Consider the lager — that cool, composed creature of patience and quiet precision, the monk in the brewhouse who prefers a long winter nap to the ale’s wild, fruity sprint. Brewed low and slow, in temperatures that feel more like a whispered secret than a roaring boil, lager yeast — that delicate little diva known as Saccharomyces uvarum — settles in, takes its sweet time, and refuses to rush anything resembling flavor. No frantic bubbling to the top here, no foamy theatrics. It sinks, it lingers, it contemplates. It becomes.
And what emerges from this glacial meditation is clarity — not just visual, though yes, the glass gleams like polished light — but a kind of philosophical crispness, a beer that feels composed, intentional, almost smug in its restraint. Where ales swagger and shout, lagers murmur and glide, shaped by a yeast too fragile for chaos, too refined for heat, content to work slowly in the cold, building something clean, precise, quietly luminous.
Alcohol? A touch more modest, perhaps — the tradeoff for all that restraint, that refusal to rush the ritual. But what you lose in brute force, you gain in elegance, in that subtle, almost dangerous drinkability that sneaks up like a well-timed punchline.
So yes, consider the lager. Consider it deeply, maybe even reverently. Then abandon all that thinking and do the only sensible thing left: drink your way through Craft Beer Crosscut 4.16.18 — a flight of lagers, each one a different shade of cool, a different whisper from the cold side of the brewing soul.
Kulshan Premium Lager
5% ABV, 12 IBU
Kulshan Brewing grabbed gold at the 2017 Washington Beer Awards for its Premium Lager. Now a year-round offering, the canned craft beer is light and refreshing lager with just enough crispness to balance the malts perfectly. Subtle grain and light hop aroma adds to this thirst quenching beer. Made with Mt. Rainer hops, its aroma is full of straw with grains and bread backing. Flavor is similar with straw, some sweet grain and a bit of bread.
North Coast Scrimshaw Pilsner Style Beer
4.7% ABV, 22 IBU
Everyone loves a good Pilsner and this one’s a classic. Named for the delicate engravings popularized by 19th century seafarers, North Coast Brewing’s Scrimshaw is a fresh tasting pilsner brewed in the finest European tradition using Munich malt and Hallertauer and Tettnang hops. It pours a honey gold with a frothy, white head. Grains and soft hop notes abound in the aroma. The swallow is closer to a pale ale, starting with ample two-row malt sweetness, followed by lemony, zesty hop tastes. The perfect carbonation and light body create a smooth, creamy mouthfeel with a crisp, dry finish and mild fruity aftertaste. It’s not trying to do anything fancy — it’s just a very well-balanced pilsner. It’s not a hop bomb, or a malt showcase. It’s just clean, thirst-quenching lager.
Moonlight Death & Taxes
5% ABV
Dark lagers drink like their golden counterparts but enjoy exquisite depths of flavor that demonstrate a brewer’s skill and imagination. Moonlight Brewing Co. has been tastefully liquefying barley in Sonoma County, California since 1992. It’s famous beer dubbed as “the original San Francisco-style Black Lager,” Death & Taxes is a refreshingly light-bodied, crisp and roasty lager. A pint of Death is the perfect beer to celebrate Tax Day, and, in fact, all the days before and after.
Paulaner Salvator
7.9% ABV, 28 IBU
There is a smiling monk and an English gentleman on the label for the Salvator. What’s not to like? Answer: nothing. This is delicious. The Paulaner Friars invented the doppelbock 400 years ago, and is actually the founding beer of Paulaner. Beautiful bready aromas, with tinges of alcohol spiciness, waft enticingly from the rocky, cream-color head. German malts flow sweetly across the tongue, brightened by green grape and cherry fruitiness.
Wander Global Mutt Baltic Porter
7% ABV, 42 IBU
Unlike English porters, Baltic porters are lagers, not ales. When England introduced porters to the Balkans region of Europe, the people balked at the ale. They were lager yeast folks. These creative brewers used lager yeast and began brewing stronger and stronger versions of the English porter, creating what today is known as Baltic porter — almost a lager version of an imperial stout with a lot of roasted character, chocolaty notes, and hints of coffee and creaminess. Wander Brewing Co. in Bellingham is all about global Baltic porters. Its Global Mutt Baltic porter sources its coffee direct from a farmer in Brazil, fair trade cocoa nibs from the Democratic Republic of Congo, chocolate from Theo’s in Seattle, water from Bellingham (duh), hops from Yakima and specialty malt from Europe. It’s big and delicious.
