Sunday Night Suds - Saranac Lake Effect Lager

This week's Sunday Night Suds toasts the Midwest branch of the greater KB family and reviews Saranac's Lake Effect lager.

As discussed in last week's Sunday Night Suds column, this year's Saranac 12 beers of winter box contains quite a few new beers including the Lake Effect Lager. I went online at the Saranac website, but was unable to find the source for the moniker which they gave this brew. The BA website was similarly unhelpful, although I did learn that quite a few other brewers have used the "Lake Effect" term in naming their brews.

While BA did not give me the source for the brew's name, I did at least learn its classification - it is deemed a Munich Dunkel Lager, which is characterized as:

[S]mooth, rich and complex, but without being heady or heavy. They boast brilliant ruby hues from the large amounts of Munich malts used, and these malts also lend a fuller-bodied beer. The decoction brewing process also lends much depth and richness. Bitterness is often moderate, with just enough to balance out any sweetness. Hop varieties used tend to be of the German noble varieties, like: Tetnang and Hallertau.

The maltiness in the Lake Effect Lager was readily apparent and was an excellent accompaniment to cholent. The beer had a little sweetness to it and a drop of hop bite, but it really was all about the malt and it truly made my shabbos lunch.

Saranac Lake Effect Lager is under the Kosher Supervision of the Va'ad of Detroit, as is every other brew produced by Saranac. To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about Saranac Lake Effect Lager, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/99/63019.

As always, please remember to drink responsibly and to never waste good beer unless there is no designated driver.

If you've tried this beer or any others which have been reviewed on the kosher beers site, please feel free to post your comments (anonymous comments are acceptable).

Finally, if you have seen this post being carried on another site, please feel free to click http://www.kosherbeers.blogspot.com/ to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!