Blog Tracker
30-03-2015, 09:24
Visit the Boak and Bailey's Beer Blog site (http://boakandbailey.com/2015/03/choosing-a-lager-in-the-uk/)
http://boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/allsopps_pilsner_1920s.jpgThe arrival of a new beer from Sweden on the UK market has made us wonder about the hierarchy of packaged lagers available in the UK. The graphic below isn’t a league table, exactly. Rather, we imagined that someone was offering to buy us an entire case of lager, and then played the options of against one another, based on our most recent experiences of each beer.
So, if offered the choice between a case (or, rather, a slab) of Foster’s or one of Carling, we’d take the Carling. If we were then given the opportunity to trade up to a*case of Camden Hells, we’d certainly take it.
This is based on our personal preferences and prejudices, of course — your table would likely look different because, for example, you might not have a soft spot for the curry house favourite Cobra*like we do.
There’s a vague attempt at order — imports to the right; bigger UK breweries down the middle; those pitched as ‘craft’ towards*the left. The wishy-washy*colour coding is intended to*hint at*a scale from nasty to delicious, via bland (or neutral if you want a more, er, neutral term).
http://boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/lager_ranking.jpg
As it was samples of Fagerhult from Swedish cider-makers Kopparberg that kicked this off, we should say that we didn’t much like it — drunk on its own, it’s bland shading to nasty, with no discernible bitterness or malt flavour, just some sweet vegetal notes. It was OK with salty, spicy food (a tomato-based curry),*seeming*more bitter by contrast. We can’t imagine buying it over most other bog-standard brands, though, unless it was hugely discounted or, say, we were having a Swedish-themed*Wallander watching party.
It’s also worth noting that we’ve heard worrying reports of a recent and sudden drop in quality of bottled Pilsner Urquell (https://twitter.com/MagicRockRich/status/581901585648873472). When we last had it, it was as pungently weedy and bitter as ever but we will try a bottle or two in the new packaging when we get the chance and report back.
Choosing a Lager in the UK (http://boakandbailey.com/2015/03/choosing-a-lager-in-the-uk/) from Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog - Over-thinking beer, pubs and the meaning of craft since 2007 (http://boakandbailey.com)
More... (http://boakandbailey.com/2015/03/choosing-a-lager-in-the-uk/)
http://boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/allsopps_pilsner_1920s.jpgThe arrival of a new beer from Sweden on the UK market has made us wonder about the hierarchy of packaged lagers available in the UK. The graphic below isn’t a league table, exactly. Rather, we imagined that someone was offering to buy us an entire case of lager, and then played the options of against one another, based on our most recent experiences of each beer.
So, if offered the choice between a case (or, rather, a slab) of Foster’s or one of Carling, we’d take the Carling. If we were then given the opportunity to trade up to a*case of Camden Hells, we’d certainly take it.
This is based on our personal preferences and prejudices, of course — your table would likely look different because, for example, you might not have a soft spot for the curry house favourite Cobra*like we do.
There’s a vague attempt at order — imports to the right; bigger UK breweries down the middle; those pitched as ‘craft’ towards*the left. The wishy-washy*colour coding is intended to*hint at*a scale from nasty to delicious, via bland (or neutral if you want a more, er, neutral term).
http://boakandbailey.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/lager_ranking.jpg
As it was samples of Fagerhult from Swedish cider-makers Kopparberg that kicked this off, we should say that we didn’t much like it — drunk on its own, it’s bland shading to nasty, with no discernible bitterness or malt flavour, just some sweet vegetal notes. It was OK with salty, spicy food (a tomato-based curry),*seeming*more bitter by contrast. We can’t imagine buying it over most other bog-standard brands, though, unless it was hugely discounted or, say, we were having a Swedish-themed*Wallander watching party.
It’s also worth noting that we’ve heard worrying reports of a recent and sudden drop in quality of bottled Pilsner Urquell (https://twitter.com/MagicRockRich/status/581901585648873472). When we last had it, it was as pungently weedy and bitter as ever but we will try a bottle or two in the new packaging when we get the chance and report back.
Choosing a Lager in the UK (http://boakandbailey.com/2015/03/choosing-a-lager-in-the-uk/) from Boak & Bailey's Beer Blog - Over-thinking beer, pubs and the meaning of craft since 2007 (http://boakandbailey.com)
More... (http://boakandbailey.com/2015/03/choosing-a-lager-in-the-uk/)