Ralph Bungard tells us how craft brewers are rediscovering the beauty and simplicity of beer.
Historically, it was not unusual for brewers to build their brand and business on a sole style – perfecting the Pilsner, adjusting the Abbey Ale, bettering the Best Bitter – with the style of choice largely determined by the availability ingredients or the local environment.
Think of the traditional Scottish ale, bursting with malt complexity and sweetness with minimal hop influence, reflecting the local environment’s suitability for growing grain over hops, or the British Pale Ale driven largely by the sulphate-rich local water. Then there’s the classic European lagers, whose evolution was driven by climate when quality brewing could only occur in the mild seasons of autumn and spring, and beer needed to be stored at cool temperatures (lagered) for consumption in the less brewing-friendly continental summer.
These days, largely unconstrained access to ingredients and brewing technology means there is little to limit brewing whatever style the brewers fancy. The good news is that this has led to the proliferation and accelerated evolution of styles, fuelled by brewers’ desire to distinguish themselves from their brewing neighbours. Some breweries have even made it their business model to focus on proliferation over perfection.
In recent times, however, there seems to be a rediscovery of classic styles that have traditionally been out of favour for craft brewers. Leading this renaissance has been lager – that much-maligned style surrounded by some low-brow connotations around less-than-acceptable behaviour, drinking habits and taste.
Easy drinking does not mean easy making however, and this in itself may be one factor attracting craft brewers back to this style. A good, pale lager is a beauty to behold - a subtle balance where no single flavour dominates. A delicate balance between biscuit-like flavours of pale malts mingling with the fresh-bread character of yeast and delicate bitterness and subtle hop flavours.
For a brewer to master this style is a badge of honour. It shows skills, and highlights faults or poor recipe design. It is the bright, probing spotlight on brewing technique, ability, and skill. With lager, there is nowhere for average brewing to hide.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that just because a brewery has many beer styles in their range that each of those beers are not absolutely smashing. There are brewers out there with a broad range of great beers. That’d be like not admiring the pentathlon athlete because they are incredibly good at several sports or the polymath who invents the helicopter while painting the Last Supper, but just sometimes, sometimes, simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.
Heading into this season, maybe it’s time to search out Ōtautahi’s craft lager of perfection? What an enjoyable search that would be.