Now this is a lager and a half. Tasted at the Vermont Brewers Festival last Friday in Burlington, held on open ground right next to Lake Champlain, a stunning location that beat a municipal hall in England or Belgium any day. It was brewed by Alchemist Pub and Brewery (sadly closed when I visited next day), an imperial Pilsner I would say given that its IBU was 65 and it had been lagered for 14 weeks (longer even than Budvar’s 90 days). I loved it. Despite the IBU extremity it was soft floral and piney in its hop character and certainly not palate rasping. There was a lemon/grapefruit nose with a light peachy/apricot character clanging away in the mouth alongside a sensous centre of malt before a magnificent bitter finish. It’s a lager, it’s hoppy and it’s wonderful and the fact I went back for it twice says something. As the Three Degrees once sang, When will I See You Again. Great fest as well — all sorts of folk there, with the only drag being the queues for a beer as the evening progressed.
Enjoyed the article in All About Beer magazine, sounds like lager might be worth drinking when I eventually make it home to Blighty and consider settling down and what have you.
ReplyDeleteAnd me! But I reckon I'll be out here in Thailand drinking their own brands for some time. Cheap and cheerful - but not like the quality stuff.
ReplyDeleteVelky — there really is something going on with craft lager in the UK, even though the route to market is strewn with all sorts of obstacles and ‘cask-conditioned lager’ seems to hog all the limelight; Cotswold’s Dark is one of the most perfect reasons for drinking lots of beer that I have ever known. Let’s home that by the time you return the chance of getting a lagered beer will have increased threefold.
ReplyDeleteMark — I suspect Thailand has its own attractions, especially the food.