Brewer’s Blog #2: Beyond the Pale                                

In part 2, Brewer gets crafty and enters the lesser traversed realm of specialty lager. Can ol' Blighty claim some much needed retribution for Part 1's calamitous collapse? Read on...

Like every sequel, Episode 2 of Brewer’s Blog promises to be better than the first (in the way Terminator II was to its original not in the way Jurassic Park was to its). On this Judgement day we are taking a look at the UK and US Lagers. I am aware “Lager” could be considered a swear word at VRAVS but I am hoping, that on this occasion, the forgiveness of the readers can be granted if we precede 'Lager' with the buzz word “craft”.

Five Hop Lager

After the last blog’s narrow defeat, the battle of the five hops begins with the UK’s Surrey based Brewery: Hog Back. Hog Back’s champion offering is the ‘Five Hop Lager’ which is sold through the Marks and Spencer’s Supermarket conduit (in a very non-craftlike way). The bottle sports a plain brown label to follow suit, contractually, with the M+S ‘craft beer’ range. However, let’s maintain an open non snobby mind (tricky for us wannabe hipsters). My girlfriend couldn’t resist giving me her unwanted opinion, scribbling “cool yellow graphics” across my tasting notes. Yes, the yellow does ‘pop off’ the brown background however, it feels substandard in comparison to the serious market competition surrounding brand packaging (such as Beavertown Brewery’s use of vividly coloured “canistry”).

The addition of a deep hop flavour to a crisp lager finish is to be applauded. A lager, being notoriously hard to brew, certainly has its place within the craft scene. However, like with the bottle label, mixing too many colours often results in an unwanted muddy brown shade. Sadly, this seems to have been the case when Hog Back chose the hops for this beer. The choice of five distinct flavours perhaps is a hop and a step too far. The overall taste is indistinct and unfortunately the flavours do not complement each other as well as they could. 

In the UK Brewery’s defence, I potentially have not given them a crack of the whip. It clearly states that this lager should be enjoyed “with Thai food, or try it with classic battered fish and chips”. Regrettably I was scoffing down the Christmas leftover Chocolate Yule Log whilst sampling said lager which admittedly wounds the scientific ‘fair test’ ethos within me.    

Overall: This ale/lager hybrid experiment gets passable results but its ambition is not supported by its taste. Also, the purist in me has to knock cool marks (and spencers) off for the large supermarket connection. 5 hops but not 5 star.

Score: 6.5/10

                        

Anchor California Lager

The USA Strikes back with another iconic drink: Anchor Brewing’s Anchor California Lager. This beverage is accompanied by a heart warming story involving the Gold Rush, ice ponds and a typical American Dream story making the impossible possible (referring to the issues in Brewing Lager in a hot environment in the 1800s)

Its use of the Californian Flag Bear on the label implies heritage and is further engrained in the drinker’s mind as the iconic Grizzly shrewdly appears again on the inside of the bottle top!The number of bubbles serves as a reminder that this is a lager although it does capture the mixture of a fruit and bitter taste of a good Ale. Following the colour analogy used earlier, the cluster hops used in this beverage come together to give a rich well blended multi-toned golden autumn yellow. I cannot concur with the “creamy head” claim (maybe it is in the way it is pawed) but the head (and shoulders) of the American Lager is above that belonging to England hog’s hop experiment.

Overall: One of the world’s best Lagers, on a par with a famous Lager found on the East coast of American with initials BL (which may or may not appear later in the Brewer’s Blog series).

Score: 8.5/10

Result

First blood Part II again goes to our transatlantic cousins. The Anchor’s Bear had too much class and experience to be troubled by the greedy ambitious Hog’s.