Switchback Ale and Karsten Premium Lager beer cans in snow

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A can of Karsten Premium Lager from Switchback Brewing Co. featuring a logo with a stylized "S" and text indicating it is employee-owned and naturally crafted. Label mentions it's brewed in Burlington, VT and highlights lagered for 6 weeks for a clean, crisp taste.

Karsten Premium Lager

5.1% ABV

Lagered 6-weeks for the ultimate clean, crisp taste.

UNFILTERED & 100% NATURALLY CARBONATED

All Switchback beers are brewed in Burlington, Vermont and are carbonated during fermentation by the yeast itself resulting in a 100% naturally conditioned beer. After aging, we simply move the beer to the keg or bottle, leaving it unfiltered for the freshest, fullest, most natural flavor possible.

KARSTEN KLIPS

KARSTEN KLIPS

Who is Karsten?

  • It started out as a conversation amongst our production crew; what would it take to create the lager we always dreamed about? Something crisp, clean and perfectly crafted. Something with that delicious Switchback malt signature, balanced by noble hops with just a hint of sweetness.

  • Karsten Premium Lager can from Switchback Brewing Co. on a wooden surface with a mountain and sky in the background.

    Glimmers of a helles lager came to mind. But then came the challenge of mastering this notoriously unforgiving style. First we had to cultivate a lager yeast capable of fermenting the beer we desired. Then we developed a special mashing profile that allows proteins to carry through for the optimum mouthfeel.

  • Beer can with a hat and sunglasses inside a mini inner tube on the beach, with ocean waves in the background.

    Lastly, we stubbornly lagered this beer for a full six weeks. By not short cycling the lager yeast, it has all the time it needs to fully ferment for ideal flavor. You can’t rush perfection!

  • Close-up of hands holding Switchback Brewing Co. Karsten Premium Lager beer cans on a table, with a blurred background.

    After more than a year of experimenting, we had the lager of our dreams, but then came the biggest hurdle…naming it. What could possibly do it justice?

  • The copper kettle brewhouse at Braurei Beerfelden during its removal in 2008

    Flashback to 2008: Switchback Founder, Bill Cherry, traveled to Beerfelden, Germany to acquire a new (to us) 1964 Huppmann brewhouse. Bill worked alongside three Germans who specialized in brewery work to disassemble and pack up the copper brewhouse for its voyage to Vermont. One of those technicians was a man named Karsten.

  • Workers using a forklift to move large brewing equipment outside a brewery building.

    Karsten was a no frills, no-nonsense and straight to the point kind of guy. Wearing his signature cap with “KARSTEN” boldly proclaimed across the front, he worked quietly and skillfully every day to get the job done right. Who better to name this expertly crafted and unpretentious beer after than the man himself? And so, Karsten Premium Lager was born.

  • A can of Karsten Premium Lager by Switchback Brewing Co. next to a small easel displaying a pencil sketch of the can on a wooden surface.

    Just like our brewers envisioned, it's a beer made for all. Modest to the bone, despite the skill it takes to make. A beer made for drinking not crowing about. The ultimate crisp, clean, straightforward taste meant to be enjoyed on any occasion – big or small. A beer big on details but not boastful about them.

  • Cheers to the Karstens of the world!

    If this beer was a person, we like to think it would be a lot like Karsten; working hard to be respected and proud to claim that reputation.

    Cheers to the Karstens of the world!