Lakeview Lager

Origin Story

As our own Kody Koerber, Head Filler Operator would say, "Told ya." Like so many other great Short's beers before it (Ale la Reverend, Aorta Ale, Anniversary Ale), our latest conceptual creation was inspired by a momentous occasion and the need to commemorate it. Approached by our friends over at Shanty Creek Resorts, who were looking for the perfect way to celebrate their upcoming 50th year anniversary, they asked Joe if it would be possible to brew a beer exclusively for this, which could be poured at numerous locations throughout the resort. Seeing as we have always shared a wonderful and mutually beneficial relationship between our two establishments, Joe agreed and began to look at the resort as a whole for creative inspiration of this brand new beer. With the help of Tony Hansen, the two were able to construct a beer that literally embodied components of the natural beauty that is all around Shanty Creek. Not only by choosing an appropriate name for the beer, but also through the actual ingredients used, the end result is Lakeview Lager: an aggressively hopped pale lager aged on toasted cedar chips! Using wood to add flavoring to beer is nothing new. It has been done countless times by breweries who utilize old bourbon, brandy, and even wine barrels to impart an array of flavors into their beer. However, most breweries that do this use oak, seeing as a majority of these barrels are crafted out of that wood and the pronounced flavors that oak can impart. Smaller breweries and even home brewers, who cannot afford or do not have the space for large wooden barrels have often opted to use wood chips to obtain the same desired results. The common tie between oak barrels and oak chips is that they both can contain varying degrees of roughness, which allows for faster flavor release from the wood and they can have a range of "toast," which pertains to the levels of firing inside the barrel or applied to the chips. For some time now, Joe had wanted to experiment with cedar wood to see if there would be any notable differences or advantages when using it in the brewing process. When Shanty Creek asked about a special commemorative beer, it made perfect sense to finally try this "cedar aging" concept, considering the Cedar River runs directly through their property and is even the name given to one of their lodging facilities. Choosing chips that had a pretty high degree of roughness and a moderate-to-high level of toast, the beer was brewed and aging ensued.