Jeff Pickthall loves lager. Bless ‘im. And he’s written a post to celebrate the fact over at his “It’s just the beer talking” blog.

And he’s not the only one. I think it is fair to say that there have been quite a few bloggers recently who have come out and defended the style. And its important to note that it is the style that is being praised.

When I hear any variation on the phrase “the war against lager”, I think “this person doesn’t actually care about beer.”

That’s a position I support 110%.

I’ve been in the lucky position over the last few weeks to taste a good few beers and write about them for a book called “1001 beers you must try before you die”. As the name suggests, the emphasis was on remarkable beers – big hops, big taste, big abvs. There were many wild and wonderful brews among them. But now I’ve come to an end of the writing I find myself taking a break with lagers. Besides the technically competent, but not really ‘remarkable’ Carlsberg and Tuborg, I’ve had a dabble at Nørrebro Bryghusets’ New York Lager, which is fantastic.

To my mind the reason people are beginning to defend lager is twofold: there’s only so much Double Imperial Super IPA you can drink, and because lagers are getting better. Its noticeable that brewers are looking for new challenges and, ironically, lager might be the new frontier.