Beer of the Week: Vienna Lager

Being a native San Diegan, I’m used to finding multiple IPAs on breweries’ beer boards. It’s commonplace to see several West Coast models sidled by a handful of hazies with session, cold, fruited and imperial IPAs thrown in for good measure. Thanks to varying textures and the multitude of flavors and aromas presented by different hop combinations, each individual IPA has something unique to offer, so it’s fun to taste one’s way through a brewery’s hoppy stock. I just wish other types of beers were explored in such a prolific manner. Fortunately, thanks to the current popularity of lagers, brewers are expanding their bottom-fermented options. There was a time when I would have thought this would lead to boring taplists filled with all-too-similar beers, but that’s because most of San Diego’s brewers were not yet as adept as they’ve become at producing lagers. But their practice has paid off, and nowadays a local Helles is discernible from a Dortmunder export or a Wiesn-style fest bier. The diversity presented by that deft craftsmanship makes a session swigging through three or four different lagers as enjoyable as taking on a variety of hop-bombs. While maintaining sufficient tank space for lagering can be challenging, it’s cool to see San Diego brewers doing so in order to offer more to patrons looking for tasty, lower-alcohol lagers. Case in point, New English Brewing and this week’s featured beer, the simply-titled Vienna Lager. A newborn sister-beer to the Sorrento Valley operation’s longstanding Por Favor Pils, it leans into specialty malts, resulting in delicate breadiness complemented by a touch of caramel that’s canceled out in the finish by light, earthy bitterness from Noble hops. A quality beer that’s right for the times and well suited for a lengthy session, it holds its own on a menu board rife with hoppy options.

For some time now, my wife, Nina, has been asking me to brew an additional lager for our beer lineup, to which I would respond, ‘We have a lager — Por Favor Pils.’ She maintained that we offer multiple IPA styles, so why not brew a couple of different lagers, as well? Por Favor is very popular and a best-seller in our tasting room, so people might want to also try another less dry, hop-forward beer. Well, her persistence paid off! But I wanted the new lager to be quite different from Por Favor, so we converged on a Vienna lager, which turns out to be a great year-around beer, a bit darker for autumn but still smooth and refreshing for warmer weather. We think it’s worth a try. Tell us what you think!”

Simon Lacey, Co-owner, New English Brewing