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For much of the world, ask for a beer and you get a cold glass of pale, refreshing, carbonated lager – and it’s lager’s reliability and affordability that’s made it so successful. While lager is loved by many, it’s also misunderstood and often seen by British drinkers as boring, mass-produced and inferior to ale. But there are lots of great small brewers challenging those beliefs with their own classic and modern lagers that have the quintessential balance and easy-drinking quality that defines the genre.
Lager and ale are different families of beer. Lager is brewed with yeast that prefers cold temperatures. It was first brewed in Germany over 500 years ago and the name comes from the German word ‘to store’, as the beer was kept in cold cellars to mature, unlike the ambient-brewed ales of the rest of Europe.
In the lager family there’s a range of styles. Look out for crisp, herbal German pils; bittersweet Czech pilsners; pale, lightly bitter Bavarian helles; dark, malty dunkels, black lagers, strong bocks – even hoppy lager-IPA hybrids.