Always The Critic

Beer Review: Clausthaler Low Alcohol Lager

It's been a while - sorry about that. I've been posting very nearly every day on my other site UKNatureBlog so check that out for wildlife including lots from my own garden.

I've also been busy preparing for the imminent arrival of my first child, which is exciting and already life-changing. For instance I've now joined my wife in not drinking alcohol as I may be required to rush her off to hospital at a moment's notice. Hence I have entered the murky world of low alcohol beer! So far we've sampled Becks Blue (zero alcohol), Cobra Zero (zero alcohol) and Clausthaler Classic (< 0.5% alcohol). And I must say that Clausthaler has been a revelation that wins out over the others. It doesn't taste watery and overly bitter (like the Becks) but it's not cloying and overly malty (like the Cobra). In fact it actually tastes like a fairly normal weakish French bottled lager to me, which is a fair feat when it leaves your head clear. I know it's German but it reminds me of Kronenbourg or St Omer in stubbies when camping in France for some reason.

Actually it's truly quite wondrous stuff as you can savour a cold beer or two on a summer's afternoon and not be in the slightest bit muddled or woozy for the rest of the day. It's just refreshing, tasty and beery. I picked it up in Waitrose on a whim, but I now know that it's actually the most popular alcohol-free brand in Europe and I can see why.

I learnt a lot about it from this very good and fact-filled review by a beer-craving pregnant lady, a few notables from which I'll expound upon here. Apparently they brew it in the same manner as other German purity-law beers, but with a special yeast that doesn't generate nearly so much alcohol. This sets it apart from most other low alcohol brews that pass normal strength beer through an osmosis process that knackers the flavour. Clausthaler claim that the small amount of alcohol in their beer is just enough to make it properly 'beery' compared to those with none. Anyway - Clausthaler is thoroughly recommended, though I'm still hoping to find some low-alcohol bitter in the supermarkets. The 30p a can 2% generic value bitter you see in the low-end supermarkets doesn't count as the alcohol content is clearly just the result of penny-pinching.

 

Beer Review: Badger Long Days

Long Days has a hint of raspberry to make an interesting summer brew. Golden in colour and 4.5% ABV it's nicely weighted for a summer's day and the raspberry is not so much as to become cloying, but enough to make it stand apart from the competition.

I'm a touch annoyed by the labelling on the bottle, which tells us that "to celebrate the summer solstice in the past, ale was often brewed with raspberry leaves as an alleged aid to fertility" but only mentions a "subtle hint of raspberries", in such a manner that I suspect they didn't achieve it by adding the raspberry leaves they evocatively mention. I imagine that if they did then they'd have been clear about it, so they probably get the raspberry flavour into the beer in a less romantic manner - perhaps by adding juice. Labelling like this always leaves me feeling like the brewer has tried to con me with their carefully chosen words, which is a shame as it's a good beer.

Beer Review: Arkell's 3B

A mobile beer review today! Who says variety is dead?

Here we see pictured the can of Arkell's 3B that quenched my frazzled business brain after a hard day out of the office a month or so ago. This was on a train back from Swindon to London to be precise, and I have to say that the availability of a half decent drop of bitter on the train was a pleasant surprise. Arkell's is actually a Swindon based brewery too, so it's nice to see the big nasty train company keeping the food miles down and offering local producers.

It's got a decent colour to it, and the well rounded maltiness you'd hope to find from that colour. At 4% the weight is just about right for the circumstances. All in all it was very welcome and dare I say even recommended if you find yourself near Swindon on a train, even out of a small plastic cup!

Beer Review: Grolsch Premium Weizen

Another pretender to the weiss throne? Not a bad one by all accounts, and with some hint of a reward round it's neck from the World Beer Awards - though it's not clear what exactly from that label. The website suggests it is in fact the world's best wheat beer and details some funky manoeuvres required to pour it properly and get the tasty sediment mixed in just right. I'd struggle to tell it from any other to be honest, but couldn't say anything bad about it. I think at some point I'm going to have to line up a bunch of weissbiers and really play them off against each other!

Beer Review: Asahi Super Dry

This Japanese import is surprisingly decent, but nothing special. It's clean and crisp, and ideally drunk well chilled. There's nothing particularly notable about it that I can pick out, but it steers clear of tasting like weak/sweet American rubbish. I wouldn't go out of my way to drink it, but it's a decent enough simple lager on a hot day.

Beer Review: Crabbie's Alcoholic Ginger Beer

I bought this in the hope that it might be in some sense a real beer, but it's basically just an alcopop. Not being a complete fool, I realistically expected that to be the case but assumed that it might at least be quite a special and interesting variant on the ginger beer theme. I like a nice ginger beer, but this is nothing special I'm afraid - sweet and straightforward. It might be just the right drink for certain circumstances, but I can't see myself buying it again.

Beer Review: Fuller's HoneyDew

I can't believe I haven't reviewed this before now as it's a classic and a firm favourite of mine. At 5% ABV and with just enough honey to notice but not overpower, this is a well balanced brew. This is true in every sense with not too much bitterness either - just enough to counter the  sweetness. It doesn't taste as alcoholic as it is and I reckon it's a perfect if-you're-going-to-have-just-one-beer-in-an-evening beverage. I prefer it reasonably chilled - more so than less sweet ales - which probably makes me a philistine, but so be it. It's quite similar in style to some of the more floral, sweet and spicy Badger beers, of which I am also a huge fan.

Beer Review: Lindemans Framboise

This is a decidedly exotic beer. In fact you may struggle to identify it as beer at all if presented a glass of it. To look at, it's a deep, ever so slightly cloudy colour that can only really be described as 'raspberry'. Which isn't surprising because that's what's in it - 30% of it in fact.

It tastes like finely sparkling raspberry juice with a slightly tart/sour beery edge. Those non-fruit flavours are the Belgian Lambic beer - fermented with yeasts that simply drift in on the air and give Lambics their characteristic sourness - just like sourdough bread in principle. Some Lambics can be face-puckeringly sour, but this has so much sweet fruit that it's tempered to just a cheeky edge that's enough to make it interesting. At only 2.5% alcohol by volume and with so much fruit, it's got to be almost good for you! Ones probably enough at one sitting though, before moving onto something a bit more normal.

Beer Review: Brains SA Gold

From Wales via the supermarket shelf, this beer is a revelation. You're not going to remember it for any particularly unusual flavour - but for its perfect balance and all round loveliness. It's a classic summery golden ale, not too strong at 4.7% but with enough might to assert itself and a really clean, not too bitter taste. I could have drunk it all evening, but I only had the one bottle. The can of Greene King IPA I had after it only highlighted just how good the Brains was.

Beer Review: Erdinger

A common classic in the field of weissbeers but, on this tasting at least, nothing to get too excited about. It's good, but not stunning. Maybe you have to be in the right mindset and the right physical location to really appreciate a beer like this. It doesn't live up to the Edelweiss that I enjoyed on a hot day a couple of weeks back.