Of Lager and Snobbery

Like most drinkers of my generation (and probably others), the beers of my teens and early twenties were pale lagers; either the local swill (VB, Carlton, Toohey's New) or on a good day, imports and “imports” like Stella or Amstel. And so, as I began my journey to enlightenment, I tended to look down on the bottom fermenting beer family as a whole with some disdain. Even premium or craft lagers, pilsner style in the main, were off my radar unless splitting a slab with less pretentious drinkers, although dopplebock occasionaly made it through.

Recently though, three lager beers broke through my self-righteous barrier and grabbed me by the throat. The first was courtesy of Biero's $5 pint Wednesday nights. After going with my little brother to see Iron Maiden for his 18^th, we went to Biero for a few celebratory draughts. And I battled my inner self to look at the list of delicious pints on offer and boldly go where my tastebuds hadn't gone before, despite Jamison's “Beast” and Holgate's “Temptress” being listed. So I tried a Weltenburger “Hell”. 'Whoahmygod, this is truly the drink of kings' was my first thought. A spicy noble hop aroma just peeped out from under a sweet malt nose, and there was a thin but tight head on the copper-amber body. The first sip was what I could only describe as 'balance'. Not too much hop flavour, not too much cloying malt, not to long or harsh a bitterness. (And after noting the name, I have been searching the internet for which variety of Weltenburger this glorious pint was, but I'm at a dead end, since they have both Urtyp Hell and Barock Hell on ratebeer.com. I'm leaning towards Barock by other peoples' descriptions, but who knows? Certainly not the Biero barstaff unfortunately.)

The next glorious lager to cross my path was 2 Brothers' “Chief” Märzen /Oktoberfest, which my mate Stew and I found on tap at Fitzroy's trendy Gasometer, which is a place well worth visiting if you're in the area. A former tacky 'Oirish Teme Pob' it's now a pretty classy joint where the Vice set go to compare tatts and drink their woes away. The beer in question was every inch as good as the Weltenburger, with a slight boozy kick and a little more malt, with a touch more bitterness to balance. Plus 2 Brothers have a great habit of not only producing sweet tap badges (classy enameled goodness,) but whacky tap handles as well. Their American Brown “Growler” is often pulled via a model chainsaw, and “Chief” comes courtesy of a stone headed tomahawk! Classy packaging can make all the difference.

Thirdly I have been taking advantage of both Blackheart & Sparrows and Bar Fred to get my hands on Budějovický Budvar “Dark Lager”, which is pretty much described by the name. I first chose it to go with a meal at my favourite local BYO Indian joint (that's BYO alcohol, not BYO Indian!) - Kaki Di Hatti, which as luck would have it is almost opposite Blackheart & Sparrows on Lygon Street. After reading how pale beers are often lost with hot food, I went the Budvar because it wasn't pale, and a 500ml bottle was only ~$5, which is a bargain! (At Bar Fred, a sweet little bar and pizza joint on Nicholson St, the 500ml Dark is the same price as a 330ml of standard Budvar: $6.50 – what a sweet deal!) It's a pretty great drop, the toasty roasty Lindt choc aroma of stout mingled with hops, a mildy tannic caramel flavour and the refreshing crisp finish of lager.

So there it is, a little look at the three beers which recently made me drop my ale-centric pose and look a little further into lagers. And with a few more local breweries rumoured to be dropping Oktoberfest styled brews in the near future, I just can't wait.