Are you desperate to know the difference between a mild and a bitter? Or how to sort your stouts from your porters? Beer sommelier Marverine Cole shares all you need to know
Are you desperate to know the difference between a mild and a bitter? Or how to sort your stouts from your porters? And what makes a helles distinct from a pilsner and a wheat beer? Have no fear! Working out what style of beer to drink and what you like can be tricky because there is a cornucopia of beer styles out there. Knowing the difference could be an uphill battle. But, hey, I got you! Once you know what’s what, you will get all the adoration when can reel off facts to your mates in the pub or at a festival. Understanding beer styles will also help take the headache out of making choices to drink when you feel a bit under pressure to choose something, anything to drink. When all the stress is removed it means you can have fun, trying sub styles – for example there’s myriad pale ales: IPAs, extra pale ales, double-dry hopped pale ales, session pales and so on, so you can really get into some amazing nitty gritty. Why on earth are there so many beer styles and sub-styles, I hear you cry? Well most brewers in the UK and around the world love to experiment with beer styles, mixing flavours, maturing them in wine and bourbon barrels, adding fruitier flavours and all the rest of it. It keeps things interesting. So look out for limited editions and special beers which might appear on the market but not be brewed all year round. Take my advice: always keep a note of the name of the beer as well as the brewery who produced it, so you can do your research about where you can find that delicious beer again! And when you are trying a new beer or beer style, ensure you read the whole description on the can or bottle to get an accurate sense of what the brewery has done with their own version of that beer style. Here’s the rundown on a few of the main beer styles out there. Lager Arguably the most popular beer style in the world, pretty much every brewery brews a lager all year round as a core beer in its range of staples. The history of this beer style dates back to Bavaria in the 1400s. Lager means ‘to store’ in German and owes to the way the beer was traditionally stored to mature. A lager usually pours bright and clear into your glass, with a straw-like colour. The lager beer style is usually carbonated and best served very cold, and has a clean, crisp taste with bread-like notes, and sometimes a hint of grass or earthiness, coming from the noble hops. Lager is brewed using bottom-fermenting yeast so that low and slow fermentation and cold conditioning temperature leads to this flavour profile. You will usually get a pronounced level of bitterness in a lager – however, remember that each lager from every brewery will vary. Lager is a versatile drink that pairs well with South-East Asian cuisine, grilled barbecue dishes and salty savoury snacks such as sausage rolls, crisps and charcuterie. Pale ale The pale ale family is vast. There are many and various styles – including more recently a growth in cloudy pale ales. They started out exactly as it says on the tin, an ale which is pale in colour (golden to amber), which pours bright in the glass. The style is usually moderate in alcoholic strength (3.5-5%) and bitterness, with a pronounced fruitiness: anything from gooseberries to lychees – it all depends on the hop combination the brewer has chosen. Again, this beer style has exploded: there are IPAs, American pale ales, of varying strengths and bitterness, owing to different brewers' ideas for their own take on the style. Pale ales pair well with dishes laced with mild cheese, where it can cut through its fattiness. Simple cod and white fish dishes and light, no-fuss salads can also balance the sweetness in the beer. IPA IPA is short for India pale ale. It is a beer style that originated in London and has its roots in 18th century colonialism. It is argued that it is responsible for the renaissance of craft beer here in the UK. But the Americans love it, too: they love playing with the style. In fact, according to CAMRA, the beer style accounts for between a quarter and a third of the American craft beer market. An IPA calling itself a British or English IPA will usually be that bit more malty, rich and raisin-like in flavour, with an assertive bitterness. The American style is more hop forward in terms of both fruit flavour and sweetness (you often get mango or apricot notes punching through) alongside a pronounced bitterness. Whereas New England IPAs (NEIPAs) taste more like a big juicy orange, but with a lower bitterness. Double-dry hopping is also a thing right now, so watch out for incredible fruity aromas bursting out of your glass with those ones. You can get IPAs spanning from around 3.5% ABV going right up to 7% ABV. Sessions IPAs often back all of the flavour and aroma but at the lower end of the strength spectrum. IPA is a terrific beer style to explore. The world is your oyster! An IPA can pair well with strong spicy food, such as a curry, and emphasise the heat. Caution: do think carefully about the strength and bitterness of the beer to be sure that it does not overpower the spiciness (chilli heat) of the dish. Wheat beer The first wheat beer most of us will have tried is a Belgian (witbier) or German (weissbier). It is a beer style dating back to the 16th century, and – just like an IPA – has a range of sub styles within it. As the name suggests a large proportion of wheat is used in the brew, sometimes with oats, which then offer a silky smooth mouthfeel as you drink it. The beer style pours milky pale golden in the glass, the cloudiness owing to the suspended yeast and wheat proteins due to its top, and slightly warmer than normal fermentation. The beer style is characterised by a light banana aroma with coriander and orange peel – with which it is often spiced – on the nose. That translates onto the tongue, along a light bitterness in taste. It means it is a beer style popular with anyone who prefers a fruitier and lighter beer. It is sometimes served with a slice of orange on the side of the glass. Variations on the style include lambic (sour), gose (salty and sour) and Berliner weiße (cloudy and sour). Wheat beer pairs well with pork, even a dish with a spicy bite to help emphasise the kick. Helles A style of lager with its origins in Munich, Germany and – if you are not a fan of the bitter taste in beer – then this beer style is for you because it has a lower level of hop bitterness than a traditional lager. In fact, a helles will usually pour bright and pale to gold in colour into your glass. It usually emits a lightly bready aroma, owing to the malted barley in the beer. That bready note will be mixed with a very light floral note which translates into its flavour. There is usually a light sweetness here which also makes it a quaffable beer style, best served cold. It pairs well with salted fish dishes, to contrast with its sweetness. Pilsner Pilsner was the first pale lager. Lager was first brewed in Germany, but much of the lager that was brewed was dark, and not the straw/golden we are more familiar with today. As brewing advanced and ways were found to produce more pale malts, beer evolved. Pilsner was first brewed in the Czech Republic region in the 1800s, on the site of the Plzen brewery (now home to the Pilsner Urquell beer). Clear golden as it pours into the glass, it is a more bitter beer but still retaining that earthy, floral nature on the nose and a bread or biscuit-like flavour, with