American Pale Lager

What is American Pale Lager? 

American pale lager is a very light-bodied, light-flavoured, highly carbonated lager beer served very cold. It is the best-selling beer style in the USA.

It is often brewed into ice or dry beer versions, which are even fresher in taste and slightly higher in alcohol content.

Origin Story

The oldest documented pale lager brewed in the United States can be traced to 1840. It was brewed by John Wagner, a German immigrant living in Philadelphia, who used yeast from his native Bavaria.

However, American breweries lacked the types of malt that were available in Europe. To balance the flavour and dilute excessive proteins, up to 30% of the barley malt mixture was made up of corn.

During World War II, most breweries couldn’t attain sufficient barley for production, leading to the use of rice as a filler. This practice continued post-war. As a result, modern American pale lagers are very light-bodied, utilizing inexpensive light-bodied rice or corn as their base.