Is it just me or is there a bit of a renaissance on lagers? It feels like this once solely ball park staple has been slowly edging out shelf space formerly occupied by other perhaps more challenging craft brews.
I like to think that broadly there is a move towards (backwards to?) perfecting the simple styles and letting the essential ingredients speak for themselves. Do we really know how good the underlying ale or lager is once it has been subjected to all manner of spices, fruits, teas, wood chips etc. etc. etc.
On this note I recently picked up a can of Innis & Gunn lager. To be honest I primarily bought this beer for the arty can but also to sate my desire for clean and simple summer beer that will take the edge off the Ontario humidity.
Innis & Gunn lager pours a dark gold colour, very clear with lots of big white head. It is the kind of photogenic brew beer commercials dream of, if you could show beer in beer commercials. The nose is all lager that hallmark yeasty skunky kind of smell that brings you all the way back to your first few under-age sips from a relative’s can. Clean to drink with just a hint of maltiness, a whiff of hop and yeasty character. The finish is easy, non-threatening. There is a reason lagers are ubiquitous at events of a sporty nature they are safe and familiar like an old pal. Overall a nice example of the style wrapped in a pretty can.
