Sunday Night Suds - New Belgium Shift Pale Lager

This week's Sunday Night Suds looks at New Belgium's Shift Pale Lager (in a can!)

Yes, I admit it. I am biased against beer sold in cans. Its not just the image of Bud in a six pack ring holder which I despise. Nor is it the thought of tall boy cans of lite beer being sold at bodegas to those looking to drink out of paper bags on street corners. I believe that it is born out of a belief which has been drilled into my head that nothing tastes good after it has been stored for an excessive period of time in metal cans.

Yes, this belief is hardly rational. During a special tour of the Saranac factory in 2009 with Mrs KB, I asked one of the brewery staff about their plans to start producing beer in cans and why it would not have a deleterious impact on the quality of beer. It was explained to me that they use specially lined cans which prevent the beer from acquiring the metallic taste which I always associated with poor quality brew.

And still, I cannot bring myself to buy beer in a can unless that is the only option available for that particular variety and even when that is the case, I will only buy a single can so that I am not forced to pour out or give away the remaining cans to unsuspecting victims.

All of this brings me to the New Belgium Shift Pale Lager. When I first heard about the "pale lager" I immediately thought - New Belgium has sold out and is now producing macrolager. Furthermore, I said to myself, if they only sell it in cans there must not be much to like about this beer. So when someone offered to pick this new style of beer up for me and transport it east, I knew that I would only be requesting a single can.

But a funny thing happened after I poured this beer from the can into my mug. I actually liked the brew. Don't get me wrong, I still would not want a case of this beer as lagers really are not my beer style of choice. But the Shift Pale Lager is pretty good for a ball game type brew. The beer is not that pale (see picture above) and there is no metallic can taste! Instead, it is a lager with a little bit of character which would go well with pizza or hot dogs or other generic american pop fare.

New Belgium Shift Pale Lager is under the Kosher Supervision of the Scroll-K of Colorado. Please note that not every brew produced by New Belgium is under kosher supervision. For a list of the New Belgium brews currently under supervision, please click on the link on the left side of my home page for my latest Kosher Beer List. 

To see what the experts on Beer Advocate think about New Belgium Shift Pale Lager, please follow this link http://beeradvocate.com/beer/profile/192/79373.

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!