Was 2025 (Finally) The Year Of The Lager?
,“Lagers for many craft drinkers are like rediscovering a band you haven’t listened to in a long time. There’s a reason you loved them the first time.”
— Phil Emerson, Owner/Brewmaster, Olfactory Brewing
Jack’s Abby, a regional lager brewery based in Framingham, MA, sells a shirt in their online store that reads “The Year of the Lager.” On the back, the current year is listed above seven previous years, all of which are crossed out. It’s both a running joke and a self-aware statement of commitment.
For over a century, lagers have accounted for approximately 90 percent of global beer consumption. Yet when American craft breweries began to emerge in the 1990s, they built their identity in opposition to the macro lagers that dominated store shelves. Quick-turn, bold-flavored ales became the movement’s calling card. Some breweries even openly mocked the mainstream. San Diego’s Stone Brewing, for example, once went so far as to include the phrase “fizzy yellow beer is for wussies” on their labels and marketing materials.
Since then, every few years, an article like this one, from 2017, or this one from 2020, will pop up, touting a rise in the presence, demand, and/or regard for lager beer. At the risk of adding to that pile, this issue of The Brew Deck asks... Was 2025 (Finally) The Year Of The Lager?
The Data
At this year’s Great American Beer Festival, after the two most competitive categories (Hazy IPA and West Coast IPA), the next three most-entered styles were all lagers:
- Dortmunder or German-Style Oktoberfest: 186 entries
- German-Style Pilsener: 184 entries
- Hoppy Lager: 171 entries
Close behind were Munich-Style Helles (149 entries) and Mexican Pale Lager, where the Bay Area’s own Del Cielo Brewing earned a silver medal among 148 entries.
Beyond competition entries, the market data tells a similar story. According to a report from Grand View Research, the global premium lager segment was valued at $184 billion in 2024 and is projected to grow at a 4.5 percent annual rate through 2030, reaching roughly $238 billion by decade’s end. This indicates more than just a fleeting, brewer and beer-geek-driven resurgence. There is objective evidence that lagers are gaining long-term momentum as drinkers gravitate toward quality, balance, and refinement.
Closer to home, breweries and taprooms alike are devoting a larger share of their tap lists and tank space to lagers.
“The last few years we’ve seen a notable increase in interest and fast sell-through in our lager offerings,” says J.C. Hill, owner of Alvarado Street Brewing. “It finally feels sustainable to offer two year-round lagers.”
Ale vs. Lager: A Quick Refresh
All beer is either ale or lager. Contrary to frequent misconception, lager can be any color, flavor, or texture, and so can ale. The distinction is related to the variety of yeast used. Ale yeasts are typically happier doing the work of fermentation quickly at warmer temperatures, while lager yeast strains thrive when working slowly at much cooler temperatures.
Most beer produced by lager yeast strains is subsequently “lagered” at near-freezing temperatures for anywhere from 2 to 20 weeks. Many are also filtered. The result is a finished beer that typically exhibits more brilliant visual clarity and less apparent aromatics compared to an ale. Save for the occasional whiff of sulfur on the nose, cold-fermented lagers should allow the malt, hops, and water chemistry of a given brew to take center stage.
Ales, by contrast, ferment more quickly and often showcase fruity esters or spicy phenols, byproducts of their warmer fermentation. Colder fermentations are more subtle, leaving less evidence of their work behind in the aroma, flavor, and body of a finished beer.
An easy way to think of it: when it’s hot out, we show more skin. When it’s cold, we cover up.
Why Now?
Lagers leave brewers with less to hide behind. Their subtlety rewards precision. It stands to reason that as a craft scene evolves and grows technically sharper, we will gravitate toward lager. Craft beer has always been about discovery. But discovery doesn’t have to mean louder, bolder, or stranger. It can also mean learning to taste more deeply, to perceive greater nuance and find fascination in smaller shifts of process and presentation.
As J.C. Hill of Alvarado Street Brewing puts it:
“With our new facility, we’re gearing up to drop three or four one-off lagers a month starting late next year. That focus will be reinforced by altering our faucets and approach on presentation and pouring techniques as well.”
It is doubtful that craft lagers will overtake IPAs as craft's number one style anytime soon, but the breweries leaning into lager today aren’t chasing a fad; they’re building on an established foundation. As more drinkers come to prize precision and balance over novelty and bravado, more craft breweries are finding themselves moving away from beer's extremities and toward its core.
According to Kim Sturdavant of Admiral Maltings in Alameda, CA:
“As the consumers crave more crushable options, lagers flow harder, and brewers brew more of them. It’s a good situation; brewers love making them and the American beer palate continues to improve. All the while, it’s a great vehicle for attracting people that just want to hang out in a cool space. It kinda feels like we’re starting to build our own version of an old world beer drinking experience."
🍻 Upcoming Events Featuring Our Member Breweries
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Wednesday, 11/5— Eazy Baked Maple Pecan Pie Brown Ale - Beer Release (Concord, CA | 4:00–8:00 PM)
Our pals at Epidemic Ales are introducing a liquid slice of maple pecan pie! First 25 customers to order a pint get a mini pecan pie on the side!🥧
More Info → Maple Pecan Pie Beer Release in Concord
Friday, 11/7— Kelly Brewing Company 7th Anniversary Celebration (Morgan Hill, CA)
Help Morgan Hill's open-fermentation fanatics, celebrate their anniversary with DJs, free food, special beer releases and more!
More Info → Anniversary Party in Morgan Hill
Saturday, 11/8— Alpha Acid Brewing Company 7th Anniversary Celebration (Belmont, CA)
Help Alpha Acid celebrate their 11th birthday with exclusive barrel-aged beers and other special releases.
Saturday and Sunday, 11/8 and 11/9— Tacos El Ultimo Baille at Wondrous Brewing (Emeryville, CA | 1:00 PM–sold out)
One of the East Bay's most viral food pop-up, Tacos El Ultimo Baile will be serving up their mouth watering, one-of-a-kind smoked brisket and tri-tip tacos alongside Wondrous' extraordinary selection of brewery-fresh beers.
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Tuesday, 11/11—Veterans Day Celebration at Epidemic Ales
(Concord, CA)
Every year Epidemic brews "DD-214" IPA with local Navy, Army, Marines, and Air Force Veterans. The beer uses Yakima Chief Hops Veteran’s Hop Blend, whic is chosen each year by military Veteran brewers. Buy one, Get one, taproom special all day for Veterans and Active Duty Military.
More Info –> Veterans Day Beer Release in Concord
Tuesday, 11/11—Fathers Brewing at the Marine Corps Ball
(Livermore, CA)
Celebrate Veterans Day, and the 250th Anniversary of The US Marine Corps at the newly-opened, Stampede Livermore with the Bay's "clean beer" champions, Fathers Brewing!
More Info –> Veterans Day Celebration in Livermore, CA
Saturday, 12/13— Holiday Market at Cuver Brewing
(Windsor, CA| 3:00–7:00 PM)
CUVER’s 2nd Annual Holiday Market is a free, family friendly event showcasing local craftsmen, artists, and non-profits from across Sonoma County.
More Info –> Holiday Market in Windsor
Friday 2/20/2026 - Sunday 3/1/2026 — Beer Week 2026
(The Whole Damn Bay Area!)
The biggest and best regional celebration of independent craft beer on the planet!
Keep up-to-date on all the events at sfbeerweek.org