsch for summer

I imagine many folks would agree with me that there is nothing better on a hot summer day than a fresh, cold, crisp German helles lager or Kölsch. While we can’t get really fresh German-made helles or Kölsch here in West Virginia, we can now get some darn good fresh pale lagers and Kölsch-style beers from West Virginia breweries.

American craft-brewed pale lagers and Kölsch are gaining in popularity across the country and West Virginia brewers are taking note by adding their own creations to the market. A few of these West Virginia brews are even out in distribution to many if not all areas of the state. First, let’s run through a few of the ones I’ve had a chance to try.

Greenbrier Valley Brewing

FestivALE (4.8% ABV). I tried this Kölsch-style ale recently at Foam at the Dome Festival in Charleston, and it was a true standout. With his return to the brewery, head brewer Brian Reymiller has upgraded the taste of the 2019 version of this seasonal beer. Last year, it was okay, but seemed to lack much Kölsch character. This year it is a spot-on beauty and highly recommended. Draft-only release. The brewery also distributes its Ole Ran’l Pilsner (5.5% ABV), which is a solid entry but not the summer beer that the FestivALE is. Some may prefer and others be put off by Ole Ran’l’s non-traditional hopping that diverges from a standard pilsner flavor profile.

Big Timber Brewing

Logger Lager (5.2% ABV) This pilsner-style brew is developing a solid following in the state now that it is available year round. Widely distributed, Logger Lager is the only WV lager that is available in 16 oz. cans, making it great for packing with you to the pool, the lake, or the woods (or the back porch). As an American pilsner, Logger Lager includes both traditional European hops and American signature hops. Its moderate bitterness and drier style help make it a refreshing brew for summer.

The Peddler

Appalachian Bandido (4.9% ABV). While you probably won’t find this Mexican-style lager in distribution, pale lager fans might want to get over to Huntington and give it a try while it is still available at the brewpub. Its ingredients, along with traditional pilsner malt, include the flaked maize, Mexican lager yeast, and German-style aroma hops, which together give it a true Mexican lager signature. The brewery calls it “thirst quenching” and I can attest to that. A great lager effort from a solid brewer. $5 pints at the pub.

Bridge Brew Works

Long Point Lager (4.6% ABV). This is the granddaddy of lagers in our contemporary WV craft beer era. In the market since 2010, it is made with German Pilsner malt and noble hop varieties. Its clean, bready flavor and moderate bitterness makes it superb for warm weather drinking. It has been the brewery’s biggest selling beer forever. A timeless classic. Widely distributed in draft. And be on the lookout for the brewery’s upcoming Pillow Rock Pilsner, coming out in June. It will be a classic Czech-style Pilsner made with all classic, spicy Saaz hops. I sampled some from the lagering tank and it is noble.

Short Story Brewing

Argonaut Helles Lager (5.3% ABV). This true-to-style helles is back for summer. Benefitting from the dedicated horizontal lagering tank at Short Story, the beer is clear, clean, bready, light, crisp and fun. Easy drinking, in a very good way. Gets a real solid rating on Untappd. A great beer to beat the heat.

Berkeley Springs Brewing

Cacapon Kölsch-style ale (5.2% ABV). One of the brewery’s two original brews, this light-style ale is at its best when consumed fresh from the brewery tap. This beer seems a touch sweeter than some of the other traditional Kolsch-style ales. $5 pints at the taproom.

Other seasonal lagers & Kölsch to seek out

While I haven’t had the chance to sample these next beers, the reputation of the brewers and their beer descriptions make me want to give them a try.

Weathered Ground Brewery

Cooler Than Cool Ridge Lager (4% ABV). Coming out this week is a new lager release. Cooler Than Cool Ridge is basically just a lighter version of the brewery’s popular Cool Ridge Lager. Same hops, but less of them, and same Pilsner malt from Riverbend Malt House in Asheville. Instead of a little dose of Munich in the regular lager, they substituted flaked corn. It will be sold at the brewery and also put into distribution for the summer. Sometime by the end of June, Weathered Ground’s regular Cool Ridge Lager (5.5% ABV) should return to the taps. This American-style pale lager has a nice spicy finish that backs up the light malty flavor. Consistent quality and consistently good. A year-round favorite. Available at the brewery taproom and out in distribution, especially around southern WV.

