After the end of a long day, nothing beats a cold, crisp lager. Tons of other beer styles fit the bill to a degree, including IPAs, sour beers, and pale ales, but none that scratch that proverbial itch the way a lager does. There’s something about the lightness combined with a hint of hop and malt that hits just right.
This is why even with the bazillion beer styles available, you’ll always find a few lagers in our fridge on the regular. A crisp pilsner, malty lager, or one of the numerous other lager styles always have a place in our refrigerator. This is because a great lager is like a Swiss army knife. You always want it on hand to make use of in any situation.
Brewers agree with this sentiment. That’s why we asked a few well-known brewers, craft beer experts, and brewing professionals to tell us the one lager they always keep stocked in their fridges no matter the season. Keep reading to see all of their selections to see what you need to grab a tuck away in your fridge.
Wren House Valley Beer
Zach Fowle, Advanced Cicerone and head of marketing at Arizona Wilderness Brewing Co. in Phoenix, Arizona
ABV: 4.6%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
Spring is hot in Arizona and this crispy GABF silver medal winner provides maximum refreshment when the weather gets spicy.
Tasting Notes:
Flaked corn and Saaz hops give it more depth of flavor than your standard lawnmower beer, but the finish is as clean as anything from the big brewers.
Goldfinger Original Lager
Ryan Pachmayer, head brewer at Yak & Yeti Brewpub and Restaurant in Arvada, Colorado
ABV: 5.2%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Goldfinger Original Lager was my favorite beer on a recent Chicago stop. I could drink this all day and be very happy. Also apparently it has a 4.0 on Untappd, which after the “lager curve” probably means it’s the best beer in the world.
Tasting Notes:
The helles-style beer was clean and easy to drink, yet packed with light bready flavor, a clear balancing bitterness, and a touch of both sulfur and hop flavor.
Wedge Helles Bock
Clay Carlisle, co-founder and head brewer of Bevi Bene Brewing Co. in Charleston, South Carolina
ABV: 6.4%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
This may be obvious, but I have to go with a maibock such as the Helles Bock by Carl Melissas at Wedge Brewing. It’s the perfect lager to get you excited for spring, with its pale golden color, noble hop bitterness that keeps you wanting another sip, and a higher abv to thaw out your bones.
Tasting Notes:
When you find a well-made maibock, the floral aroma of the hops mixes with the complexity of decoction, and the lengthy lagering process helps it all come together to produce the perfect crisp fridge lager for springtime.
Löwenbräu Munich Lager
George Hummel, grain master of My Local Brew Works in Philadelphia
ABV: 5.2%
Average Price: $9 for a six-pack
The Beer:
Sometimes I just have to go back to the beer I would steal from dad’s fridge. Löwenbräu Munich Lager was my German American dad’s beer of choice.
Tasting Notes:
This beer is wonderfully balanced. It’s malty without being cloying. It’s just perfectly balanced and clean.
Firestone Walker Pivo Pils
Jeremy Marshall, brewmaster at Lagunitas Brewing Company in Petaluma, California
ABV: 5.3%
Average Price: $11 for a six-pack
The Beer:
When I can find Pivo Pils by Firestone Walker, it’s going into the fridge. This is a beefed-up version of a European lager, meaning that while the alcohol stays low (five and some change), the bitterness is robust (40BU) and it has my favorite thing in the world: dry hops.
Tasting Notes:
However, it is with a variety I’ve yet to play with myself, Saphir, which gives a soft, floral honeysuckle jasmine as opposed to the resinous pine sap of American hops. And who doesn’t want a beer dry-hopped with blue jewels right?
New Belgium Old Aggie
Zeke Peyton, lead brewer at WeldWerks Brewing Co. in Greeley, Colorado
ABV: 4.2%
Average Price: $12 for a six-pack
The Beer:
I love a good old fashioned American lager, like New Belgium’s Old Aggie. It’s a low-ABV beer that works great with a wide variety of food and occasions. It’s super easy to drink and sometimes, or honestly a lot of the time, that’s all I want at the end of the day.
Tasting Notes:
It’s so balanced in its character with just enough malt to keep your mind on the beer and no bitterness getting in the way of a nice smooth finish.
Moonlight Death & Taxes
Kevin McGee, founder of Healdsburg Beer Company in Healdsburg, California
ABV: 5.3%
Average Price: $14 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Death & Taxes by Moonlight Brewing in Santa Rosa, California is an absolute must-have. Moonlight is one of the finest craft lager producers out there today and Death & Taxes is a hallmark of their skill. This is one of those beers that always calls for another one. Absolutely a fridge staple.
Tasting Notes:
A dark lager, it’s basically a California version of a dark Czech lager and hits that perfect spot of flavor and complexity meeting drinkability.
Yellowhammer Midnight Special
Josh Bartlett, founder of Learning to Homebrew in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
ABV: 5.8%
Average Price: Limited Availability
The Beer:
What do you get when you pair the crisp, light, and refreshing qualities of clean lager yeast with the roasted, bitter chocolate flavor of a stout? The schwarzbier. A sometimes overlooked style, the schwarzbier (which literally means black beer) is crisp enough to drink in the summer but hardy enough for the winter. Spring is likely the best time to stock it in the fridge. A local favorite of mine is Midnight Special by Yellowhammer Brewing in Huntsville, Alabama.
Tasting Notes:
It features a stronger roasted coffee flavor with a light, almost peppery hop addition, along with 5.8% ABV.
Perennial Pils
Garth E. Beyer, certified Cicerone® and owner and founder of Garth’s Brew Bar in Madison, Wisconsin
ABV: 5%
Average Price: $12 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Pils from Perennial Brewing is the lager that I always have within reaching distance. It’s a classic German-style lager — slightly bitter, but what I love most is that they dry-hop it with more German hops to make the nose of it even more pronounced.
Tasting Notes:
Overall, it’s a highly attenuated pilsner with punctual floral and spicy characteristics. Its brightness forces you to slow down and enjoy every ounce of it.
Honest Weight Prescott
Kyle Warren, lead brewer at Exhibit ‘A’ Brewing Company in Framingham, Massachusetts
ABV: 4.7%
Average Price: $18 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Honest Weight Artisan Beer Prescott is named after one of the Western Massachusetts towns that was flooded nearly a century ago to create the Quabbin Reservoir, Boston’s primary water source. Prescott is a German-style pilsner that never disappoints.
Tasting Notes:
A subtle Bavarian water profile, German malt, and Noble hops set the stage for an effervescent and crispy crusher that leaves you wanting little else — other than knowing when the next release will be.
Jack’s Abby House Lager
Joe Mashburn, head brewer of Night Shift Brewing in Boston
ABV: 5.2%
Average Price: $9 for a four-pack of 16-ounce cans
The Beer:
Lager in my fridge: Jack’s Abby House Lager. It’s a simple, crisp, clean, easy-drinking lager. Jack’s Abby makes nothing but lagers and this is their flagship beer for a reason.
Tasting Notes:
It’s a wonderful example of Helles, light bread, light hops, clean and to the point.