a dryness to finish. I love my pilsner with some tray-baked or roasted chicken, or my particular favourite, veal. Mild A mild does what it says on the tin. The beer style is both low strength (anywhere between 2.5 and 5% ABV), and low-no in bitterness. Usually a dark caramel, brown beer, brewed with some additional brewing sugar, it was extremely popular ale – particularly among women – until it declined in the 1960s. However, CAMRA keep its memory alive by celebrating Mild Month every year in May. Best served at cellar temperature – 11-13C, so not fridge cold. The condensation should offer a tingle on the tongue. A delicious beer style worth seeking out. Delicious with a salty snack such as pork scratchings, or something sweeter such as a flan or tart made with dark fruits. Bitter A bitter is an enduring English beer style which is still a firm favourite with many. It has all the hallmarks of an amber but it – as the name suggests – contains a more pronounced hop bitterness in taste. The colour of the beer can range from gold to a much darker hue of amber. The bitterness helped drinkers distinguish it from a mild ale, and there is often a nuttiness about the flavour. And, as with a mild, it should be served at cellar temperature. The beer style averages 3-4% in strength, but there are sub categories, too – it is rich with session bitters or higher strength extra special bitters and premium bitters besides, it is all to play for. Bitters are great with rich red meat, so a robust beef dish or a vegan dish rich with walnuts or chestnuts could contrast and complement in many ways. Amber This beer style is rich, sweet and satisfying. Pouring an amber, toffee colour and offering citrus notes on the nose: grapefruit or sometimes orange, there’s a rich, but not cloying juicy dried fruit type of sweetness to the beer (dates or sultanas). There’s also a characteristic mellow bitterness and low in strength (3-4.5% ABV). It really complements grilled or barbecued foods (burgers and salmon, for example). Porter <img src="https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/30/2023/07/GettyImages-1349228216-a3c873d.jpg" width="5474" height="4550" alt="Horizontal close-up image showing side view of a shiny tulip glass filled with foamy dark beer sitting on a wooden table. In the background, on the right side of the image, is a corner of a cutting board with pieces of chocolate." title="Side view of a glass of dark beer with pieces of chocolate" /> Porters first arrived on the scene being brewed in London in the 1700s. It was a thirst-quenching drink of the working classes: usually of a high alcoholic strength (circa 6.6%). Beers in this style are sometimes more of a mahogany brown colour as opposed to jet black, owing to being traditionally brewed with a base of brown malt. Today there is tissue paper’s difference between a porter and a stout, because brewers tend to use the terms interchangeably so much so the lines have been blurred, or – some might say – totally erased! You might also get more chocolate and caramel notes coming through in porters. You can get Baltic, brown and American porters. Drink a porter after dinner, and pair it with a complementary chocolate dessert? Stout A stout looks like a porter and a porter looks like a stout! Historically, stouts were the next generation of porter and they were originally called a ‘stout porter’ – owing to them being stronger and more full-bodied. The ‘porter’ was soon dropped. Stouts are usually brewed with black malt (and often a combo of other malts, depending on the brewer’s preferences). That black malt offers a smoky aroma and flavour to the beer, as well as bitter, burnt, nutty and coffee notes. Today stouts vary hugely in levels of bitterness, sweetness and mouthful depending on what’s added to the brew. Keep an eye out for ones with oats, honeycomb, chocolate or vanilla. There’s so much fun to be had. Of course, we all know arguably the most famous stout in the world is Guinness (4.2%). And then there are incredible imperial Russian stouts at the other end of the scale: they are often silkier and smoother in mouthful, and also far stronger (up to 15-20% ABV). Try this with perhaps a game dish or mature or aged cheddar.
As the summer months approach, enjoy these drinks with optimistic energy.
Can you smell it? Freshly cut grass, a whiff of warmth in the air from the sunshine (that’s often mixed with a few showers this month) and, above all, the promise of warmer days to come – a sense of triumph that we’ve emerged from the first quarter of the year unscathed. With these little victories in mind – and the fact that Britain’s national drink is one that’s often used for celebrations – there’s one beer that epitomises good vibes for me this year. Good Lager (4.5% ABV) is a top-class beer from Kelly and Bob, founders of Good Chemistry in Bristol. British craft lagers do not stray far from the norm – a straw-coloured pour with the usual malty breadiness, clean, crisp and moderately bitter – but Good Lager is not the norm. It’s a Vienna lager, meaning that – true to the beer style – this little fella comes with an added extra: a cheeky hint of honey-like sweetness with every mouthful. On examination of the stats on the groovy can, there’s a 30 per cent sweetness, balanced by 28 per cent bitterness. That delicate ratio, alongside the creaminess of the beer (and it being gluten-free), makes Good Lager one that would sit perfectly alongside your Easter lunch, especially if you’re serving roast pork or chicken. Being a vegan beer, it would also pair well with a roasted root veg or aubergine bake with a lemon, herb and apple sauce. And, when it comes to sustainability, the brewery has challenged itself and triumphed. Good Lager has achieved a 60 per cent reduction of the embodied energy of the beer by changing its production processes, using British malts, switching the strain of yeast used for fermenting, and using recyclable packaging. There’s so much to enjoy! If you have any special occasions to celebrate this month, I have the ultimate sharing beer that – warning! – packs a punch in terms of strength, but brings fruitiness in abundance. It’s not a fruit- flavoured beer, but the brewing process and inclusion of the sun-kissed Californian hop Citra brings a sweet, gooseberry-like quality to every mouthful. Green Devil by name, and by nature. This IPA (6% ABV) is brewed by Oakham Ales in Peterborough, pours golden and unleashes a tropical aroma that collides with a pronounced bitterness. It’s one of my all-time favourites, and it’s not just me: the cask version has won over the judges of the World Beer Awards twice, and plenty of other top plaudits. Look out for Oakham’s other beers, sold in polypins (a bit like having your own small keg at home). They start from around £69 for 36 pints (working out at £1.90 per pint). Or, try a case of mixed bottles (£25.35, 12 x 500ml). Perfect for entertaining pals at your first tentative BBQ of the year! My final beer, Bitter and Twisted, comes from Harviestoun (4.2% ABV) in Alva in the Scottish Lowlands. This beer and its amazing lager, Schiehallion, came to my attention more than a decade ago. Bitter and Twisted – which the master brewers have dubbed ‘saint and sinner in one bottle’ – brings me such joy. A delicious-looking golden beer with a satisfying lemony finish. It’s even better when you realise that 80 per cent of the malt used in Harviestoun beers is sourced from a local farm. This one is best served cool, and would go down a treat with a slice of lemon drizzle cake and a dollop of clotted cream.
