There's a certain kind of brewery that treats its friends like backup singers, and Confluence leaned on exactly that relationship here. Lager Life is a collaboration with Lua Brewing, built specifically to give the taproom a second lager option alongside Confluence's regularly scheduled Marzen for Oktoberfest season.
The history lesson tucked into the release is worth knowing: Marzen was the official beer of Oktoberfest back in 1872, full-bodied and rich, until Festbier quietly took over the celebration in the 1990s for being lighter and easier to drink by the liter all day long. Lager Life follows that same script - still malty, just less rich and golden than its predecessor, built for stamina rather than ceremony. Confluence's own explanation for the collab is refreshingly simple: why pick a favorite lager when you could just have one in each hand.
It pours in the taproom starting Friday, August 7th, with four-packs to go and wider Iowa distribution arriving the following Monday. Grabbing one of each seems like the only reasonable way to settle the Marzen-versus-Festbier debate for yourself.