The BeerCast

Lagerboy hasn’t had a runout for a while – he tends to spend the winter months hibernating to avoid the plethora of dark beers that appear once the days begin to lengthen. But seeing as the sun has started to peak out from behind the sleety Edinburgh clouds, he set out on a mission to find one of Britain’s newest golden fizzies. Thornbridge Italia (4.8%) has been out for a month or so – and is already winning rave reviews, so it seems like the perfect start to another year of sparkly treats for Lagerboy.

Thornbridge are one of the prime movers and shakers of the current brewing scene, putting out some fantastic beer and routinely winning awards. Only last week Kipling won a Silver at the national SIBA contest, and Jaipur picked up a bronze at the inaugural SIBA Keg awards. Slightly less impressively – but not to us, of course – their Imperial Russian stout St Petersburg was named one of our best beers of 2010. I’m sure if we’d actually issued an award in physical form it would be nestling proudly on a mantelpiece somewhere in Bakewell.

Lagerboy would never dare drink an Imperial Russian stout – Baltika would probably be the choice, should he ever find himself east of the Dneiper. Sticking to the lighter, gassier offerings has stood him in good stead in the past – and seeing as Italia was brewed by Thornbridge in collaboration with lagermaster Maurizio Folli of Birrificio Italiano, it was approached with high hopes. Containing Pilsner malt and Hallertau Northern Brewer, Perle and Spalter Select hops it looks every inch the classic pils – pouring a hazy but vibrant lemon yellow with a inch-high fluffy white head.

The aromas of bitter hop and a slight crisp sweetness are very enticing, with a blast of citrus on the nose for good measure. On the palate there’s some spicy hop and a touch of earthiness, but the biggest impact comes from the citric lemon and lime flavours that erupt over the palate. Combined with an almost creamy mouthfeel, at halfway it reminds you of something like lemon cheesecake. The fruit continues on to the end, when a dry finish rounds off everything. Really very good indeed, if all of Lagerboy’s conquests are like this, 2011 looks like it could be a vintage year.

Writing about beer – or any other subject – can lead to interesting discoveries, or give you strange moments of realisation. For me, despite the numerous posts of Lagerboy (and many trips to Italian restaurants), I never actually realised that Peroni and Nastro Azzurro were different beers. Admittedly they come in almost identical bottles, but originally the former was the flagship of the Peroni Brewery, and the latter their premium brand launched in 1963. Also in my defence there’s only 0.4%abv difference between the two (Peroni weighs in at 4.7% and Nastro at 5.1%). I guess when drunk at Pizza Express they look and taste pretty similar.

Anyway, Lagerboy has been educated in the differing brands of Birra Peroni because of a meatier stablemate – Peroni Gran Riserva (6.6%). Despite the pretence of exclusivity, thanks to the muscle of SABMiller (who purchased Birra Peroni in 2005) the Gran Riserva can be found in most UK supermarkets. As it happened, Lagerboy was idly pushing a trolley around one such establishment when the dark red and gold bottle happened to catch his beady eye. It’s the strongest beer produced by the Rome-based firm, the rest being paler lagers either side of the magic 5% mark.

Peroni Gran Riserva pours a darkish gold or light amber colour, and has a nose of slight alcohol and dark stone fruits with plenty of malt. It tastes a bit like a bock (on RateBeer it is actually categorised as a Helles), with strong, sweet alcohol tastes, more malt and only a touch of hops. The aftertaste is plums and more sweetness. It all tails off a bit though, and leads off from a promising start into a muddling finish. It’s eminently drinkable, and probably better than either of their two more renowned brands, but there are better punchy lagers out there.

Peroni Official Website

These days the primary style of European lager that reaches these shores is the all-conquering pilsner (either Bohemian or German). But back in the day there were others that came from the Continent – Muncheners and Viennese lagers that were popular before the light-coloured beer from Pilsen took over. Slightly darker and less hoppy, these styles faded before the Bohemian wave of Saaz-filled treasures from the east. But they do still exist – and recently Lagerboy managed to find an award-winning Vienna style lager from the banks of the Thames – Meantime Union (4.9%). Founded in 1999, Meantime produce a consistently good range of beers, many of which (including Union) having been voted best in class at various year’s World Beer Awards.

The first thing you notice is that Union is extremely fizzy – it pours highly carbonated, with a swiftly dispersing head that leaves a regular rising stream of bubbles. The second thing of note is the colour – a clear coppery brown from the dark lager malts. There’s little hops on the aroma – as you’d expect, Vienna’s being more subtle than pilsners. In fact, the whole flavour is subdued, very dry and with some hops coupled with the malt, making it a smooth, easy drinker. There’s a slight caramel sweetness on the aftertaste that peters out pretty quickly, leaving the whole thing thin and uninspiring. It’s an excellent approximation of the style, but not a great style at that. Gentle, unassuming beers can be great – like Union – it’s just sometimes they leave you wanting more.

Meantime Brewing

The World Cup is in full swing at the moment, building to a crescendo of footballing entertainment in mid-July. The official beer of the 2010 FIFA World Cup is Budweiser (if only Dogfish Head or Stone had a bigger marketing budget). For those lucky enough to have travelled to South Africa to watch their beloved Paraguay or South Korea, there are other options if they get thirsty (just don’t try to sneak into the stadium with another brand). For example, you could do far worse than get your hands on the 2009 Champion beer of South Africa – Robson’s West Coast Ale (5.0%). Hailing from the Shongweni Brewery near Durban, their Robson’s brand contains four interesting sounding beers – the flagship being their East Coast Ale, a 4.5% golden ale.

Durban – and the small town of Shongweni from where the brewery take their name – are situated on the east coast of the country, so their West Coast Ale refers in fact to the United States, as it’s a California-style lager. It pours with a thin lasting head with some nice lacing, and has some substantial rising carbonation. The colour of the beer is just lovely – dark caramel with a touch of red, and plenty of haze from the bottle conditioning. The aroma is very malty, and so is the taste – dry, with little caramel or sweetness, the crystal malt wins out. It is very toasty, as a California common should be (if that was their intention), but not that woody – it’s a bit like a dunkel maybe. Straddling styles, it’s extremely drinkable and really rather good.

Shongweni Brewery

‘Since 1004’ says the label, in a modest, small font. Žatec Blue Label Pilsner certainly comes with a history. In German the town is known as Saaz, which of course gives it’s name to the variety of hops commonly found in Bohemian pilsners – brewing certainly seems to be endemic to that part of the world. Lagerboy is always keen to tick off another of the Czech pilsners – there are so many, after all – and Žatec is one that had yet to pass his parched, chilled-beer seeking lips. Of course, the date on the label is a misnoma – the brewery wasn’t founded prior to the Norman conquest of Britain. 1004AD was the first date from which historical reference was made to the town of the same name – this particular Žatec brewery didn’t begin until 1800 (although beer has been made in the town since 1261, using the Saaz hops).

The beer pours like a true pilsner, with that characteristic straw-yellow colour and large, fast dispersing head. There’s quite a lot of carbonation going on, with several steady streams of rising bubbles. The smell is pretty average, not really much going on other than a slight maltiness – no spiciness to speak of from the Saaz. The taste carries on in the same vein, being frankly a bit boring compared with other Czech pilsners (such as Jever). That being said, it’s not unpleasant and it’s certainly not bad. There’s a slight malty sweetness with a touch of fruit from the hops. Žatec is very much a session pilsner – down the middle of the line – it doesn’t repel the taste buds, but it doesn’t fascinate them either.

Žatec Official Website