Some lagers with flavour

THE weather was hot and sultry as I typed this (but no doubt the rain will be beating down as you read it) and hence this week’s theme – lager; a perfect drink for the summer months.

The first golden lager was brewed in 1842 in the Czech city of Plzen, known in those days as Plisen and so today’s ‘pilsner’ or ‘pils’ really means ‘from Pilsen.’

It is (or should be) brewed using a ‘bottom fermenting’ lager yeast which ferments more slowly and at a lower temperature than a traditional ale yeast.

This creates a cleaner and crisper profile to the beer which should then be enhanced by a lengthy storage (or ‘lagering’) period. Well, that’s the theory.

However while golden lager has taken the world by storm in the 175 years since it first appeared, most of what you see are commodity beers made by industrial brewing processes and with only limited ‘lagering.’

Many of them don’t taste of much either.

If I want a really tasty lager I often head to the Railway on Avenue Street, Portwood, and have a couple of bottles of Jever Pilsner, a crisp hoppy brew from North Germany.

However many craft brewers have turned their hands to decent lagers and rather than North Germany here are three from the North of England, which I picked up at Bargain Booze on Bramhall Lane in Davenport.

Thornbridge Brewery Lukas (4.2%, 330ml, £2.60)

We’ve met Thornbridge in this column before. They’ve been around since 2005 and in 2009 opened a big new brewery in Bakewell – this is their take on Bavarian ‘Helles’, the standard pale lager for that part of Germany. All the ingredients are Bavarian in this palest of blond beers.

There’s a hoppy, grassy “new mown hay” aroma which sets the scene for this crisply hoppy and hugely refreshing beer.

There’s a gently growing bitterness as you drink but this is balanced by just a touch of sweetness. The hops stay into the long and moreish finish. Great stuff.

Marble Brewery Your Betrayal (5%, 330ml, £2.89)

Manchester’s Marble Brewery is another regular here.

This ‘American Pilsner’ is part of their Metal Series and includes Cascade and Ekuanot hops. There’s Pilsner Malt in there too and it’s brewed using a Czech lager yeast.

It’s a hazy pale gold on the pour with crisp floral aromas. There are floral and citrus notes from the American hops as you drink while the classic pilsner crisp, dry bitterness also develops with a touch of balancing sweetness.

The finish is long, tangy and clean. An excellent modern interpretation of a classic style which stays true to its roots.

Sonnet 43 Yellow Cab Lager (4.1%, 330ml, £2.30)

Sonnet 43 is based in Coxhoe, County Durham, and started brewing five years ago (the name comes from a poem by Elizabeth Barratt Browning).

This lager is part of its ‘Rogue Range’ and promises a clean, crisp taste. It’s a hazy gold, slightly darker than the others, and on the nose there’s lemon and lime but also a slightly unwelcome vegetable note. It’s juicily fruity as you drink, with more citrus notes and a touch of sweetness.

At the end the bitterness develops and lasts into the finish. Not as clean and crisp as the others but still very enjoyable.