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Every so often I bother to check the email address I stick on the bottom of this tosh. One thing I’ve noticed among the emails inviting me to buy discount Viagra and consider a penis extension are the number of beer related junk emails. Emails from companies highlighting something or other, whether it is a beer festival in Alaska or a beer award in Japan. I read these, in fact I welcome them, they can be interesting, but they rarely inspire me to mention any of it on this rubbish.

I received a nice email from a chap at Aldi supermarkets highlighting the available beers the supermarket were putting out to coincide with the Oktoberfest. It appears Zak Avery pointed him in my direction. It was interesting and it did get me thinking that I’ve not been in the discount supermarkets for a while like Aldi, Netto & Lidl and I really ought to check out the cheap lager. You can get lazy relying on my supermarket dot com and flitting between the mainstream for bargains. I mean, look how long it’s been since I checked out Oetinger &Galahad, and they don’t even flog Oetinger anymore.

It wasn’t intended as rudeness but I didn’t reply, it was marketing bumf and actually it did get me a thinking I’d been lazy in my sourcing of the cheap high quality lager that is the very lifeblood of the cooking lager enthusiast.

A second email came a few days later off the same gentlemen offering me some free lager. Free lager you say? Did I hear that right? Free Lager? Ooooooo Free Lager, my favourite thing not including an affectionate romantic suggestion off the lady squeeze. Why thank you, that would be delightful. If you don’t have a beer blog yourself, you really ought to start one. It doesn’t have to be any good. I mean, look at the incoherent tosh I get away with, and people still send me “free samples”. In fact the advice offered to all cooking lager enthusiasts isn’t just to check out the cheap offers in the supermarkets and avoid pubs but to start a beer blog and wait for someone to offer you some free beer.

A six pack of Steinhäuser, a bottle of Staroslav & 2 Finchley Ales, Golden pale & India. Tidy, wahay. Ideal to sink a few in front of the football. Then I realised it was England playing and thought, ideal to sink watching pretty much anything else.




The Steinhäuser, a Dortmunder/Helles brewed by Dortmunder Actien Brauerei (Oetker Group) for Aldi supermarkets comes in at a 5% lout in a 330ml bottle. 6 for £3.79, or 19p per 100ml. Reasonably cheap and better value than most smaller beer packs out there, but not quite as cheap as when the bigger boxes of lout are on the special. The bottle makes mention of the 1516 German purity law and makes mention of the law defining only water, barley malt, hops & yeast but the allergen information warns of “contains wheat & barley”. On taste I’d guess it was an all barley beer with the barley stored with wheat in the brewery for use in other brews. Kind of like buying something that doesn’t contains nuts but warns it might. The beer is a refreshing crisp beer with a slightly bitter astringency in the aftertaste and smacks of lovely lager flavour. Top stuff, I loved it. Lovely drop of lout.




The Staroslav Czech lager is brewed in Bohemia and comes in a 5% lout in a 500ml bottle. Why not read what the beer nut thinks of it here, To my taste, however, I found it packed with lovely lagery goodness. A fragrant smell, a sweeter maltier balance. Lightly hopped & flowery with only a slight bitterness on the aftertaste. The ingredients are unclear but the taste suggests an all barley malt beer without adjuncts or hop extracts. Really nice stuff.

So there you have it, two nice beers, a nice chap sent me for nowt, both of which I’d drink again. The Steinhäuser in particular being a delicious good value beer that looks cheap when between giveaway supermarket offers.

Are you a corporate suit? Do you want to feature your beer on this load of rubbish and potentially reach my half a dozen or so regular readers with your product? Have no fear, I am a corporate whore that will happily neck any free beer he is given.












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