Here it is. The beer that many craft drinkers love to hate. But hear me out on this one…this style is pretty remarkable for a lot of reasons. And hey…there’s a time and a place for every beer, right?

American light lager became extremely popular in the 1970s as an offshoot of the heavier (but not by much) American Standard Lager. It’s interesting that although we think of these beers as the standard bearers of beer blandness that the craft movement is pitted against, the light lager in America didn’t really become the ubiquitous drink it is today until relatively recently. It came into its prime partially because of a successful marketing campaign by Miller who recognized a market in diet-conscious and sports-watching drinkers, but also partially because of the trend in products all over the middle-class marketplace after the second World War. Consumables became homogeneous and industrial, and the beer industry obliged.

Surprisingly, one of the most amazing things about these beers is the quality of their production (no, I haven’t been drinking again…well, yes I have but you read that right). These beers are outrageously difficult to brew exactly because of their simplicity. If one small thing goes wrong from raw grains and hops to you popping (unscrewing) that top, you’re likely to notice, as is everyone else drinking the beer. Even more amazingly, these beers are brewed all over the world with different ingredients, water, brewers, and machines, and they always smell and taste exactly the same.

We’re not ones for judgment here at Black Flannel (I, for one, love to toss back a few of these whenever I make it to Fenway), and if this is your style then more power to you. Though we can’t promise that we’ll always have a light lager on tap, we will be brewing all kinds of flavorful, light, and sessionable beers that we can steer you toward when you come into the pub.