The 10 best gluten-free beers taste tested
Discover our beer expert Marverine Cole's top 10 picks of the best gluten-free beers available. Find your favourite flavour profile and raise a glass.
The world of gluten-free beer can be complex if you don’t know where to start. Some argue that gluten-free means absolutely no barley anywhere in the brewing process. Being a coeliac or someone with any other gluten-related condition means being exceptionally careful to steer well clear of wheat, barley, rye and or oats in your diet. The good news is, there's no shortage of excellent quality gluten-free beers out there to choose from. Plenty of our top picks below are award winners, with lots of styles to choose from. Whether you're looking for a fruity IPA, a beer to match with food, a simple lager or a classic old-fashioned ale, there is a gluten-free beer to suit you. Read on to discover our pick of the best gluten-free beers. For more like this, visit our reviews section where you'll find 400+ buyer's guides, including taste tests of non-alcoholic spirits and wines, plus our best beer gifts, top low-ABV beers and the best beer dispensers. The best gluten-free beer at a glance 2023 Best low-strength gluten-free IPA: Magic Rock Brewing Saucery, £19 (12 x 330ml) Best tropical IPA: Purity Brewing Session IPA, £42 (12 x 440ml) Best for pairing with food: Green’s Grand India Pale Ale, £2.50 (330ml) Best well-known gluten free lager: Peroni gluten free lager, £6.50 (4 x 330ml) Best citrusy pale ale: Wild Craft Brewing Wild Summer, £10 (3 x 500ml) Best easy-drinking pale ale: Wold Top Against the Grain, £2.28 (500ml) Best old-fashioned ale: Chiltern Brewery Three Hundreds Dark Old Ale, £2.90 (500ml) Best lager: Hambleton Brewery Gluten and Wheat Free Lager, £38 (16 x 500ml) Best high-strength pale ale: Brass Castle Brewery Sunshine IPA, £3.50 (500ml) The best gluten-free beer to buy 2023 Magic Rock Brewing – Saucery Available from Magic Rock (£2.35, 330ml), Amazon (£19, 12 x 330ml), Morrisons (£6, 4 x 330ml) Best low-strength gluten-free IPA: ABV: 3.9% From the Huddersfield-based brewery Magic Rock Brewing, this lower-strength gluten-free IPA has a tropical papaya freshness. At 3.9% it’s a quaffable can, and it works alongside savoury, un-spiced food – perfect if you don't like anything too sweet. Available from: Magic Rock (£2.35) Amazon (£19, 12 x 330ml) Morrisons (£6, 4 x 330ml) Purity Brewing – Session IPA Available from Purity Brewing £42 (12 x 440ml) Best tropical IPA ABV: 4.4% From Stratford-upon-Avon farm brewery site of Purity, this brew is a wonderful combination of simcoe, eureka and mosaic hops. It's an infusion of the perfect amount of real grapefruit peel means this unfiltered, hazy beer offers some incredible tropical fruit notes, with a pleasing oaty smoothness, some sweetness and an IPA bite to finish. The eye-catching can – designed by two final year students from the Birmingham School of Art – is as much of a draw as the beer itself. Available from: Purity Brewing (£42, 12 x 440ml) Green's – Grand India Pale Ale Available from Ocado, £2.50 (330ml) Best for pairing with food ABV: 5% There are awards in abundance for this beer (Free From Food Awards, Taste and an International Brewing Medal) from Greens, which brews in Belgium. Can you tell I love IPAs? The reason why is that they complement spicy foods so well – like Thai green curries, the mildest of kormas or a warming homemade chilli. This Grand India Pale Ale has an attractive dark amber look, with a herbal and aroma, nutty flavour and a firm bitterness, which would go down well with a chunk or two of dark chocolate. Green's favours the use of naturally gluten-free ancient grains in their brews: sorghum, brown rice, millet and buckwheat. Available from: Ocado (£2.50, 330ml) Peroni – gluten-free lager Available from Sainsbury's (£6.50, 4 x 330ml), Waitrose (£6.50, 4 x 330ml), Amazon (£14.10, 6 x 330ml) Best well-known gluten free lager ABV: 5.1% This beer retains the famous crisp and refreshing flavour, with the touch of Italian style that has made Peroni Italy's number one premium lager beer. It comes in 12 packs in most supermarkets. It deviates a little from its more famous sister – it uses the same ingredients but the gluten is reduced. The beer is also endorsed by the Italian Coeliac Association. Available from: Sainsbury's (£6.50, 4 x 330ml) Waitrose (£6.50, 4 x 330ml) Amazon (£14.10, 6 x 330ml) Wild Craft Brewing – Wild Summer Available from Wild Craft Brewery £10 (3 x 500ml) Best citrusy pale ale ABV: 4.5% A pale and hoppy ale with a light nuttiness. The English Challenger and Golding hops offers surprising bursts of citrus and fruity aromas. The quirky labels featuring the pink, long-toothed Brewbacca on all the bottles from this Norwich brewery make their entire range fun and tasty gifts for beer fans. Available from: Wild Craft Brewing (£10, 3 x 500ml) Wold Top – Against the Grain Available from Wold Top Brewery £2.28 (500ml) Best easy-drinking pale ale ABV: 5% This East Yorkshire pale is a delight for the senses: a lemony nose with a creamy mouthful make this a very drinkable beer. It's perfect with baked salmon, mash and spring vegetables. Last year, ATG won a gold International Brewing and Cider Award for Reduced Gluten Beers. Available from: Wold Top (£2.28, 500ml) Chiltern Brewery – Three Hundreds Dark Old Ale Available from Chiltern Brewery (£2.90, 500ml) Best old-fashioned ale ABV: 5% This is a classic old ale in every sense of the word. Think dark and smooth with a toffee and raisin-like sweetness that is not off-putting, stridently nutty and bitter. It's named after the Three Hundreds, reaching across the back of the brewery, which is based in Aylesbury. The sophistication of this brew has earned it four Great Taste awards. At 5% ABV, this beer is perfectly suited to well-matured strong cheeses. Available from: Chiltern Brewery (£2.90, 500ml) Hambleton Brewery – Gluten and Wheat Free Lager Available from Hambleton Brewery (£38, 16 x 500ml) Best lager ABV: 5.2% I am largely unmoved by many lagers, but this really is one of the best I have ever tasted. It has a pleasant yet unobtrusively light bitterness and citrussy taste. Lager fans would never notice it was gluten free if they had to blind taste this. Produced in Ripon, it's the world’s best-selling British Brewer Gluten Free Lager. Available from: Hambleton Brewery (£38, 16 x 500ml) Brass Castle Brewery – Sunshine IPA Available from Brass Castle Brewery (£3.50) Best high-strength pale ale ABV: 5.7% This superb beer and Free From Food Award winner is everything an India Pale Ale should be. The dry-hopping process has brought out a tantalising aroma of juicy fruits that’s followed by a stunning combination of maltiness and sweetness, and a flavour of gooseberry alongside a strong IPA bitterness. Based in Malton, North Yorkshire, Brass Castle is committed to certified gluten-free brewing. Available from: Brass Castle Brewery (£3.50) Related reviews The best vegan beer The best lager The best gluten-free bread taste tested Gluten-free supermarket food taste test The best non-alcoholic drinks 10 of the best beer subscription boxes The best low-alcohol beers This review was last updated in December 2022. For information on alcohol guidelines, read our guide to drinking responsibly. Have you tried a gluten-free beer that you could recommend? Leave a comment below...
