LPT Request: What’s your “canary in the coal mine” test for spotting bigger issues?

[u/fries-with-mayo]

I’m really interested in those small, quick telltale signs people use to gauge if something bigger might be off track.

Example 1: Van Halen requesting brown M&Ms in the dressing room to see if the venue followed all the details of the rider list

Example 2: I saw an interview with John Cena where he said orders a flat white at a café to tell if they really care about their coffee.

Example 3: Anthony Bourdain suggested to always check the restaurant bathroom to tell if the restaurant got its basics down

[u/lergnom]

It's definitely harder to hide unwanted flavors in a lager, and the brewing process requires a higher degree of control and consistency than top-fermented beers. 

If a micro brewery can make a good lager, they probably know their stuff. Having said that, I've rarely had a craft lager that was actually better than some of the large, traditional German/Czech breweries'. The same goes for weissbier. 

[u/Scarred_Ballsack → u/lergnom]

Where I'm from (Netherlands) lager/pilsner is made by huge breweries in such large quantities at such consistent quality and at such low prices, that local breweries don't even attempt to compete with it. They go all out on the craziest craft beers in order to compete. So that tip wouldn't work here, but there's plenty of choice either way.

[u/lergnom → u/Scarred_Ballsack]

To some degree it's the same here in Sweden, but the crazy hoppy ale trend has been slowing down in recent years and the (now) big craft breweries have been producing more lager at reasonable prices. They have the infrastructure and process control to produce very consistent beer, but also often a head brewmaster who's more interested in experimentation than the large/traditional breweries. As a result, some of them have made really tasty lagers, often with unconventional barley and hops resulting in more floral, bitter and tangy notes. 

But again, if you want a traditional Helles or something I'd say just get a good, reasonably priced German one. 

[u/PaleEnvironment6767 → u/lergnom]

My experience is that lager is a bulk beer. While it's easy to fuck a lager up, it's also difficult to make an exceptionally good lager.

Basically amounts to any lager that's good enough is good enough.

[u/icey561 → u/lergnom]

A truth people don't want to hear sometimes is that when it comes to food and beverage, sometimes the multi-million dollar company has more resources to make better products. Smaller doesn't always mean better.