Name: Beach Blonde Lager
Brewing Company: Jersey Cyclone Brewing Company
Location: Somerset, NJ
Style: Lager – Helles
ABV: 4.3%
“Jersey Cyclone boldly storms out of the gate with a damned fine Helles Lager.”
From the Untappd page for Beach Blonde Lager:
An awesome beach day deserves an awesome beer! We used three types of classic German malts and Loral hops to craft this malt forward yet dry beer. With a bready flavor, subtle lager yeast character and cracker dry finish, this beer is a much needed addition to every beach day cooler!
As I pointed out in my NJ Beer/Brewery Check in on Tuesday and last month’s Six Pack, Jersey Cyclone is a new brewery out of Somerset, NJ. I’ve made three visits since they opened and have enjoyed just about everything I’ve had from them. When I learned they had a lager brewing during my second visit to Jersey Cyclone, I was very excited.
I knew the Helles Lager, Beach Blonde Lager, was a beer I really wanted to try since I’ve gravitated towards the lower ABV beers, especially Pilsners and Helles Lagers of late, as I pointed out in my 2nd anniversary post. My father -in-law loves his lagers, too, so I figured getting a growler for Father’s Day would be a great opportunity to try and share the beer.
The beer pours a somewhat darker goldenrod than I’d expect from a Helles Lager. In the end, that color was the only thing a little off about the beer. The aroma hits the notes of a lager and the first sip….the first sip is nice. So that first impression is a crisp flavorful beer. There’s a little bit of maltiness, with a very nice bready/crackery finish.
This beer has a roasty or baked finish that reminds me of some of my favorite lagers, like Carton’s This Town, Cape May’s Lager, Weihenstephaner Original. Drinkability is an obvious, probably overused word to describe a good beer, but Beach Blonde Lager has this in spades. The taste is so spot on and that finish lingers enough that you don’t want it to go away so you immediately have to take another sip.
To say that I was impressed with this beer is an understatement. For a brewery’s first release of a lager, it is damned good. Hell, any brewery would be well-served to have a lager of this quality available on a regular basis. Like I said in my untappd check-in, this beer is everything you want in a lager and a fantastic representation of the style. As it turned out, my father-in-law had more of the growler than I did, he loved the beer.
Not necessarily a comment on the beer, but the brewery itself. I’ve had my growler(s) filled at many breweries, especially over the last few years. Most places do give the growler a wipe down, but I’ve received my fair share of growlers that were a little sticky from beer that overflowed. I can’t recall seeing other breweries do what Jan (owner of Jersey Cyclone) did – he gave the growler a little squirt with a water bottle to ensure the growler nice and clean and not sticky.
While this beer currently has “Beach” in the name, I hope Jersey Cyclone keeps this available year round, or at least keep one of their taps dedicated to a lager of some kind, be it a Pilsner, Amber Lager, Bock or even a Pale Lager. Most breweries stick to the Ale half of the beer family initially, faster brew times for ales and the ales lend themselves to additives that can hide “mistakes” in the brew process. A bold choice to put out a lager less than a month into the brewery’s life and one that pays off.
With people gravitating towards lagers, it is smart for a new brewery to have a lager on tap, especially a lager this good.
Recommended, link to Untappd 4-bottle cap rating.
Untapped badges earned with this beer:
Hella Delicious (Level 5)
The Tap Takeover 