There is a certain boldness in naming a beer All American Lager, since it invites every possible comparison. Cape May Brewing Co. seems to have decided that if you are going to make that claim, this is the year to actually back it up, releasing this small-batch lager as a tasting-room exclusive timed to 250 years of American independence.
The recipe keeps things properly classic: American-grown barley, flaked corn, and Cascade hops, fermented with an old-school American lager yeast strain. That combination produces a crisp, clean beer with just enough Cascade citrus poking through to keep things interesting, balanced by a smooth malt character that carries the whole thing to a refreshing finish. At 5.8% ABV, it has a touch more backbone than your average macro lager without losing the drinkability that makes the style what it is.
Cape May Brewing has a genuinely good origin story behind it. Founders Ryan Krill and Chris Henke were college roommates, one working in finance in Manhattan, the other designing commercial satellites, before a single weekend of homebrewing with Ryan's dad at the Jersey shore turned into a real question: should we open a brewery? They found space at the Cape May Airport, built a scrappy 12-gallon system, and opened for business in July 2011. What started as a hobby experiment has since grown into a proper three-vessel, 30-barrel operation.
The brewery's hometown adds an extra layer to a beer like this one. Cape May is home to the U.S. Coast Guard's fifth-largest base and its sole basic training center, where more than 4,000 recruits pass through every year during their eight-week training. That relationship runs deep, deep enough that the brewery has previously brewed a dedicated tribute beer for the Coast Guard community. All American Lager, arriving as it does around a major national anniversary, fits neatly into that same patriotic thread running through the brewery's history.
This one is pouring now as a tasting-room exclusive at Cape May Brewing. If straightforward, well-made American lager is your idea of a good time on a hot weekend, this is a genuinely worthwhile reason to make the trip down the shore.