Last week I spent some time in London with a friend and, needless to say, we enjoyed ourselves a very nice pub crawl or two. Now, after years of drinking lager beers in Germany I’ve become accustomed to ales here in the US, so I am perfectly happy with either (most of the time, anyway). My friend, however, is German, and although he’s become more British than German in many respects, he’s still a resolute lager drinker.

That’s how I noticed that there are no more lagers from Britain, at least not on the taps of London. Lest you think I exaggerate, we went to at least seven different pubs and did not find a single lager on tap. Most of those pubs had at least four or five lagers on tap, from every country in Europe, but not a British lager. Kronenbourg was ubiquitous, as was Stella Artois, but we also saw Peroni, Staropramen, Foster’s, Becks, and a host of other continental lagers. Not one British lager. Even the first brewery of lagers in Britain is in danger of extinction, as reported by the BBC.

This article discusses the drop in lager sales, but it doesn’t really reflect the fact that the British consumer appears to be turning away from British lagers, not lagers as a whole. There are a few who are standing up for lagers in general and British lagers in particular, but it’s not making to the taps as yet. It’s a shame, because I’m sure there are some worthy British lagers out there.

image by me

Post from: EveryJoe