Our resident beer expert Marverine Cole brings us some of her best vegan beer choices and explains what makes a beer vegan.
Vegan beers were once considered a fad. Now they are part of the fabric of the beer industry. Why? More of us are opting to be vegan. 400,000 people signed up for Veganuary in 2020. That’s 150,000 more than the year before. Furthermore, Sainsbury’s have estimated that 25% of the UK could have turned vegan or vegetarian by 2025. On the beer scene, the Society of Independent Brewers’ reported that 12.8% of their brewers are working to make their entire beer range vegan-friendly. This means making a conscious effort to stop using animal products, animal additives or animal processing agents in their production to filter their beer. None of my recommendations below use animal products to filter their beer, so in many cases they're hazy. In fact, the days of drinkers being shocked by a cloudy beer are behind us. For more like this, visit our reviews section and find over 400 expert reviews, including the best beer dispensers, best gluten-free beer and the best beer gifts. Best vegan beer to buy at a glance Best fruity beer: Stiegl’s grapefruit radler, £26.99 (12 x 500ml) Best hazy vegan beer: Purity Brewing Co. bunny hop hazy pale ale, £10 (4 x 330ml) Best Spanish IPA: Cervecera Artesana brewery Palax Session IPA, £50 (24 x 330ml) Best English IPA: Siren Lumina session IPA, £25.20 (12 x 330ml) Best English lager: Adnams Kobold English lager, £22.99 (12 x 500ml) Best triple-hopped ale: Einstok Arctic Icelandic pale ale, £2.20 (330ml) Best vegan beer to pair with food: Wooha Brewing Hop Piñata IPA, £30 (12 x 330ml) Best strong vegan beer: Duvel Belgian strong ale, £39.95 (12 x 330ml) Best vegan beer to buy Stiegl’s Grapefruit Radler Best fruity beer ABV: 2% This one is a livewire. It’s amber-coloured and cloudy, with a lip-smacking tang: a mix of the famous Austrian brewery, Stiegl’s flagship Goldbräu beer combined with soda made with natural grapefruit. The very low bitterness makes this a real thirst quencher. The German translation of ‘radler’ is ‘cyclist’, and this is often referred to as a ‘bicycle beer’ because cyclists prefer to drink it as they cycle the Alps. So why not let it revive you after a big exercise routine? At 170 calories per can, and only 2% ABV, it is a vegan taste sensation. Purity Brewing Co Bunny Hop Hazy pale ale Available from £10 (4 x 330ml) Best hazy vegan beer ABV: 3.5% This delicious low strength beer from Purity is as fun to drink as its motorbiking bunny logo suggests. It is unfiltered with added oats, which accounts for the haziness when you pour. With the pour comes a floral and tropical aroma from the combo of El Dorado, Centennial and Azacca hops. The lower alcoholic strength does not mean it is not complex or full of flavour. On the contrary, this ingenious vegan brew is smooth, fruity and super quaffable. Available from: Purity Brewing (£10, 4 x 330ml) Cervecera Artesana brewery Palax Session IPA Available from £50 (24 x 330ml) Best Spanish IPA ABV: 4% This cheeky little IPA from north east Spain gives a nod to the region's style. Courtesy of the Cervecera Artesana brewery in the Rioja region, they draw water for their brews from the upper Iregua river basin. Palax is a pale golden session, and one which – although packed with hop stars like Mosaic, Citra, Amarillo, Sorachi Ace and Cascade – offers a gentle aroma of lemon on the nose, finished off by a satisfyingly sharp, clean bitterness. It is even more of a delight when you pair it with some tapas like patatas bravas or champinones rellenos. Available from: Northern Wine & Beer Co (£50, 24 x 330ml) Siren Lumina session IPA Available from Laithwaites (£25.20, 12 x 330ml) Best English IPA ABV: 4.2% This unfiltered beer is a tropically fruity number that pours cloudy, and offers the most delicious mango notes as it lands in the glass. I get pineapple flavours in the mouth, followed by a light sweetness, closing on a short bitterness. Part-time beer drinkers and beer geeks alike will fall under its spell. Chinook and Mosaic are among the new world hops in the mix, befitting of the IPA style. Berkshire-based Siren make a cracking array of beers with groovy can art, reflecting their ethos that their beers have a magical quality, just like the sirens of Greek mythology. Available from: Laithwaites (£25.20, 12 x 330ml) Amazon (£2.30, 330ml) Siren Craft Brew (£22.70, 12 x 330ml) Adnams Kobold English Lager Available from £22.99 (12 x 500ml), Waitrose (£2, 500ml), Ocado (£2, 500ml) Best English lager ABV: 4.7% Kobold is the new kid on the block from Southwold brewery Adnams, the makers of the famous ‘Broadside’ and ‘Ghost Ship’ beers. As English lagers go, this is very impressive, with Hertfordshire and Kent Goldings hops and local extra pale malted barley and wheat in the mix. You should get grassy, bready and honey notes on the nose, then a very lightly sweet, yet robust crispness in the mouth. The beer is named after the legend Kobold: a water spirit that protects sailors on the North Sea. It makes perfect sense that this environmentally conscious, energy-efficient brewery based close to the gorgeous Southwold coast has partnered with the Blue Marine Foundation, which works to stop destructive fishing practices in offshore marine protected areas. Available from: Adnams (£22.99, 12 x 500ml) Waitrose (£2, 500ml) Ocado (£2, 500ml) Einstok Arctic Icelandic pale ale Available from £2.20 (330ml), Ocado (£2.20, 330ml) Best triple-hopped ale ABV: 5.6% Triple-hopping is all the rage and the Icelanders have joined in. This pale ale is packed with Cascade, Northern Brewer and Hallertau hops. It envelops your mouth in a refreshing crispness which quickly morphs into a sweet, almost molasses-like finish. It's extremely hard to put down. The Einstok brewery is based just 60 miles south of the Arctic Circle in the fishing port of Akureyri, drawing on the glacial waters which flow down from the Hlíðarfjall Mountain. Available from: Waitrose (£2.20, 330ml) Ocado (£2.20, 330ml) Wooha Brewing Hop Piñata IPA Available from £30 (12 x 330ml) Best for ABV: 6.2% This is a big bold beast of a beer in a little bottle. Fruity, rich, sweet, toasty and spicy, it is a real delight. It packs a punch when it comes to hops too: Pilgrim, Chinook, Summit and Tradition are in the concoction from this outfit founded and led by head brewer, Heather