Introduction to German Beer

Lagers are the most popular (top selling) beers in the UK:

“The United Kingdom citizens have preferred ales in place of lagers for the past several centuries. However, lager beers have been gaining ground in Britain also and the sales of regional ales have been affected seriously by big national lager brands. Carling, previously known as Carling Black Label, is the largest selling beer in Britain, which is originally from Canada. Equally surprising is the fact that the Australian beer brand, Foster’s Lager, is in second place in the United Kingdom, followed by Stella Artois of Belgium and Carlsberg of Netherlands.”

https://www.foodandbeverageunderground.com/top-selling-beers.html

Cheers!

 

All the biggest brands in Britain are brewed there: Carlsberg, Carling, Fosters, Coors Light. Stella and Amstel might be made on the continent, but Brexit could change that.

 

Foster's (and probably Amstel) is brewed by Heineken in Manchester. Carlsberg (at least their the basic brand) in the UK is brewed in Northampton. Coors and Carling are brewed at Burton-on-Trent. (They also own Marstons.) There are several south Asian brands probably brewed in the UK. I'm not sure about Stella or the Italian labels. Tennents is the only major UK domestic brand that survives.

 

Ummm....

Not according to this article:
Carlsberg and Marston's Merger

https://www.carlsbergmarstons.co.uk/

 

I have been drinking Warsteiner Pilsener in the dark bottle, Czechvar Czech lager green bottle, and polish Tyskie Gronie lager in 500ml can. Interested in your thoughts on these brews if you find them. Agree Paulaner Pils is a good brew.

 

I replied to the post but ignored the Carlsberg of Netherlands item.

 

I was talking more about actual English breweries brewing lager (Sam Smith is about the only one I can think of, but I'm pretty sure there are a couple others).

I do remember a lot of Carlsberg advertising when I visited London. Only lager I had on that trip was an Ayinger Hell I spotted on tap. Made a nice little detour from the Real Ale I was sampling.

 

Find some fresh Ayinger Bavarian Pils for comparison. I guarantee you'll be amazed.

 

My guess is the bottles are covered in dust because they are priced $5 more a four pack than the rest.

 

At least, but the real point is that the Ayinger has more character, to me, than the Paulaner. But I also added that caveat of freshness.

Another good one to look for is Wirzburger Hofbrau Pils -- but that one seems elusive.

 

It seems to be common for folks to view old/stale beers as having an off-flavor (e.g., the popular it tastes like cardboard thing).

Often times what an old/stale beer will exhibit is 'stuff' that is not longer there. For the case of hop forwards beers like IPAs hop aroma fade is what typically happens during oxidation/aging and this can happen pretty quickly (a few weeks to a couple of months) depending upon the specific brand and the quality of the packaging line of the brewery (and storage conditions too). For the case of lagers the oxidation/aging can be a situation of the flavor profile becoming 'muddled'. This sounds this is what happened with your four-pack of Bitburger.

On the topic of imported lagers I have noticed that some brands will take on a sweetness (honey-like) aspect as the beer is aged.

Cheers!

 

You're so spot-on on the honey-like sweetness of some aged lagers. Happens to domestic ones too if you wait long enough. Bitburger doesn't fall into that category for me. It demonstrates a metallic aftertaste that gets stronger with the age. What I discovered recently, both regular Radeberger Pilsner and newly introduced Radeberger Zwickelbier don't suffer from that effect so much. Both are now my default go-to German imports.

 

Shopping at Aldi yesterday and it dawned on me that no one has brought up Wernesgruner in this thread (and I searched, to be sure).

Great German Pils at a more-than economical price and clearly dated.

The covered six-pack carrier is somewhat awkward to carry and open, but it helps keep the weird Aldi shelf lighting off the green bottles.

 

Aldi in our area (NY Long Island) does not carry beer. Lidl does carry Perlenbacher German Pilsner (a private label; $10 per six of half liter bottles) and "Czech Lager" ($2 per 1/2 liter Pilsener style, actually brand name "Argus 12 Majestic" in miniscule letters on the back). Both are bargains and pretty good.

 

Aldi only. And at $7 a six-pack you owe it to yourself to venture into Aldi.