Hop to it!

I love beer. It's no secret. That I sing the praises of Ales by no means indicates that I have no love for it's bottom fermenting cousin - the Lager. Yes, Ales tend to be more interesting, have more variety and therefore can be more rewarding, but the easy drinking Lager should not be forgotten. When a Lager goes above and beyond, pushes the boundaries and delivers something unique - well that's truly something to be celebrated... so Cheers! Here's to the best Lager I've had in a long while. 

But let's step back and look at what makes a good Lager. The Lager family is the most popular type of beer worldwide, from the crisp sharp flavour of the Pilsner to the deep sweet maltiness of the Bock there is plenty to enjoy and explore. It's all too easy to think of your generic commercial beers. From Fosters to Steinlager to Heineken to Budwiser the easy drinking pleasant crisp style of a commercial lager has it's place. The subtle balance of malts and hops serve their purpose perfectly - everyday drinking or "session" beers. Lager can go far beyond that.

When thinking about what goes into a beer, the craft of the brewer is balancing the Malt, Hops, Yeast and Water to create the desired flavours. When a beer blows me away it's often because they get the mix just right and achieve something unique. Thanks to some awesome friends sending the latest and greatest beers across the world for me to try, I have (well... I had) a bottle of Camden Hells Unfiltered Lager. Camden Town Brewery in London are the latest version of the Brewery and Alehouse combination that's the heart of the Beer tradition. I samples a couple of their brews but the Unfiltered Lager really stands out.

What you've got here is an extraordinary beer and you should beg, steal or borrow to get your hands on. Lovely light straw colour and just a little cloudy in a very pleasant, hazy sunny afternoon kind of way. All fruit and floral hops on the nose and my first thought is "this is a whole lot of aromatic hops for a Lager". The flavour isn't quite as hoppy as the aroma would indicate, but it's impressively crisp in a way that would make a Pilsner jealous and there is a distinct and rewarding bitterness on the finish. Malts are present and know their place without ever becoming dominant. It makes me wish more brewers skipped the filtering if this is what's happens!

There's more to this beer than just the cool label and if you're in that neck of the woods, relish in the knowledge that a really impressive beer is pouring freely at a pub near you!