Ever wondered what the difference is between lager beer and ale? It’s simple…yeast on the top vs. yeast on the bottom. Lagers are brewed with bottom fermenting yeast. They’re brewed over a long period of time because they’re always brewed at cool temperatures. Ales are brewed with top fermenting yeast at warmer temperatures thus, only a short period of time is required. There are a bunch of different styles of lager (Bock, Doppelbock, Dunkel, Oktoberfest/Maerzen, Pilsner). The differences between them can be subtle but the key is they’re all lagers. Yeast on the bottom means you’re drinking a lager.

One of our favorite styles of lager is the Pilsner.  Pilsner beers come from Bohemia in the Czech Republic. A good pilsner will have high carbonation, tangy Czech hops, and a crisp bitter taste. A fresh pilsner will have thick white foam (head) and when done well, is ultra refreshing. When done poorly…skunky, stale and nasty. Usually the cheaper varieties of pilsner are brewed with a mix of corn or rice which makes them more cost effective to produce…and you get what you pay for.  Ever had Coors, Budweiser, Miller, Heineken, Corona? They’re all classified as pilsners. We don’t know why. Maybe it’s because that sounds fancier. A real pilsner can and will blow your mind. A bad pilsner could make you question your love of beer……and we don’t want that.

That brings us to North Coast Brewing Co. out of Fort Bragg, CA. They make an old-school pilsner that might as well come straight from the Czechs. It’s called Scrimshaw and it’s good. The hop flavors are subtle. The taste is crisp and the after-taste (finish) is dry and somewhat bitter. Exactly what a great pilsner should taste like. If you like more of a sharp taste to your beer (Pale Ale or IPA) then you’d dig this particular beer. You can get it several places in Nashville. Brian had it on-tap at 12 South Taproom. Josh picked up a bottle at Old World Leaf and Ale in Brentwood.

Comments from Josh: The first time I had this beer was at Fall For Greenville in Greenville, SC. I got it on draft. I sipped as I walked around downtown Greenville and noticed that the flavor of the beer got better as it got warmer. It was weird but it was amazing! I grabbed a bottle from Old World and actually let it warm up for 15 minutes before I drank it. It was and is one of my favorite beers. If you get it, taste it cold and then let it warm up a bit…you’ll notice a subtle change in the flavor. A sweetness develops and it’s oh so wonderful.  Grade: A

Comments from Brian: I noticed some similarities to a good Pale Ale with the Scrimshaw but it’s definitely not as strong as an IPA.  I say this because I don’t want anyone to shy away from this beer because we compared it to a Pale Ale, it’s really not that strong.  It’s 4.4% alcohol content really takes a lot of the edge off.  Some pales (especially IPA’s) can be up near 6% or more.  The sweetness outweighs the bitter character.  Not sweet like a cider (nowhere near that) but sweet as in fresh.  I liked it.  You should try it and let us know what you think.  Grade: B+

RED DOOR EAST - It’s all about the attitude. They’ve got about 7 or 8 beers on tap and several more in bottles. Good vibe (lots of vintage beer swag), Great staff, and a big front porch.

Josh went for PBR on tap (hey…it won a blue ribbon) and Brian grabbed a New Castle Brown Ale in a bottle. Fact : New Castle is Josh’s first ‘non Miller Lite’ beer. He made it a point to tell Brian that. Fact 2 : Brian doesn’t really care…….must be that Red Door attitude

What do we say about PBR or Pabst Blue Ribbon for those who have been under a rock. It’s the “fashionable piss beer” and yes…you can quote us on that. We want to be quoted, or linked, or advertised, and hopefully paid : go ahead, use it! PBR is FPB….GRADE:C+

New Castle Brown Ale: If you read the bottle it really is what it says, an all around good, brown ale. It’s smooth and nice. It’s that beer you should buy when you’re trying to one up your domestic friends. After all, it is from England. When drinking this beer you should engage your friends in conversations about soccer but always call it football and work in the words Wanker, Bloody, and Bugger into every sentence. “I wish our bloody beer would get here” “That bar tender was such a wanker” (not at red door of course) and “That guy needs to bugger off” GRADE:B+

Red Door; we love you and we’ll be back. Please let us drink for free

EVERYONE, go to RED DOOR in EAST NASHVILLE. Just go….and talk about us….a lot

Also, Brian lives on the East side so he frequents these establishments, if you see him there do the smart thing and buy him a beer……HA!

So, we’re sitting here at 12th South Taproom, which is conveniently located in the 12th South Neighborhood on 12th South Avenue in Nashville. Great place! Good vibe, good food, smoke free. First beer for Brian was the Scrimshaw Pilsner which was recommended as something to try. “Definitely something I would get again,” he said after he drained is pint. “A smooth pilsner that is not too heavy”

Josh arrived and saw the damn beer list on which he noticed the DAMM beer special and thought “Damn that DAMM beer is just 3 damn bucks” so he got it. Of course we mean Estrella Damm Lager from Barcelona…or for you Spaniards, la cerveza de Barcelona. Josh didn’t know what to expect but after drinking he gave this beer a “B+” —- “Tasted good! Kinda sweet. I’m scared of import lagers. Think Heineken. Skunky. Nasty. Estrella has one damn good lager!”

Here’s the bottles so you know what to look for…

Aaaahhhhh  the Super Bowl :  Some watch it for the commercials, some watch it for the half time show, some watch the half time show hoping to see a wardrobe malfunction and oh yeah….there’s that football game that happens too.  Whatever your reason for watching, Super Bowl Sunday is an excuse to have people over for one more “big game” ….. and yes we know there’s still the Pro Bowl but come on!  Anyway, one thing the Super Bowl is not an excuse for is crappy beer.  That being said, we (being the good teachers that we are) have decided to step out of the classroom and on to the field…ok that was a stretch but work with us here.  We’ll hi-lite 2 beers in this Pregame Post.

So, we wouldn’t normally recommend “light beers” in any post but we understand that Super Bowl Sunday is a day when you could be bringing beer for the masses or a day when you just might be having more than one beer, and seeing how most of the food at Super Bowl parties isn’t in the light category you might want your beer to be.

The two light beers that we’d bring to school are Beck’s Premier Light Pilsner and Yuengling Light Lager

Both taste as much like real beer as a light beer can…99 calories in the Yuengling Light Lager and 64 calories in the Beck’s Premier Light Pilsner. Oh, you can normally find a 6 pack of Yuengling Light Lager for around $5.49 in the grocery store. It’s only distributed on the East coast and Southeast. Click here for the list of distributors.