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What is a Golden or Pale Lager?

Golden Lagers & Pale Lagers: where they come from, their appearance, flavour & aroma, palate & mouthfeel, food pairings and serving suggestions are all explained in this Beer Styles 201 article.

By The Beer Community on Mar. 22, 2016

What is a Golden or Pale Lager?

What is a Golden Lager / Pale Lager?

A Golden Lager, often referred to as a Pale Lager, is pale-to-golden coloured lager with a varying degree of hop bitterness.

Golden Lagers tend to be crisp, dry, and clean. Pale Lagers and Golden Lagers have no beer ingredient that dominates another.

Golden Lagers and Golden Ales have similar colors and mouthfeels, but the difference is that Golden Lagers are bottom-fermented at cooler temperatures.

“Bavarian brewers in the sixteenth century were required by law to brew beer only during the cooler months of the year. In order to have beer available during the hot summer months, beers would be stored (lagered) in caves and stone cellars, often under blocks of ice.” – Wikipedia

 

Golden Lager / Pale Lager Essential Information:

 

Pale Lager / Golden Lager Style Region:

Germany and North America

Appearance:

This deep to light golden beer has variable head retention, but is always clear.

Flavour & Aroma:

Golden Lagers tend to have a slight bitterness and herbal hop notes with a delicate grainy or sweet malt character.

Palate & Mouthfeel:

Pale Lagers are highly carbonated with a light almost water-like body. They have little or no after-taste.

What foods pair well with Golden Lagers?

Golden & Pale Lagers are light-bodied beers. They pair perfectly with light foods like seafood, chicken salad, quesadillas and corn on the cob.

How to serve a Pale Lager:

These beers should be served chilled around 46° F (8° C).

Comparable styles to a Pale Lager / Golden Lager:

If you like crisp & clean beers, you may also like the following beer styles:
Amber, Red or Dark Ale , Kolsch, Adjunct Lager, Blonde & Golden Ales, Cream Ale, Dortmunder or Export Lager, Euro Pale Lager, German Pilsener, Golden or Pale Lager, Munich Helles Lager, Pilsner

 

Now that you’re an expert on pale and golden lagers, check out all the rest in our guide to beer styles

 

 

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