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Memorable Beers #13 — …and Back to Lager

Not longer after we’d decided to ditch Foster’s in favour of real ale, we had our minds blown for a second time when we rediscovered lager at a friend’s birthday party at the Greenwich Union, the brewery tap for Meantime.

We were surprised to realise that, within that catch-all category, there were sub-types and variations we’d never dreamed of: at that time, the Union was selling Kölsch, ‘Golden’ and Pils. All three looked similar, but tasted different. Not wanting to look too geeky, we whispered to each other — “This one’s more… it’s got more… it tastes…” — but didn’t really have the vocabulary to express what we were experiencing.

We liked Golden Lager the best and we came back later that month to drink it again. They no longer make it but, even now, when we taste a certain kind of “double malt” European beer, like Estrella Voll Damm, GL is the reference point we return to.

The important lesson for us, we suppose, was that Real Ale Good/Lager Bad is a stupid over-simplification.

9 replies on “Memorable Beers #13 — …and Back to Lager”

I got started on London Pride and Buckley’s, but then switched for several years, first to Guinness (which I didn’t even like) and then, for some reason, to vodka and lime. (In case anyone’s wondering, this was some years before “The man with the lightbulb head”; in fact I distinctly remember seeing the Soft Boys with a v&l in hand.)

When it comes to not-real-ale, you had much better taste!

Not wishing to appear stupid and over simple but I very rarely like lager (even the posh ones) whereas I drink real ale regularly.

Saying that you “very rarely like lager” is a sensible expression of your subjective point of view. Nothing wrong with that!

That’s still not the same as saying “lager is bad”. You believe there is such a thing as a well made lager, even if you don’t like them yourself, right?

Tandleman: ditto.
For me it has to be in a sun soaked piazza or within sight of the beach. Carlsberg failed me in Cyprus, but the local beer was excellent.

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