The Session March 2025: Critique not Criticism

Today is The Session from @totalcurtis and the prompt is: critique not criticism. My response – the UK beer scene has a lager problem.

I’ve recently had the privilege of spending many weeks in Central Europe for work, and thus indulging in the finest lager beer from Germany, Austria, Hungary and Czechia. It’s as good as any beer I’ve ever tasted.

In the UK, we seem largely incapable of catering to this taste at a high quality, which is ironic as lager is the most consumed beer style in the country. The lager in question, however, is churned out of macro factories and barely even beer at this point, and we can do so much better.

I can name on one hand the breweries relentlessly producing truly great lager here: @pillarsbrewery , @donzokobeer , @braybrookebeer , @bohembrewery. I still have a pinky left. Sure, most of our best indie breweries have a decent lager or two that pop up now and again, but it’s not prolific and it’s certainly not prevalent.

Even my favourite pubs rarely have a lager on tap, and if they do it’s something cheap and cheerful (I’m looking at you, @therobinlondon with the house Signature tap – and this is about constructive critique, remember – you’re nearly perfect). It can’t be that hard, can it?

Well, actually, it can. Brewing lager is in fact one of the hardest beers to get *right*. There are no big hops or chocolate malts for flaws to hide behind, and it requires weeks longer than your average pale ale in lagering vessels too. Turn to the homebrew community and those who can repeatedly brew a great lager are revered. I made one, won a gold medal once – their response? “Do it again, then we’ll talk”. Fair play.

So, indie brewers of the UK, I challenge you – make lager great again.