Macdonald. Add in the Speyside water that local whisky distilleries also draw on and you have a lip-smacking combo of a beer. This is a decadent brew that should be respected: sip alongside nibbles or a large slab of vintage cheddar. Available from: Wooha Brewing (£30, 12 x 330ml) Duvel Belgian Strong Ale Available from £39.95 (12 x 330ml), Beer Hunter (£36.95, 12 x 330ml), Waitrose (£2.10, 330ml) Best strong vegan beer ABV: 8.5% Not only is this beer a global superstar of Belgian beers due to the many World Beer Awards it has won over the years – but it also comes from the family brewery Duvel Moortgat, which in 2021 will celebrate 150 years of brewing. Cloves and banana bread aromas waft onto your nose as soon as you open and pour. A beautifully balanced hit of honeyed sweetness and hop bitterness from the Slovenian and Czech hops combine to envelop your tongue in a wave of creamy decadence. Not a beer for the faint hearted or overly thirsty, at 8.5% ABV, your Duvel must be treated with reverence. It should not be rushed. Available from: Amazon (£39.95, 12 x 330ml) Beer Hunter (£36.95, 12 x 330ml) Waitrose (£2.10, 330ml) Related reviews The best lager The best gluten-free beer taste tested The best beer gifts The best non-alcoholic drinks 10 of the best beer subscription boxes The best low-alcohol beers Best vegan cookbooks This review was last updated in November 2022. For information on alcohol guidelines, read our guide to drinking responsibly. What vegan beer do you love? Share your recommendations with us below…
Beer expert Marverine Cole has taste-tested and chosen the 10 best lagers you have to try, from well-known classics to indie gems
There are many beer styles, with lager arguably being the most well-known and popular around the world. Global brands such as Peroni and Pilsner Urquell, or popular UK stalwarts such as Adnams may be the most familiar lagers to you, but there's a wide world of lager to discover, from small brands and independent brewers to unique styles and brew methods. This best lager list list is definitely for you if you truly enjoy drinking lager, and you’re looking for something a little different from the norm. There’s a fair bit of variety in this list. If you're a lager novice, or buying for a friend, we've also explained what lager is, what food to best pair with lager and how many units are in a standard can. For more like this, check out more expert beer reviews including best gluten-free beer, along with best beer subscriptions, best beer dispensers and beer making kits. Visit our reviews section to find over 400 more expert reviews. Best lagers to buy at a glance Best alcohol-free lager: Smashed Lager 0.0%, £5.50 (4 x 330ml) Best low-alcohol lager: Lucky Saint 0.5%, £6 (4 x 330ml) Best session lager: Signature Brew Studio lager, £13.50 (6 x 330ml) Best lager can art: Wild Card Brewery lager, £14 (6 x 330ml) Best Czech-style pilsner: Pilsner Urquell, £6.50, 6 x 330ml) Best unfiltered lager: Purity Brewing Co. Lawless lager, £21.60 (12 x 330ml) Best hybrid lager: Adnams India pale lager 4.6%, £23.99 (12 x 330ml) Best luxury lager: Curious Brew, £25 (12 x 300ml) Best continental lager: Peroni, £6.50 (4 x 330ml) Best African-inspired lager: Eko Brewery Eko Pils, £45.60 (12 x 440ml) What is lager? First and foremost you are looking for a lager to be true to the beer style. The yeast used is a bottom-fermenting one, which means it is happy fermenting at a cooler temperature (between 7-13C), and then stored cold for it to condition. Lager means ‘to store’ in German, and in the middle ages lager was stored in cold caves particularly in the hot summer months. The result is different from many other beer styles, which are far more pronounced in aroma and flavours. Classic lagers do not offer a lot on the nose in terms of aroma, except perhaps a slight grass-like earthy one. A lager is usually straw-coloured when poured, showing up ‘bright’ (clear). The taste is often fresh, but not overly hoppy in terms of bitterness or fruity in flavour, so don’t go expecting those from a straight-forward lager. Make sure you have a good read of your chosen can or bottle and take note of what the brewery say they’ve produced. It might say they’ve added their own take or a quirk, which is not uncommon these days, because breweries like to be unique to try and stand out from the crowd. How many units of alcohol are there in lager? Taking Peroni as an example: Peroni is 5% ABV and is approx. 1.6 units in one 330ml bottle. At 43 calories per 100ml, there is 141 in one bottle. You can use the Drinkaware app to work out the units in any any drink as the alcohol content of beer varies. Is beer fattening? Well, the more lager you drink at once, the hungrier you get so regular succumbing to an attack of the munchies will not help. Nor will drinking ten bottles in one sitting, so drink moderately. Best lagers to buy 2023 Drynks Smashed Lager 0.0% Available from Sainsbury's (£5.50, 4 x 330ml), DryDrinker (£27.58, 6 x 660ml), Amazon (£5.50, 4 x 330ml) Best alcohol-free lager This really is a super-straightforward, alcohol-free lager from five-year old brand Drynks, that will float the boat of anyone who wants to reduce their booze count, but not feel excluded from drinking. Smashed Lager did a rather decent job of fooling me into thinking it was a beer with a kick, such was its fresh and uncompromising flavour. It feels just like a regular lager, but has 0% alcohol due to it all being removed during a vacuum distillation process. This beer is bound to raise the metaphorical spirits of anyone who’s been awarded (or volunteered) designated driver for that trip home. Available from: Sainsbury's (£5.50, 4 x 330ml) DryDrinker (£27.58, 6 x 660ml) Amazon (£5.50, 4 x 330ml) Lucky Saint 0.5% Available from Amazon (£24, 12 x 330ml), £6 (£4 x 330ml), Sainsbury's (£1.80, 330ml), Majestic (£21.60, 12 x 330ml) Best low-alcohol lager Another low-alcohol beer high on my list is Lucky Saint. This unfiltered 0.5% lager pours cloudy and golden, with a lightly citrus aroma. Describing itself as ‘holy in flavour’, I cannot help but agree because, for me, it completely defied any preconception I had about low-alcoholic beers being dull, lifeless, and unimaginative. It slightly beats its low-alcohol rivals on the calorific stakes at being just 53kcal per bottle. Founder Luke Boase partnered with a Bavarian brewery to produce Lucky