lager

/ˈlɑgər/

/ˈlɑgə/

Other forms: lagers

Lager is a common type of beer. When someone in a movie bellies up to a bar and orders a well-known brand of beer, it's usually a lager.

Brewers distinguish lagers from other beers by the yeast used to ferment it, as well as its light color and what's often described as the "crisp" taste of a lager. This type of beer was first invented in 15th-century Bavaria. The name lager comes from lager beer and its German source, Lagerbier, or "beer brewed for keeping," a reference to the practice of storing lager in cold places while it matures.

Definitions of lager

1. noun

   a general term for beer made with bottom fermenting yeast (usually by decoction mashing); originally it was brewed in March or April and matured until September
   synonyms: lager beer

   types:

   Munchener, Munich beer

   a dark lager produced in Munich since the 10th century; has a distinctive taste of malt

   bock, bock beer

   a very strong lager traditionally brewed in the fall and aged through the winter for consumption in the spring

   light beer

   lager with reduced alcohol content

   Octoberfest, Oktoberfest

   a strong lager made originally in Germany for the Oktoberfest celebration; sweet and copper-colored

   Pilsener, Pilsner

   a pale lager with strong flavor of hops; first brewed in the Bohemian town of Pilsen

   malt, malt liquor

   a lager of high alcohol content; by law it is considered too alcoholic to be sold as lager or beer

   type of:

   beer

   a general name for alcoholic beverages made by fermenting a cereal (or mixture of cereals) flavored with hops
2. noun

   a camp defended by a circular formation of wagons
   synonyms: laager

   type of:

   bivouac, camp, cantonment, encampment

   temporary living quarters specially built by the army for soldiers