I love lagers. A good 30% of my beer consumption is probably in the form of lagers and, as they’re not something I’m capable of producing with my current homebrewing system, I continue to buy them. Sadly, they’re not something many domestic craft brewers do well.
There are a couple of craft examples available locally that are good (Schlafly Pilsner and Helles, and New Belgium Blue Paddle), but they’re not really in the same league as Budvar, Pilsner Urquell, and the seasonal Ayinger Oktoberfest and Weihenstephaner Festbier I’ve been enjoying. That’s not as bad a diss on the domestics as it may seem – we’re talking about being compared to absolute world class beers here. And, when said top notch lagery goodness is sitting in the cooler beside them and in good shape for at most a buck or two more a six pack, I admit that I choose the imports at a very high rate.
However, two of my favorite domestic lager brewers may be making their offerings available in St. Louis. Capital Brewery from Madison, Wisconsin is already in the state, having secured a distributor in Kansas City, but hasn’t made it to St. Louis yet. I’ve been a big fan of theirs for years and, with relatives in Chicago and Wisconsin, I regularly load up and schlep supplies back. But it is painful knowing that they’re actually in the state, but just not available here.
Now word has come out that Victory Brewing from Downington, Pennsylvania, may put some of their newly-increased capacity to use by bringing their fine line of lagers (and ales . . .) to Missouri as well. Their outstanding Prima Pils is one of my favorite beers – full stop. How much do I love Prima? Well, if you check my list of kegs from the glory days when my kegerator was functional, you’ll notice that I went through a half barrel (that’s 15.5 gallons for those not in the know) of this fine beer. What doesn’t show from that list is how quickly it disappeared and how little was consumed by people other than yours truly. I love this beer.
So, here’s the deal. WHEN (not going with any “ifs” here) both Capital and Victory show up on the shelves in St. Louis, I will commit to drinking nothing but domestic craft beer for at least an entire year from that date. No imported lagers, no Cantillon, Fantôme, or Mikkeller (my other import weaknesses). Zero. For at least a year. Plus, I’ll blog and tweet and write about my experiment throughout the year, giving full credit to the fine folks at Capital and Victory for finally pushing me to full domestic consumption.
So, what say you Capital Brewery and Victory Brewing? Will you take me up on it? Any other St. Louis beer lover’s willing to join me? I’d love to see these two breweries in town, and can’t wait to be drinking their terrific beers.
