The Lagers – Group 1
Like many people, my primary association with lagers was warm cans of Fosters at festivals when I was a few years younger than I am now. Suffice to say they are not particularly pleasant memories with regards to enjoyment of alcohol in of itself, rather than the ensuing onslaught.
Don’t get me wrong, those warm cans of kangaroo piss served a purpose, but they were purely medicinal. It was definitely about the destination rather than the journey, if you get my drift. I think that the beer world and I have moved on sufficiently to stop associating lager solely with fizzy piss-water though, so I’m going to try to come to this round with an open mind.
Just need to stop thinking about kangaroos.
Harviestoun Schiehallion
The Pour
It pours with a bit of a head, but nothing compared to some of what I’ve seen. It’s still a fair old head for a lager though, which I’m only used to frothing once someone’s shaken the can. It’s a very white head and subsides pretty quickly.
There’s a good effervescence down the side of the glass as you’d expect. It’s far more orange than I was expecting. In my head lagers are a yellowy-champagne colour.
This is different.
On The Nose
I must admit, I braced myself for the worst for this bit.
I was very pleasantly surprised. There was none of the industrial grease-remover smell you sometimes get from lagers. This smelt fresh, fruity. It’s a citrussy fruit, but quite hard to put my finger on. It’s not sharp enough to be lemons, not sweet enough to be passionfruit. A bit grapefruity if I had to pin it down. It’s backed up by a bready maltiness towards the end. At the very top of the profile is a hint of herbaceousness, but it’s fleeting. I missed it on the first couple of sniffs.
Yes, I’m now a person who sniffs beer.
Taste
Maybe my expectations of this group were were low. This was seriously impressive though.
There’s a strong hoppy bitterness at the front of the palate which fades into a wash of orange. There’s a hint of sweetness rather than just an unrelenting punch of hops. It’s far more delicate than I was expecting, and the herbaceous aromas come out to play once your palate is clear. These then make way for a pleasant but not too-strong maltiness.
I think it’s fair to say that this might have changed my expectations of lager as a group…
Chapel Down Curious Brew
The Pour
This pours quite flat, with very little in the way of a head. It’s pale, more the typical lager colour I had been expecting with the Harviestoun. Quite champagney, as you’d expect from people who are best known for the sparkling wines.
On The Nose
This is a strong hoppy beasty. They apparently use the same yeast as they do for their very impressive sparkling wines (I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or marketing bumf though TBH). It’s got a delicacy to it which I’m going to credit to that yeast though, because it’s just not present in the others.
It smells more delicate and focuses less on the maltiness and fruitiness of the Harviestoun.
This seems a closer relative of the lagers I am used to. It’s the smarter, more refined elder step-sibling though. Related, but only just.
Taste
It’s got a strong bubble going on. It’s not unpleasant, and doesn’t result in gassiness, but you certainly feel it on your tongue quite strongly. Once that passes it’s all very light hops and a refined bitterness. There’s not much in the way of maltiness or fruit behind that.
It’s very light, clear and fresh. I keep waiting for a little more to appear in the background but the most I get is an almost champagne-esque minerality. It’s perfectly pleasant but it’s one dimensional. Nothing wrong with that, and what it does do it does very well. It’s just that it can’t quite play in the same leagues as the Harviestoun.
Peroni Gran Riserva
The Pour
Orange. So orange. It looks like an IPA.
It’s the flashy matured Peroni though, so maybe I should have expected something a little different. There’s no head to it, but the side of the glass reveals a clear effervescence.
On The Nose
It’s got a strong maltiness which segues into a gentle hop twang. It’s clearly all about the maltiness though. It’s got some yeast caught up in that maltiness too, but it’s more brioche than farmhouse loaf. It’s almost ale-like rather than a fresh lager.
On the plus side it doesn’t have the smelly-feet background hum which is typical of bog-standard Peroni.
Taste
It’s more or less the same as the aromas. All maltiness, brioche and depth slowly giving way to hoppiness. It’s really very pleasant but not particularly lively.
There’s a strong fizz on the tongue – a prickling redolent of a typical lager. It makes the whole thing more refreshing and helps to break up what could otherwise seem a little dense and chewy for a lager. Once you get your head around that it’s not a light lager it goes down pretty easy.
The Scores
Harviestoun Schiehallion – £1.43
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Thirst-quench ability – 4
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Ease of drinking – 4
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Price – 5
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Taste – 4.25
17.25/20 – Complex, refreshing and rounded
Chapel Down Curious Brew – £1.79
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Thirst-quench ability – 4
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Ease of drinking – 4
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Price – 3
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Taste – 3
14/20 – Light, easy, but a little singular in its flavour profile
Peroni Gran Riserva – £1.97
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Thirst-quench ability – 3
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Ease of drinking – 3.5
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Price – 2
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Taste – 3.5
12.5/20 – Deeper, but kind of pricey for the size
The League Table
The Harviestoun is a well-deserved winner. I had some historic hang-ups about lager, but will now happily concede that not all lagers are created equal. Some actually taste of something. Some even taste of something really nice.
The Scots are killing it in this Drink-Off.
Omnomnom London 