Steve’s Drink of the Week from the BadgerCon 2014 episode of Sanity Claws Radio!

Lagers!

Lagers are beers that are fermented and conditioned at low (cold) temperatures.  This is in contrast to their sister, ales, which are beers that are fermented and conditioned at higher (hot) temperatures.  That is the basic fundamental difference between lagers and ales, and the resulting lager tends to taste smoother with less carbonation across the tongue.

Phuket Lager – Made in Thailand by Phuket Brewing and named for an island in the Indian Ocean, Steve purchased this beer because he thought the name was funny.  Brewed with Jasmine rice, Phuket checks in with an ABV of 5%.

HELLS YES! – This offering from OddSide Ales is a fine example of a Helles (or Munich) German style lager.  This lends a slightly malty Munich flavor (like in Spaten or Hofbrau’s Oktoberfest beers).  Not too shabby.  ABV – 4.5%.

Radler – A radler is the German style of beer that spawned the all-too-popular-in-the-States summer beer style known as the shandy.  A true radler is a 50:50 mix of lager and lemonade and is widely enjoyed throughout Bavarian countries as a summer thirst quencher!

Mai Bock – Brewed in the German tradition is good ole Detroit, Atwater Brewing’s Mai Bock (or spring beer – see commonly; “maibock”), is a traditional spring seasonal lager.  Made in the same style as a helles, this maibock checks in at 7.0% ABV.

Local’s American Lager – From Short’s Brewing in Bellaire, Michigan, this lager is notably very light in body and flavor.  Still good beer, but a bit too light for our liking.  ABV – 4.0%

PT78 – Steve’s blind taste test and a jerk way to get everyone at the table to drink Bud Light Platinum.  To all of our credit, without knowing what this beer was, we all agreed that it was possibly the worst thing we’d ever consumed.  Slante.