Beers to drink
FOR a long time, overly serious craft beer devotees viewed lager as the enemy, something that represented all that craft wasn’t.
With the most familiar lagers being the fizzy, yellow, additive-laden stuff of hangover nightmares, it’s no wonder familiarity bred contempt.
However, just because a lot of bad beer is lager, it does not necessarily follow all lager is bad beer. After a day of toil or during a night dancing, a light lager has always been my go-to beer for instant refreshment.
I’m glad brewers have stopped puffing their chests out with ever more extreme styles and are turning their hand to new and delicious options which leave the “pile ’em high and sell ’em cheap” supermarket selections for dust.
“Lager” is German for “to store” and represents a huge swathe of different styles from the palest Pilsners to the darkest Doppelbocks and Dunkels.
However, as it is – apparently – the summer, I’m focusing on the lighter end of the spectrum.
Chorlton Brewing Hüll Melon Lager (£2.50/5.7%/330ml)
Chorlton are one of the latest breweries to turn their hand to lager, releasing three variants on the same day using different hops with a plan to continue mixing things up in future. This is my pick of the three, using a new German hop strain that has – unsurprisingly – great aromas and flavours of melon alongside plenty more tropical hop juiciness.
Tempest Easy Livin’ Pils (£2.30/5.0%/330ml)
A great Scottish take on a classic German style. Pours with cereal, citrus and pineapple aromas. The citrus continues in the flavour to such an extent I’m occasionally reminded of lager and lime – although without any of the dubious connotations that might suggest.
A little taste of Bohemia via The Borders. Cloud water Pioneer Lager (£2.60/4.8%/330ml) Cloud water have been playing around with the style from the start of the year and I think this is head and shoulders above the last round of experiments. Hoppy florals combine with grassy herbs and a little spice on the nose. Taste is a crisp and dry take on the same alongside a little citrus that lasts in the nicely bitter finish.
Jever Pilsener (£2.60/4.9%/500ml)
Jever suggest it’s the pure water they use that makes this beer so special. I don’t agree, I think it’s all in the additional herbs. Popping the top is like opening the door to the Grateful Dead’s dressing room, heavy on skunky herbal aromas.
Taste-wise it’s just off dry, with a crisp refreshing fizz and more herbal hop bitterness. Wild Beer Co. Smoke N’ Barrels (£3.00/4.0%/330ml) Using malts infused with cherry wood smoke, rosemary and sage, this take on a smoked lager is not as heavy on the savoury notes as some of the others in this style.
But it still has plenty of smoke alongside a little citrus on the nose which gives way to slightly sweet malt balanced with citrus and herbs before the smoke comes back in the long dry finish.
The perfect breakfast beer alongside a bacon roll beside the campfire. In association with The Good Spirits Co. Wine & Beer Glasgow