If ever there was a drink with a bad rep, it’s lager – a style that’s been demonised by real-ale drinkers, incorrectly labelled as chemical swill and considered the lowest of the low in the beer world. But all that is now changing, and lager is at last reclaiming its heritage.
Lager is less a style and more a process, which is not just me being a nerd (though I am). We get the word from the German “lagerung”, which means “storage”, and beers made using that method are head and shoulders above the shortcuts used by bigger brands.
In reality, what lagering means is that the beer is left in a cold maturation environment for at least a month, which rounds it out and allows for the reabsorption of the fermentation byproducts that can cause an extra-fuzzy head. This takes time and money, so such beers can’t be sold via the pile ’em high and sell ’em cheap method we’ve come to associate with lager. There are even companies out there, such as Cotswold Brew Co, now taking things to remarkable lengths with the likes of its eight month-matured Munich Helles (£30 for 12 x 330ml bottles, cotswoldbrewco.co, 6.5%).
Lagers are a far broader church than the fizzy, yellow stuff we have become so familiar with. They range from primrose-yellow through conker-brown to stygian-black, and have a cornucopia of flavours from herbaceous helles to rye-bready bocks and coffee-laden schwarzbiers. They can also reach dizzying heights in alcohol content – especially the deep, fruity and boozy eisbocks, for which freezing is employed to concentrate the alcohol, and which results in complex and elegant offerings – for instance, Kulmbacher Eisbock (£3 for £330ml, beersofeurope.co.uk, 9.2%) – that can be enjoyed as a digestif or paired with a good, poky cheese.
There are also more hop-forward, modern lagers that taste almost like a pale ale but still have all the refreshing drinkability you expect from a lager: try Camden Brewery’s Show Off (£1.95 for 330ml, Morrisons; 5.8%) or, seeing as it’s currently New Zealand beer month, go for an excellent import in the form of Deep Creek’s Undercurrent Pilsner (£2.59 for 330ml, beerhawk.co.uk; 5%).
Believe it or not, there are even genuinely enjoyable alcohol-free options out there, too. Under EU regulations, anything at 0.5% and below counts as alcohol-free, though Brexit means our laws may change. Try Lucky Saint (£1.80 for 330ml, Sainsbury’s, 0.5%), or Big Drop Lager (£1.30 for 330ml at Ocado; 0.5%). And, while not technically alcohol-free but at just 1% abv, Original Small Beer Dark Lager is also a very tasty drop (£2.15 for 330ml, Ocado).
So, next time someone tells you that lager is just for louts, get them to try one of the new breed and don’t be surprised if they ask for more.
Four lagers to change your mind
Lost & Grounded Keller Pils
£2.50 for 440ml Waitrose, 4.8%.
Bready, peppery, lightly bitter and ridiculously drinkable, this beer ticks all the boxes for sophisticated lager lovers.
Donzoko Northern Helles
£3.60 for 440ml hopburnsblack.co.uk, 4.2%.
Brisk, lightly acidic and with a grapefruit and lily nose – a newcomer, and an accomplished one.
St Austell Korev
£1.75 for 500ml Morrisons, 4.8%.
Named after the Cornish for ‘beer’, this is an easy-drinking delight with a bop of grassy bitterness.
Basecamp Pils,
£7 for a 330ml six-pack Tesco, 4.7%.
Guaranteed crowdpleaser with a floral aroma and smooth finish.
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