Continental Lagers - The head

Are you sure about that? Name some of these, please. You might have a little surprise coming your way. A lot of British pale lagers (lagers can come in many colors after all) sport "continental" names but are in fact brewed in Old Blighty. Others are imported all the way across the channel. Finding out which is which is just one of the entertaining challenges of finding Real Lager in the UK.

See above.

Which pilsner?

That is quite a broad brush you are painting with. Can all of the beers on tap from continental europe really be horrible? Or is it just one or two beers....

to clarify, I am referring to standard lagers as Carlsberg, Stella, Heineken, Becks etc. I understand some of them are brewed under license in UK. Wheres that high thin foamy sign of good health!? Im just curious, not really dissappointed as such.

Beer Circus is great dont get me wrong - but the flat one is Verhaeghe Pils. It doesnt taste flat, just looks it.

dgs wrote:

Maybe I was a bit judgemental :) Many of them are fine - I find Carlsberg to be good at most pubs for example, but just no thin high foamy head like in continental Europe. Just curious why its not there.

But a pint of stella (brewed under license) is generally horrible. Kronenberg is a bit hit and miss though depending on where you go in London anyway.

EF

John S. wrote:

Stella under any circumstances is...well...Stella. Here in the U.S. it is among the most over-hyped beers. The Wall Street Journal did an excellent article on the re-making of that brand in the U.S. A large dose of high-brow advertising coupled with enticements provided to pubkeepers and presto you have a beer that appeals to the Jaegermeister crowd. Apparently in it's home country Stella is thought of as a pedestrian industrial beer.

IME I think Stella's prob got the reputation as the best of the bad bunch (of mass-brewed under licence beers such as Fosters, Carling, Bud, Carlsberg, etc)

yep, here they've sponsored higher-brow films on TV & used to have the tag line 'reassuringly expensive' (I was only reassured by the fact that I was drinking better beer).

re the lack of head - as well as the beer not being very good, could it also be to do with the 'weights & measures' sides of things? That we generally serve pints in UK in glasses that are a pint when full to the brim, so any head means we're getting less than the paid-for pint & an inch or 2 of foam means we're losing out in a major way?

That said I know Fosters taps & prob others now come with a "head button" on top of the tap, to ensure some visible head. cheers, MikeMcG nr Liverpool, UK.

Reassuringly expensive??? Now that's subtlle!!!!! Never you mind how it tastes, just concentrate on the price tag......

Unlike here in the U.S. your pubs are refreshingly honest about how much is being served and filling to the line could be the cause. Could also be poor setup of the keg.

When they are sponsoring films on UKs channel4, they still have these stereotypically French-looking ads I guess they think we Brits don't know what Belgium is, but we would have heard of France :~)

some are more honest than others & have oversized lined glasses, so you & the bar staff can see if you get a pint or not, others (vast majority) use brimful pints so you can almost guarantee a less than full pint.

Before their 1997 election win, Tony 'Yo' Blair's Labour party promised to guarantee full pints of beer . . . we're still waiting.

In 1 or 2 cases, maybe, but surely not everywhere?

I know a local pub that sells draught Beck's (German brewed) for some reason regulars prefer it served as flat as a pancake, insisting that's how it would be in Germany! Cheers, MikeMcG

That we

"Refreshing honest?" Isn't it the law/regulation that they can only use the approved glassware (with the crown etched into it)?

they can only use

As one who lives in the land that serves beer in oddly shaped glasses with very thick bottoms that seem to the casual observer to be designed to make the serving look larger than it is, yes it is refreshing to be served an honest size beer. Just wish I could get over there more often....

One thing that I hadn't thought of that just occurred to me upon reading this: I wonder if it's also possible due to differences in beer serving between south and north. I know with real ale, up in your neck of the woods (Liverpool), Manchester, etc., a thicker, denser head is the norm compared to the south. I recall from drinking in Manchester that a finger or two of head (and a sparkler) was the norm, whereas in the south (my specific experiences are in London and Plymouth), a very minimal head (and no sparkler) is the norm. Is it possible that long-standing regional ale serving traditions worked their way into lager as well?

-Steve

messagenews: snipped-for-privacy@d71g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...

I don't think that's it, no. Lager is a v standardised thing in the UK, tends to look, taste & pour the same from Lands End to John O'Groats. Sadly, the differences between ale in North & South are lessening, partly it's thought to the nitrokeg phenomenon making drinkers aggrieved if they don't get a load of creamy foam atop their pint! If I'm in a good beer pub, I'll often ask for the sparkler to be taken off, as I like the gentle carbonation of cask beer & IMO it's often ruined by being forced thru a shower-head!

Incidentally, think the OP is in or near London too (Croydon is a London suburb). Cheers, MikeMcG