Morgantown Brewing

Golden Boi (4.5% ABV) This beer is a traditional Kölsch-style ale made with Pilsner and Vienna malts, Perle hops, and Kölsch yeast sourced from Cologne. It’s on tap now. In addition, Morgantown Brewing will also have its Pothole Beer on tap all summer. Brewer/owner Cody Cheesbrough tells us that Pothole Beer is a California Common ale fermented cold to give it a more lager-like character from the hybrid yeast. Cody says, “It’s been a big hit because 10% of sales from the Pothole Beer are being donated to the Morgantown Public Works to help fix potholes in the city. Even though the cause is kind of cheeky, people have really responded well. We’re happy to empower the members of our community to make Morgantown a better place!”

High Ground Brewing

Company Kölsch (5% ABV). Brewery owner Dallas Wolfe calls it a completely traditional Kölsch-style ale. “It’s the most stylistically accurate beer we make. It has those great Kölsch yeast characteristics that give it that unique mild fruit character, yet has the clean crisp character of a lager.” He uses Spalt hops in the beer and I don’t think anyone else in WV uses that variety.

Mountain State Brewing

Otter Creek Lager (4.9%ABV). Mountain State Brewing delivers some cool, different-twist flavors with its preponderance of Maris Otter malt (known for its unique biscuity flavor) and then adds classic German Hersbrucker and Hallertauer hops. A draft-only release for summer. Likely easiest to find at the Mountain State Brewing pubs in Thomas, Morgantown, Bridgeport, and Deep Creek Lake.

Style Descriptions

Due to its lighter, clean, crisp stye, Kölsch is often used as a pale lager substitute. Done right, it is a beautiful lighter-styled beer that is a great warm weather companion. There tends to be a lot of variation in Kölsch-style ales among American breweries who make them. It is not uncommon to find a beer labeled as Kölsch that does not taste anything like a true German Kölsch, but tastes more like a common blonde ale. Some American brewers cut corners on Kölsch by not cold conditioning their beer or by cutting back on cold conditioning time so they can get their beer to market faster.

The seeming simplicity of Kölsch leads many a brewer to believe that it is a simple beer to make and serve, but looks are most deceiving. A good Kölsch is clean, crisp and oh so delicate. Its strengths are in its subtlety. It’s not an easy target to hit. Just one thing out of balance and you blow it. In Kölsch, freshness is paramount. It is best made in small batches and sold very fresh. Enjoy them for the first few weeks after they are released, then avoid them.

German-Style Kölsch

Kölsch is a pale-colored beer that is fermented warm (60-65° F) with ale yeast but is then aged cold (32-34° F) for an additional four weeks like a traditional lager beer would be. The beer style originated and is still produced in Cologne, Germany. American brewers make a Kölsch-style ale when they follow the brewing technique of the German Kölsch brewers. Traditional ingredients are pilsner malt, and often a little wheat, with German noble hops (commonly Spalt or Hallertau) and a traditional German Kölsch ale yeast. The brewing ingredients and brewing process produce a clean, crisp, medium-light bodied, dry finishing beer. Color is straw to gold. Flavors are of light grainy malt and sometimes a tiny touch of fruitiness or winey character from fermentation. The beer should have a solid balancing bitterness but low hop aroma or hop flavor. Traditional ABV is 4.0 to 5.0%.

Pale Lager

Pale Lager is by far the world’s most popular beer style. Nothing else even comes close. For years, American craft brewers largely avoided the style, because it was the territory of macro-lagers with all the quantity-over-quality excesses of Big Beer. For decades, American lagers had been stripped of flavor and just about everything else until the consumer reaction to that crap gave rise to the American craft beer movement. But after a few decades of American craft beer, which were almost exclusively ales, the craft brewers and the craft beer drinking public began to discover that well-made lagers are indeed fantastic. Unlike Bud/Miller/Coors Light, they have a very attractive flavor that’s different from anything you can get in your typical craft ale. Many experienced craft beer drinkers, once they get over needing to be slapped up side the head with big flavor, are ready for a step up in sophistication. You can enjoy big flavors in their proper time and place, and you can also enjoy a more subtle experience that lets you relax and put your taste buds to work picking out the beautiful blend of points that make up the profile of a great pilsner.

The pale lager style universe for this article includes helles-style lagers, pilsners, and American lagers that are pale gold to deeper gold in color. We are interested in clean, dry finishing beers, with some grainy, bready malt flavors, but with no fruitiness from fermentation. Beers can be lightly to moderately bitter, with some having substantial aroma and flavor from the hops used. The hop character should come primarily from German/Czech heritage hops or American hops with those noble hop taste and aroma characteristics (such as Liberty). Since we want summer-quaffing beers, we are looking for ones that are the lighter in alcohol and avoid anything over 5.5% ABV.

For additional information on beer style description, see this section of the CraftBeer.com.