We do love us some lagers in the Crew. Dark lagers, light lagers, traditional lagers, experimental lagers, you name it, we will probably drink it.

That’s what makes this Saturday special, as Canteen Brewhouse has gathered 17 of their finest brewery friends together for the third annual For the Love of Lagers. This special celebration kicks off with a VIP hour at noon, followed by general admission at 1 p.m., and it concludes at 4 p.m. Tickets are available online, with the VIPs going fast.

I caught up with Canteen general manager Jamie Schwebach for a quick interview this week to get the lowdown on all the lager-riffic details.

“We have a total of 17 breweries featured, so we’ll have a total of 20 lagers pouring on jockey (boxes), plus an additional two inside,” she said. “We’re putting four of ours out there to make sure the jockey boxes are all full. It’s a great roundup of breweries this year, I think every year it has been.”

The sheer variety of lager styles is impressive.

“It’s nice to see a wide variety of everything from pilsners to low ABV lagers to Vienna,” Schwebach said. “Second Street is bringing their (Vienna Lager), a gold-medal winner from World Beer Cup.”

There will be some regularly available lagers being poured, but the majority are seasonal/specialty one-offs. GA tickets come with 17 samples, one full pour, a hot dog, and a sticker. VIP tickets get bonus sample pours.

In addition to all that, there will also be some additional summer fun, like popsicles, water balloons, water guns, and the current plan is to set up some tetherball. Suddenly I am back at Arroyo del Oso Elementary circa 1989, well, except for the whole beer part. Cynical Bird will provide the music, because what is an event at Canteen without live music?

“It should be a fun day, hanging out and enjoying some lagers,” Schwebach said. “There will be tickets at the door, which should be great.”

Oh, and as a bonus, Schwebach reminded us about another upcoming lager-centric event.

“It’s actually a whole week of celebrating lagers,” she said. “We’re doing For the Love of Lagers this weekend. We’ll have water balloons and water guns, tetherball and summer fun. Next Thursday, we’re doing the Liberty Lager Jogger with La Cumbre. You start here, run to La Cumbre, drink a beer, run back, drink a beer. Or, you start at La Cumbre.”

Fine, we’ll start stretching now. The Crew ain’t getting any younger. But we have delayed the key part of any festival preview long enough. Here are the participating breweries for Saturday and their lagers.

• Bosque: The Pilz Have Eyes
• Boxing Bear: Black Mesa Dunkel
• Canteen: Cabana Mexican Lager, Citranova, Helles Awaits, High Plains Pilsner
• Ex Novo: Corraleño
• Flock of Moons: Il Bernandante
• Gravity Bound: Nightly Rituals
• La Cumbre: Lager Softly
• Marble: Poquito Pilsner
• Nexus: Hollodeck Helles Pale Lager
• Ponderosa: Golden Hour Amber Lager
• Quarter Celtic: Ol’ Keller
• Santa Fe: Pepe Loco
• Second Street: Vienna Lager
• Sidetrack: Nine Mile Pils
• Steel Bender: COMPA
• Thirsty Eye: What’s a-Matcha You?
• Tractor: Pilsner #15

Grab some some sunscreen, wear some comfy shoes, and get on out there this weekend. We cannot think of a better way to pregame the big match between New Mexico United and Colorado Springs.

Keep supporting local!

— Stoutmeister