Georgia has a new brewery, always a welcome development. The name of the place is Red Hare Brewing Company of Marietta, Georgia, located in a small industrial park on Delk Road. This is an area I, of course, am quite familiar with since I used to live only a few miles away. On their website, the company claims small, basement brewing origins with a 15-gallon brewing system. Today, of course, they’re up and running with a much larger setup.

I first heard about the company when I saw one of their beers in the on-deck circle at my local Taco Mac here in Canton, Georgia. The beer in question was Red Hare Long Day Lager, though the Taco Mac website’s description was rather vague: a “Georgia made noble hopped lager” of 5.2% alcohol by volume. I was anxious to try this one, and luckily enough it had just been tapped when I stopped by as I regularly do on a Friday night.

It was a good thing that I got some while the getting was good, too, as the keg was quickly devoured by thirsty beer geeks (it’s gone a week later as I type). Then too, all the Red Hare beers appear to be draft only, at least for now.

Soon after I ordered, a golden-colored 20-ounce mug arrived in all its glory before me, and I quickly took a sip:

Red Hare Long Day Lager pours to a bright golden with a medium creamy head formation and a delightful grassy hop nose. Fresh, biscuity malt in the palate explodes over the tongue up front. The beer is very crisp and fresh malty, very much like chewing a handful of fresh malt. A big herbal minty, grassy bitter hop finish explodes on the tongue and lingers long and dry. I’ve read some complaints that the beer might be a bit too hoppy. While it does have more bitterness than say, a typical Czech pilsner, such is not uncommon in a good German style one (witness Jever or Victory Prima Pils).

After sipping and getting an idea of the beer, I pulled out my trusty HP Touchpad and googled “Red Hare Brewing” to see if they had a website. They do, and I found this description of the beer:

A Bohemian style pilsener that is slightly deeper amber than most in this style. It has somewhat sweet with biscuit like malty notes. We've used some noble hops but have definitely put our American twist on it with a subtle citrusy aroma and a little bit more alcohol than normal. We hope people will find this lager refreshing after having a long hard day.

If Taco Mac’s stated 5.2% alcohol is correct, that’s not really what I would call “more alcohol than normal”, but I prefer my pilsners to be about 5% anyway. The noble hops were certainly detectable, Saaz and Hallertaus if I’m not mistaken. I certainly enjoyed this hoppy old world style pilsner, and would welcome a long day whiled away slowly sipping it.

Dare I suggest it with Hassenpfeffer?

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