Chris Aucoin from Brewer's Pantry in Bowmanville is literally one of our favourite people. He believed in us before it seemed anybody else did, and we knew wanted to work a collab with him. His only ask was a patio crusher of a lager, and that brought us to a bit of a fresh creation: A French Lager, or Bière Blonde. Custom built for those final days of summer, when stretching patio time means more than one crushable lager.
What You’ll Love About It
These two hops truly enrichened a moderately neutral malt bill, making this a big but sessionable summer lager with so many unique flavours and aromas it might take you until the bottom of the glass to figure them all out.
How It's Made
European Pilsner malt + German Munich malt form the base, and then we got a bit more French. Strisselspalt hops from the Strasbourg region of France filled the boil, with a whirlpool and dry hop of Barbe Rouge hops from the Alsace region. We strayed a bit from our character-filled house lager yeast to use a neutral strain of German yeast to truly allow the curated malts and hops to shine.
How To Enjoy It
At 3° Celsius on a patio near the water at summer's end.
Did You Know?
We were blessed to get a chance to use a unique piece of art showcasing the Kawarthas where Brewer's Pantry finds their home from artist Matthew Fleet. We were blown away by Matthew's art, but even more so by his story. His journey as an artist took a dramatic turn when he sustained a spinal cord injury at the age of 16. The injury left Matthew dependent on a wheelchair and needing to relearn how to draw with only limited use of his arms and hands.
Love it as much as we do? Consider supporting Matthew and buying a copy of your own. He's created maps for many of Ontario's water regions, including one that probably means something to you!