Saint. Traditional lager brewing techniques are used to produce a 5% strength beer, before the alcohol is then vacuum-distilled off. Available at most major supermarkets now, too. Available from: Amazon (£24, 12 x 330ml) Tesco (£6, 4 x 330ml) Sainsbury's (£1.80, 330ml) Majestic (£21.60, 12 x 330ml) Signature Brew Studio lager 4% Available from Signature Brew, £13.50 (6 x 330ml) Best session lager This award-winning indie brewery is more than used to making collaboration beers with bands like The Darkness, Hot Chip and Big Joanie. Sam and the team at the Walthamstow brewery produced this Czech pilsner as an homage to people in the independent music scene which fought to survive throughout the pandemic. In 2021 they even rather generously donated £250,000 worth of pilsner-style lager to venues that had struggled due to widespread closures during Covid. That news is as impressive as this Studio lager looks and tastes. From its can art, where the lines on the can reflect the grooves on vinyl records, to its classic straw-coloured beer inside. You might pick up light floral notes from the Hallertau heritage hops picked in Germany, before the earthiness and a refreshingly pleasing bitter finish. Available from: Signature Brew, £13.50 (6 x 330ml) Wild Card Brewery lager 4.4% ABV Available from Wild Card Brewery lager, £14 (6 x 330ml) Best lager can art This is a Czech Pilsner-style lager, usually brewed with Target, Epic and Pioneer hops and English malts. The beer cold ferments for six whole weeks and is unmistakable, not least because of its exquisite can art featuring a bird in the place of a joker on a playing card. The team are lovers of local wildlife that’s often depicted in their art with sale proceeds going to nature causes. Coming back to the beer, when you pour it, you get hints of gooseberry and its refreshing nature and lip-smacking bitterness would make it a firm favourite in anyone’s books. A fascinating fact about East London-based Wild Card Brewery, especially if you’ve never heard of it before, is that it’s led by co-founder, head brewer, author and TV presenter, Jaega Wise, of Prime Video’s Beer Masters fame. Available from: Wild Card Brewery lager, £14 (6 x 330ml) Pilsner Urquell 4.4% Latest Deals Best Czech-style pilsner I have no shame in saying this Czech pilsner (pilsner means “from Pilsen” in Czech) will never ever leave my top ten. It’s been in it for more than a decade now. This beer is definitely for you if you like a pronounced and lingering bitterness in your lager. The beauty of PU (as I like to call it) is undeniable though. Its outstanding heritage is one place to start: neither the recipe nor the brewing process has changed since it was first brewed back in 1842. It’s spawned imitators the world over. PU beer is gloriously golden in colour, which alongside the spicy, herbal-like flavour, offers hints of caramel and biscuit – the latter two indicative of pilsner style of lager. If you can get yourself over to Prague to its visitor centre, you’re in a for a real treat learning more about the vast history of this multi- award-winning beer that’s just celebrated its 180th birthday. Available from: Majestic (£32.40, 24 x 330ml) Sainsbury's (£6.50, 6 x 330ml) Morrisons (£2, 500ml) Purity Brewing Co. Lawless lager 4.5% Available from Purity Brewing, £21.60 (12 x 330ml) This little vegan beauty comes in a 330ml can, complete with a kooky cartoon goat on the can, inspired by the goats on the Warwickshire farm that’s home to the brewery. Described as ‘unfiltered and hoppy’, Lawless is hazy when poured and brewed following the traditional Bavarian purity laws using four ingredients: water malt, hops and lager yeast. And Purity doesn't just stop there. The delicious sharp kick of citrus is all down to their cheeky blend of hops (including Eldorado bringing a lush aroma akin to mango). The brewing team also mix up their malts along with the pilsner malt, using wheat malt and Caragold, which all help deliver the golden colour of the beer. Then, it’s coolly lagered for 40 days. Drinking this beer is a truly joyful experience. Available from: Purity Brewing, £21.60 (12 x 330ml) Adnams India Pale lager 4.6% Available from Adnams Brewery, £23.99 (12 x 330ml) Best hybrid lager This is a cheeky little hybrid by Southwold-based Adnams, from its ‘Jack Brand’ range. It’s a crafty union of two of the world’s most famous beer styles: a lager and an India pale ale (IPA). It’s still brewed with lager yeast as opposed to an ale yeast. In fact, calling it a ‘hybrid’ might be like a red rag to a bull for Adnams’ head brewer, Dan Gooderham who reckons this emerging style is less like “two styles competing against each other, rather some different orchestral players making a symphony.” The beer is unfussy and delicious, offering zest on the nose and a clean bitter taste. You might even catch a little gooseberry or elderflower. A fun offering from one of Britain’s oldest and most progressive breweries, lasting 150 years so far. Available from: Adnams Brewery, £23.99 (12 x 330ml) Curious Brew 4.7% Available from Curious Brewery, £25 (12 x 330ml) Best luxury lager A lot of lagers call themselves ‘premium’, but this title is truly fitting for Curious Brew (4.7% ABV) produced by leading Kent wine producers, Chapel Down. Curious Brew is not just any old beer to be swilled down thoughtless or in a hurry. A lychee-like quality coupled with a sweetness, closest to honey are what I get with every mouthful. English lager malt with Saaz, Cascade and rare Nelson Sauvin hops all collide with the pièce de résistance: the beer is re-fermented with champagne yeast. Yes, you read that right: champagne yeast. No wonder this flagship beer bagged a gold in the lager taste category of the 2019 World Beer Awards! Available from: Curious Brewery, £25 (12 x 330ml) Peroni 5% Available from Morrisons (£6.50, 4 x 330ml), Waitrose (£6.50, 4 x 330ml), Tesco (£16.50, 12 x 330ml) Best continental lager Whichever version you choose (original, alcohol-free, gluten-free) this beer never loses its pale golden, crisp and refreshing flavour signatures with the touch of style, which has made Peroni Italy's number one premium lager beer since it was first brewed in 1963. There’s a delicate balance of bitterness, citrus and aromatic notes in this beer. The alcohol-free version deviates little from its big alcoholic sister because it uses the exact same