Lager
Lager beers have a pale straw colour
Lager characteristics
Lager is a type of beer conditioned at low temperatures. Most lagers use a strain of yeast called Saccharomyces Pastorianus, a bottom fermenting yeast that works at colder temperatures—in contrast with to ale top-fermentation that works at warmer conditions.
History
Lager became prevalent in the beer world in the 19th century after the industrialization, due to the advance in refrigeration systems that allowed brewers to produce lagers all year round. Previously, lager brewing was reserved to winter months, while ale was used in summertime. The style has its origins in the areas of Franconia and Bohemia (nowadays Czech Republic).
Related Styles
Imperial Pils/Strong Pale Lager
Imperial Pils or Strong Pale Lager is a broad category for strong lagers common from Eastern Europe, with a maltier profile and more alcohol than a normal lager.
India Style Lager
India Style Lager is a mixture style, it is basically an IPA brewed with bottom fermentation. Color can be pale to dark, with hoppy aromas and ABV can range from very low up until 10%.
Premium Lager
Premium Lager is a middle category between Pale Lager and Pilsner. Appearance is gold to deep gold, with malty and spicy aromas. Taste is malty, with some moderate bitterness, and finish is long and ballanced.
Pilsener
Pilsener is a quite broad category, they are hoppy and pale lagers with some malt character and aromatic hops. Taste is bitter and have some sweetness from the supporting malt. Finish can be sweet or hoppy.
Dunkel
Dunkel means dark in German, and is the typical lager from Munich (Germany). It is a spring-autum wheat beer with deep malt sweetness and a complex Munich malt base, with some slight hop biterness. In comparison, it is not as intense as a Weizen Bock.
Doppelbock
Doppelbock is a German style from Munich. The name means double bock. It has a very strong maltiness, and no hop aroma or flavor and some fruit character. They have a very full body and a high alcoholic flavour.
Amber Lager
Amber Lager is also known as Vienna Lager, as it is an style developed by Anton Dreher in Vienna in 1841, and after exported to Mexico. It has a rich malt complexity balanced with some hop bitterness. Nowadays it is mostly crafted by macrobreweries, used sweeteners, while some reinterpretation of the original brew are all-malt with a fuller body and more character.
Pale Lager
Pale lager is a soft lager with not a remarkable hop or malt presence. Typically is a style used by macrobreweries, developed as a premium version of the standard American Lager and often confused with the more malty and aromatic Pilsener
Landbier
Landbier—a term that also includes some variants like Zwickel and Kellerbier—is a dark country lager originary from Franconia, in Germany. It is an unfiltered lager with a malty pressence—not as intense as in a bock—and moderate hoppy bitterness.