Ale Together Now: Roasty, Toasty, Tasty Amber Lagers

Press release from the Cromaine District Library:

October 13, 2021

Our most recent installment of Ale Together Now explored one of Michelle’s favorite genres of the beer world, amber lagers. Michelle taught us about what classifies an amber lager, how lager yeast works, the process of lagering a beer, and she even brought a diverse array of samples ranging from roasty, toasty Oktoberfest to crisp, slightly hoppy Steam Beer. We even received some extra information on a topic that we started discussing in August--baker’s yeast versus brewing yeast! This fun, fall program focused on beer varieties including Marzens, Vienna Lagers, Bocks, American Ambers, and California Commons--so pour your favorite brew and join us in an exploration of the well-loved amber beer!

What is an Amber Lager? A roasty, toasty, caramel taste and aroma balanced by a crisp, light body makes for the wonderful flavor of amber lagers that we know and love. While ambers are typically crisp in body, the flavor profile can vary depending on the malts and hops used. Pilsner, Munich, and Vienna malts provide a balanced sweetness to the roasty flavor of a typical amber lager, and the hops used can greatly influence taste and aroma: German Noble hops tend to provide a more mild flavor profile, while Saaz hops have a stronger, more spicy flavor to them. Typically, the color of an amber lager varies from light amber to deep copper, and the alcohol by volume (ABV) ranges from 2.8-6.5%. The international bittering units (IBUs) are relatively low for a beer, sitting between 8.0 and 35.0.

The Yeast While brewers and bakers use the same species of yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae, an ale yeast), they tend to each prefer their own cultivars of the species to fit their brewing or baking needs. Bakers will sometimes use ale yeast, but brewers tend to not prefer the cultivars of S. cerevisiae typically used in baking. Brewers strains of S. cerevisiae are specifically cultivated to produce high amounts of ethyl alcohol, as well as certain flavors and aromas specific to the ale style being brewed.

Michelle also shared some fun info she found about how lager yeast, Saccharomyces pastorianus, came to be! It most likely emerged after the yeast strains S. cerevisiae, and S. eubaynus, a South American yeast, were crossed. Since S. pastorianus tends to ferment more sugars in wort than ale yeast does, it contributes less flavor to the overall beer profile while providing the crisper mouthfeel that we experience in a lager.

Lagering The German word “Lagern” means “to store”, and the process of lagering involves storing beer at low temperatures for an extended period of time, commonly for two to four months. This process allows for flocculation, which removes esters, acidic acids, haziness, and residual sugars and contributes to the beloved crispness, clarity, and light body of lager beers. Funnily enough, Ales can be lagered as well, for a brew with the diverse flavor profile of an ale and the light crispness of a lager--think styles like Kolsch and Altbier.

Amber Lager Styles: Marzen, Oktoberfest Oktoberfest beers are typically brewed in March and lagered until September, when the 16-18 day celebration of Oktoberfest begins. This beloved fall beer style originated from the 1810 wedding of Prince Ludwig of Bavaria and Princess Theresa of Saxony…and the party was so well received that folks decided to repeat the festivities the following year, and thus began the tradition of Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest beer uses lager yeast for a crisp mouthfeel, paired with a roasty, bready, caramel flavor and a slight creaminess without coming across too heavy. It’s a flavorful and refreshing celebration of fall.

Our Marzen sample was a delightful Oktoberfest from Witches Hat Brewing Company in South Lyon, which is darker than typical Oktoberfests and very roasty in flavor.

Vienna Lager Vienna is an Amber Lager brewed in Austria or with Austrian ingredients, like Vienna malts. Anton Dreher from Schwechat Brewery collaborated with G. Sedlmayr to brew the first Vienna Lager in 1841, and this style has a medium-light, creamy, smooth mouthfeel with a crisp finish. There are flavors of caramel malt, toasted malt, and a little hop bitterness, making for a complex flavor profile in a light-styled beer. While we didn’t sample it today, Michelle highly recommended Johann from Drafting Table Brewing Company in Wixom as an excellent example of a Vienna Lager.

Bockbier Bockbier is a sweet, caramel rich, and higher ABV lager with varieties such as Maibock, Weissebock, Doppelbock, and Eisbock. The style originates from 15th century Einbeck in Northern Germany. In 16th century Bavaria, Brewers started brewing the special “Einbeck bier” as a cold weather variety, and presently there are winter Bock Parties, like Bockfest, where Michelle recalls “pretty much sitting in a snowbank for six hours with Bockbier”.

We sampled Optimator from Spaten Brewing Company in Munich, Bavaria, Germany as an example of a high quality Bockbier. It’s a strong, slightly sweet, grainy brew with a crisp finish.

American Amber Moving to North America, we next explored the American amber style, which evolved in the mid-19th century as German/Austrian brewers emigrating to North America began to brew amber lagers with American-grown ingredients. It’s a little less sweet and a little more balanced than Oktoberfest styles. With caramel and roasted malt flavors with slight hop bitterness and a medium-light, creamy, smooth, crisp finish, American ambers have a particularly fond place in the hearts of lager-lovers.

We sampled the tasty Eliot Ness from Great Lakes Brewing Company in Cleveland, Ohio as an example of the American Amber, which won the Silver Award at the World Beer Cup! It has slightly more bitterness and nuttiness than the other samples we tried.

California Common: Steam Beer What makes the California Common beer style unique is the creation of an Amber Lager with ingredients from the US West Coast. In fact, Fritz Maytag from Anchor Brewing in San Francisco, CA wanted to make West Coast ingredients the star of the American brewing industry, and came up with a brew called Steam Beer. With the use of local West Coast ingredients comes more aroma and slightly more bitterness in this brew, while also maintaining the typical flavor profile of an Amber with caramel and roasted malt flavors and a crisp finish.

Amber Lagers are the perfect brew for celebrating the cool, crisp air of fall. They have the creamy, caramel, roasty flavor of an ale while still keeping things light with the mouthfeel and crisp finish of a lager. Chef's kiss for Ambers, a truly unique and well-loved style in the beer world! Be sure to join us for future Ale Together Now programs, friends--registration has increased to allow for 20 patrons in our program, and we look forward to seeing you in October.

Cheers!

This press release was produced by the Cromaine District Library. The views expressed are the author's own.