The Art of a Beer Variety Pack

When I buy a seasonal multi-pack, I don’t want a new beer wedged among three or more that I'm already tired of. I want something different.

Having a variety pack of a brewer’s flagship beers is fine. But a seasonal variety pack should be something else. America’s largest maker of craft beers recently revamped its long-running seasonal 12-pack lineup, cutting it from six different beers to four yet keeping flagships and well-worn seasonals in the pack. I haven’t seen a pack I’ve wanted in Friday since because too much of that beer will sit around. I don’t think of Boston Lager as a beer for all seasons (whoops).

Cleveland’s Great Lakes brewery gets how to diversify the variety pack. For their spring pack, which offers three bottles of each of four beers suiting spring. If I want a variety 12-pack of Great Lakes four flagship brews (Dortmunder Gold, Elliot Ness Lager, Burning River Pale Ale, Edmund Fitzgerald Porter), they already sell one.

Spring’s lighter, festive seasonals are not meant for aging, and the pack reflects that. There’s a nod to hopheads, a shout-out for Belgian beer fans and a few for everyone. I hope the pack might include Grassroots Ale, a saison with locally grown herbs and honey. But if I remember my friends’ reactions correctly, I alone liked.

Great Lakes throws a bone to long-time drinkers with an old favorite. The pack's best-known beer is Holy Moses White Ale, which the brewery retired from year-round production. It’s a perfumed, Belgian-style white with plenty of coriander and tropical fruit notes.

Next comes Lawn-Seat Kolsch, a bubbly beer built for hot days. It’s standard kolsch, albeit with Great Lakes’ usual quality, light-bodied and with notably bitter hop finish. High Striker Single is a light Belgian ale, along the lines of a blonde. It’s quite estery with banana-orange tones and coriander flourishes. Like the rest, it excels at refreshing.

With a nod to Superman's Cleveland-based creators, Truth, Justice and the American Ale falls under the “hoppy session ale” moniker but still intrigues. Using Simcoe, Cascade and Mosaic hopes, The ale provides an intense hop display for a beer clocking in below 5 percent ABV. Light on the malts for an American pale ale, these hops provide the necessary touches of fruit bitterness and piney freshness to go leaps and bounds over many session IPAs. I

n just four beers Great Lakes takes us through an array of flavors and aromas. Combining one old favorite with a few newer experiments is the perfect blend of beers for the casual drinker or the old Great Lakes fan stuck in a state where they don’t distribute.