Rush Canadian Light Lager (4%)

True story.

As I have documented on this site, I played a role in the conceptualization and development of Henderson Brewing’s Rush Canadian Golden Ale. So it was perhaps not extraordinary when in late August I had a quite vivid dream about consulting with the brewery on a companion amber lager, vaguely in the Vienna/Oktoberfest style but with a couple of recipe tweaks to make it uniquely Canadian and uniquely Rush.

Where things started to get weird was in the morning, when I opened my computer to an email from Henderson co-owner Adin Wener inviting me to the forthcoming Rush Day at the brewery. That alone was coincidental, although not particularly remarkable, since Wener often invites me to his events. Things took a decidedly odd turn, however, when I responded to him with the story of my dream, and he responded in turn with the news that they were releasing a Rush lager that very day! It was to be a light rather than amber lager, but still, the timing was spooky.

In a nod to the coincidence, Wener sent over a few cans for me to sample, and having had nothing whatsoever to do with the development of this particular beer, I thought I’d offer a quick write-up.

While I understand that perhaps identifying this as a “Canadian Light Lager” could broaden its appeal beyond the normal Henderson clientele, I feel that such a description does the beer a bit of a disservice. After all, when you say “light beer” – or even “light lager” – a certain style of beer comes immediately to mind, and it’s not exactly one that’s full of flavour. (Hello, Coors Light, Miller Lite, and Bud Light!). Rush Canadian Light Lager, on the other hand, does not suffer for lack of aroma or character, regardless of its 4% alcohol content.

Pouring a rich gold colour, this has a spicy, vaguely lemony nose with notes of fresh grain and a whiff of caramel, less malt-forward than a good helles should be, but also more hop reticent than a classic pilsner. On the palate, the start is a bit on the thin side with cereal rather than malted barley notes – this is the only place where the lower alcohol content is particularly noticeable – but soon blooms into a full and citrusy hop bitterness with a touch of fresh herbs and more obvious grassy notes, culminating in a dry, moderately bitter finish.

Unlike your prototypical “light” lager, there is nothing bland or even reserved about this beer, which is very much to its credit. I imagine it would have been easy for the brewery to dial back the hops in a push to appeal to a more mainstream audience, and if initial sales falter perhaps that’s precisely what they will do. But they did nothing of the sort for this first release, instead crafting a beer that is consummately refreshing and, to anyone with any amount of experience with craft beer, at least, completely approachable.

81 ($3.40/473 ml can)