ingredients, and the gluten content is reduced, all complete with an endorsement by the Italian Coeliac Association. Available from: Morrisons (£6.50, 4 x 330ml) Waitrose (£6.50, 4 x 330ml) Tesco (£16.50, 12 x 330ml) Eko Brewery Eko Pils 5.5% Available from Eko Brewery, £45.60 (12 x 440ml) Best African-inspired lager Eko Pils is brewed with coconut palm sugar, as an homage to the ingredients used in the renowned African beverage, palm wine. One of our biggest hitters in the alcohol stakes, weighing in at 5.5%, this beer delivers what you’d expect from a premium lager in terms of crispness. Eko Brewery is one of only a handful of Black-owned and operated breweries in the UK. Led by Anthony and Helena Adedipe, the husband-and-wife team unapologetically fuse influences from family roots in Nigeria and the Congo into their entire beer philosophy. What’s not to like? Available from: Eko Brewery, £45.60 (12 x 440ml) Best food to pair with lager You’re looking for something that contrasts yet does not overpower the flavour of the lager. A dish with some creaminess or fattiness that the lager can cut through is ideal, or even a dish with spices which can complement the bitterness of the lager. My favourite is pork belly, or for a fish option this coconut fish curry recipe combines the creamy and spicy elements perfectly. For vegetarians, try this vegetarian casserole or indulgent gnocchi with blue cheese. How we tested lager When it comes to taste and flavour, beer can be subjective. Why? Because it’s all down to your own unique palate, so the decision about whether you like a beer will come down to things like if your nose likes the aroma, and if your mouth and tongue like the taste, the perceived level of bitterness, or even the aftertaste. Like I said, everyone is unique, therefore a beer your friend might rave about, could turn out to be a beer you hate. And not because it’s a bad beer, but because your taste and that of your friend are distinct. Related reviews Best beer subscriptions and clubs Best beer dispensers The best low-alcohol beers The best non-alcoholic beer How to match beer with food A guide to craft beer
3 of the best beer-making and home-brew kits
Have a go at brewing your own perfect beer, pale ale or lager: we've reviewed three beer-making kits to find the best
Love beer but want to cut down on all those trips to the pub, or feeling adventurous and want to try a new skill? Well, using a home-brew kit could be your solution. We’ve tested out three of the latest beer-making kits for home-brewing that will help you produce tasty beers at home and impress all your mates. There are different styles of beer-making kits to choose from. We tried two ‘traditional’ kits, meaning that they include all the parts and you just add water, malt extract and hops and test as you go along. You allow the beer to ferment for several days, dry-hopping when and where the comprehensive instructions in the pack tell you. The third kit from Pinter is something of a market disruptor, which claims to produce a drink of draught quality that you dispense from your own mini pump vessel. Once your beer is ready to drink, why not continue getting creative with it? Our collection of quirky beer cocktail recipes include a classic shandy recipe to show off your beer, or try a tropical-inspired beer mojito. You can also cook with beer: beer can chicken is a barbecue classic, while our beer mac 'n' cheese recipe is the ultimate comfort food. If you want something a little bit simpler, we've also reviewed the best beer dispensers (including the Pinter, one of our beer-making kits below) so that you can focus on pouring the perfect pint rather than making it. Still feeling thirsty? We’ve reviewed the best beer subscription boxes to get top-quality ales, lagers and more delivered direct to your door. We've also tested the best vegan beers, best gluten-free beers and best low-alcohol beers to find a bottle perfect for you, whatever your requirements may be. Best beer-making kits at a glance Best no-fuss beer-making kit: Pinter, £129.99 Best overall traditional beer-making kit: Beerworks Golden Rocket strong pale ale, Love Brewing, £47.90 Best premium beer-making kit: Festival Summer Glory, Brew UK, £83.99 How to choose the best beer-making kit Factors to consider when buying a beer-making kit: How much money you want to spend How much time you have to prepare the beer Length of time you want to ferment the beer – it can take up to 24 days, depending on the kit The amount of space you have in your home (for example, the Pinter requires fridge space) Each of the kits on test have very detailed instructions to guide you through. You have one job: stick to the guides and follow some of our pro tips, and you’ll produce drinkable beer to enjoy in the comfort of your own home. Start with the basic kit, then buy your own beer style kits at your leisure. Top tips for traditional-style beer-making kits The Love Brewing and Brew UK models on test are both in the ‘traditional’ style. These have a few more steps in the process before you get to taste the fruits of your labours, including dry-hopping, testing with a hydrometer, priming a barre or bottles and syphoning into that barrel or those bottles. There’s a lot more kit to clean and sanitise, too. Dirt is the enemy of producing good beer, so your cleaning regime must be robust to make the whole process a success. It helps to have some kitchen scales to measure sanitiser, and you'll need slightly warm water to dissolve it. I find it easier to make a bit more sanitiser than needed for cleaning the bucket, because you'll also need to sanitise the thermometer, hydrometer and air lock. I fill a bowl with sanitiser and put those items in for whenever I need them during the process. You’ll need a large cooking pot to warm up the pouches of malt extract. This helps the extract flow, as it’s thick and viscous at room temperature. When transferring malt extract into the bucket, rinse the pouches with warm water to ensure you get every drop out. You'll need a strong arm to stir in all the malt and ensure it’s dissolved. Don’t forget that there is already hot water in the bucket from dissolving the malt extract, so the trick – which I find tough to master as a first-timer – is getting the temperature correct when topping up to 23 litres (five gallons). You'll need to reach between 20-25C. So, keep taking the