Blue Point: The Toasted Lager

Blue Point's Toasted Lager

Welcome back, beer lovers. If you're just joining us, this is the second installment of "Beer With Me," a weekly blog devoted to every 16-20 year old's favorite beverage: good old fashioned beer. Every week I will pontificate, proliferate, and speculate on a different variety of beer, with historical/cultural information as well as, of course, my own personal review of said beer.

This week, I'm sitting here with my new friend, Blue Point Brewery's Toasted Lager. Started just ten years ago by two guys from Long Island, Mark and Peter, Blue Point Brewery has quickly earned a stellar reputation with their tasty variety of ales. It also has the esteemed status of being Long Island's ONLY microbrewery. What I like about this place is that it's sort of like the Frankenstein's Monster of breweries - with fermentation vessels, storage tanks, and the like gathered from a wide array of breweries throughout the country. A bit creepy, but hey, it pays to recycle, right? And they brew over 10,000 kegs a year. Not bad so far, Mark and Pete. Not bad at all.

Toasted Lager is one of BP's most reputed beers, having won the World Beer Cup Gold Award. A copper lager with "hints of caramel, malts, and hops", Toasted Lager is 12 fluid ounces of savory delight made from six different malts: Carapils, Crystal, English Pale, Munich, Wheat and Belgian Caravienna. They call it "Toasted" Lager because of its brewing method: a direct-fire brew kettle create burning hot flames to give the drink that "toasted" flavor.

Upon tasting it, I can immediately taste why this brew is so popular. There is no "warming up" to the flavor - it's all there from the first sip, and without leaving a massive aftertaste. This may be one of the beer's faults, however, as it is over right after the last gulp. There is nothing to remember it by. Yet it goes down smoothly and has a refreshing breadiness to it that many beers today lack, in my opinion. Like most lagers, fruitiness is substituted for a malty sensation that is well balanced and pleasant to the palate. I also find a slight corny or nutty quality as I continue on with the drink. It's great - the more you drink, the more subtle flavors you can discover, like watching the third season of "Lost" over and over again and catching all the new Easter Eggs. But I digress.

Overall, Toasted Lager is a great, non-filling beer with a wide mix of flavors that reflects the multiple malts used in its creation. The balance is struck perfectly, and while it may not be the most memorable beer on Earth, it doesn't leave any sour taste in my mouth (I meant that metaphorically).

Beer Essentials:
Name: Toasted Lager
Rating: 8.5/10
Brewing Co: Blue Point Brewing Company
ABV: 5.3%
Available in: 12 fl. oz. bottles or on draft

Thanks for joining me again, everyone. Tell your friends about me, and as always, ANY feedback, questions, or criticisms are appreciated! Bottoms up!

Sponsored by EnterTo.com the first REAL spam free email

Click Below to discover and share content from anywhere on the web