New Glarus Two Women Lager

Brewed By: New Glarus Brewing Company in New Glarus, Wisconsin

Purchased: 12oz bottle bought at Woodman's in Kenosha, WI; 2013

Style/ABV: German Pilsener, 5.0% 

Reported IBUs: ?

More New Glarus? Yup. About New Glarus:

New Glarus is the rare, gorgeous "Midwest" brewery, founded in 1993 by Deborah Carey, the first woman to found and operate a brewery in the United States. She raised the capital for the start-up as a gift to her husband, Dan Carey, who is New Glarus' brewmaster and co-owner. Dan Carey has a long history working in the brewing industry, including an apprenticeship at a brewery near Munich, Germany and a job as the Production Supervisor for Anheuser-Busch. The brewery began as an abandoned warehouse using old brewpub equipment. In 1997, Dan Carey purchased coper kettles from a brewery in Germany. In May 2006, New Glarus opened their new (current) facility on a hilltop in the village of New Glarus. The facility looks like a Bavarian village, and is gorgeous. The expansion has allowed the brewery to continue to increase their production, and expand their operations. For more information, check out their brewery page or Wikipedia. 

The Two Women Lager is probably a nod to the kind-of-ugly but kind-of-hot women Packers fans you find all over the fabulous state of Wisconsin. Two might be even better than one, or maybe not. In the beer's description, New Glarus references women brewers of days gone by as this beer's inspiration, including Sumerian women, Viking Women, and European Ale Wives, but I'm still going with that conflicting cheese head threesome. I need to reinforce sexist e-stereotypes while alienating a potential woman audience. This collaboration brew (New Glarus Brewing and Weyermann Malting) is described as being a classic "country Lager" brewed with floor malted Bohemian malt (Google that shit) and Hallertau Mittelfrueh hops. Some people would dub this beer a German Pilsner or Pilsener if you like Bohemian grammatical dick wizardry. 

New Glarus Two Women Lager

This beer pours darker than I was expecting. The body is a dark amber/caramel color, and the beer kicks up a finger or two of amber-tinted head. The body is transparent, and large carbonation bubbles stream upwards. In bright light, the beer takes on a dark gold/bronze color. Head retention is good, and there is some lacing. 

The aroma is reminiscent of a Pilsner, though I'm getting some additional hop kick and some Lager-yeast-spice. Maybe I'm just blinded by cognitive Christmas bias, but I'm getting some floral hops in here that remind me of pine, evergreen, and juniper. There's also a biscuit/grain character on the nose, and some Lager-yeast spice. Honey/sweet as well.

The taste mirrors the nose, with sweet malts, honey, and some nice evergreen/juniper hops. This is sweet, with the malts/honey almost hitting grape, apple, and saffron. The water has a little bite, and the beer is nicely attenuated.

So personal preference here...I like my Pilsners a bit more bready, dry, and less sweet. This is a rustic beer, and lives up to its "country lager" name. It's not bad, and the sweetness is not cloying. To me, it tastes about par the course. Palate depth is okay, complexity is okay. This is light-bodied with good carbonation, but for my preference it's a bit sweet. You get sweet malts up front with a crisp hop bite and some fruits; that rolls into some grain and more sweet malts, there's a kiss of hops/fruit; the back end trails off with some hops and sweet malts, and it finishes sweet and dry.

Rating: Average (3.0/5.0 Untappd)

I'm feeling a Light Average on this. Like the women of Wisconsin, there's an allure, but it's buried beneath a cheese head hat and an extra 45 pounds. Sure, it's cheap and easy, but the aftermath is a little too sweet and sticky. Also, fuck the Packers. Food pairings: a rustic beer calls for rustic chicken and potatoes, or any countryside dish. This beer also seems like it would pair well with all the Swiss food you can get in New Glarus. I don't hate this beer, but I'd only seek it out in a mix pack, and not as a solo venture.

Random Thought: I think that just about does it for tonight. Four down...many more to go.