EPISODE 7: Lite Reading

EPISODE 7
Lite Reading

Until my arrival in Seattle, in January 1990, I had never tried an ale. My beer drinking was confined to American mass-market light lagers: Miller, Coors, Olympia and the like. In college I drank nothing but Stroh’s. I came by the taste naturally: My Dad drank nothing but Bud, and my Mom favored Carling Black Label, “Because it is on sale. All the time.” These days, I often don’t even call these beverages “beer.” “Rice soda,” perhaps? But there are still some American lagers I enjoy, like Sam Adams, or the “Session” lager from Bend, Oregon’s Full Sail Brewing Company.

AMERICAN LAGERS

(Originally published in Pin-Up Quarterly, Issue 6, April/June 20122)

A lager, from the German for “lay down”

And down in caves it’s laid, or else at least

It’s stored for fermentation underground

To keep it cold for bottom-dwelling yeast

From this process emerges clear, crisp joy

A flavor like a sparkling mountain stream

Which made this style the choice of hoi polloi

Pushing aside the older styles’ regime

This popularity makes it taboo

For beer snobs: It’s a lamb led to their slaughter

They claim it’s just like sex in a canoe

Which is to say, “It’s fucking close to water”

But when it’s just refreshment that’s the test

A lager just might fill that order best

SESSION LAGER

Now take the Session Lager from Full Sail:

It’s just the kind of thing you think of when

You want a beer that’s lighter than an ale

But just can’t stomach drinking Bud again

The stubby bottle really is a riot

A fossil from pre-Prohibition days

Poured in a glass, the head is foamy white

The beer below a straw-blonde yellow haze

Of  U.S. Pilsners, few compare with Session

All-malt,  with a grassy hop bouquet

The mouthfeel is quite crisp, the taste refreshing

Just perfect for a sunny summer’s day

It’s so much better than mass-market crud

So aren’t you glad you didn’t order Bud?