temperature as you top up with cold water and stir. If it drops too low, add some boiling water from the kettle. Best beer-making kits to buy 2023 Pinter Best no-fuss beer-making kit Available from Pinter, £129 The Pinter is a market disruptor in home-brewing. It's an all-in-one, no-mess system that enables you to drink homemade beer in a week, plus it's unique in look and production. The Pinter unit itself is available in a range of colours and comes with two Pinter ‘Fresh Press’ packs that contain everything you need to get started. There’s a wide variety of ‘Fresh Press’ packs that enable you to try different styles of beers, lager, IPA, stouts and even cider. The unit is priced at £85 and comes with two packs, making a total of 20 pints – so, the first batches work out at £4.25 per pint. There's also a range of subscription levels that allow you to receive between one and four packs each month, with prices starting at £12 a month. The functionality of the Pinter is easy to follow as a beginner and is a simple system. The box arrives in impressive, branded packaging. It comes with a comprehensive step-by-step video guide that you can watch on your smartphone or tablet as you go, and includes all instructions as well as safety information – we feel in capable hands every step of the way. Every element of the box is clearly and informatively labelled. The Pinter system doesn’t give you the opportunity to indulge your inner science geek, but everything is provided. The ‘Fresh Press’ packs contain liquid and a small bottle of yeast. To get started, all you need to do is clean and sanitise, add the Fresh Press liquid, water and yeast and let the Pinter do its thing. However, the downside of the Pinter is that it's extremely bulky to store. The ‘Fresh Press’ recipe on test needs to condition in the fridge for three days, and in our standard seven-foot-tall fridge, we have to take out the fruit and vegetable chiller box and the glass shelf just to fit it in. Then, when we take it out of the fridge, we have to find convenient surface space for it to sit for dispensing. You also have to be seriously strong to operate the Pinter: we struggle with the brewing dock. It's horrendous to attach and remove for the process. And, beware: when disconnecting the dock at the end of fermentation, it’s a heart-stopper! Certainly not the gentle release of pressure shown in the video guide. You can be drinking beer from your Pinter in a week: four days brewing time and three days conditioning. The Pinter produces a bright, clear beer that's slightly lacking in flavour and palette interest. We miss the balance of sweetness and hop bitterness usually expected from an IPA beer. Overall, the Pinter is a sleek choice for someone who doesn’t want to fuss with the science of brewing and just wants to make beer with as little effort as possible. Available from Pinter, £129 BeerWorks strong pale ale kit Best overall traditional beer-making kit Available from Love Brewing, £47.90 The BeerWorks strong pale ale kit is available from Love Brewing. Classed as a complete starter bundle, the kit says you can make 25 litres of beer. For the price, it works out at about another 40 pints, making your beer a pocket-pleasing £1.19 per pint. There are lots of styles of beers to choose from online. This is a traditional-style kit: functional and not hugely aesthetic, but instructions are comprehensive. The kit is large (including a five-gallon bucket), so you need some serious room in your home. Everything you need is provided, including hops for dry-hopping, malt and yeast. Instead of a classic beer barrel, the kit includes two boxes of plastic bottles and an easy-start siphon to transfer the beer into the bottles. These all have to be rinsed, sanitised and primed with priming sugar before you add the beer. We also rinse the bucket and lid, and meticulously sanitise all areas that will come into contact with the beer with a clean cloth. You’ll need to store the kit somewhere that isn’t too warm, between 20-25C. The kit requires 10 days of fermenting (including dry-hopping on day five) plus a secondary fermentation of seven to 14 days (in bottles) after you’ve primed and transferred the beer from the fermenting bucket. To make sure you get crystal-clear beer, let the bottles sit in a cool place for a further three weeks to clear and condition fully. You’ll take hydrometer readings at the start of the process and after fermentation to calculate the final strength of the beer. The more sugar in the wort, the higher it floats. Love Brewing ask you to take three readings to get them right. The priming of the bottles takes some doing, but it's worth going the extra mile. This tastes lovely: malty and sweet with a pronounced bitterness, which offers a more than decent ‘pub-at-home’ experience. Definitely the most drinkable of them all. Available from Love Brewing, £47.90 Festival Summer Glory, Brew UK Best premium beer-making kit Available from BrewUK, £83.99 From Brew UK comes the Festival Summer Glory 5% kit from Woodforde's Microbrewery. Brew UK also offers a wide range of other beer kits, along with homemade cider kits and presses. The Festival Summer Glory 5% package is a 40-pint kit, meaning the resulting beer is going to come out at £2.12 per pint. The kit includes Youngs five-gallon pressure barrel, a siphon, instructions, malted barley extract, hop pellets, yeast and priming sugar. The traditional-style brewing kit is similar to the Love Brewing kit, with a five-gallon bucket that you’ll need space to store at a steady temperature. Again, the kit is functional and not hugely aesthetic. Instructions are comprehensive and hops provided. All the equipment can be reused after you've completed your first brew (making the cost of future pints even cheaper), but you must be sure to thoroughly re-sanitise all equipment between uses. As with the BeerWorks kit above, this traditional kit takes 10 days to ferment. The finished beer comes out with some carbonation from the five-gallon barrel. The hops and yeast do not settle as much as expected, sadly. This one has a slight tingle on the tongue, but is lacking in any strongly distinguishing ale flavours. Available from BrewUK, £83.99 Related reviews How to match beer with food A guide to craft beer The best low-alcohol beers The best non-alcoholic beer Best whisky subscriptions and clubs Best cocktail subscriptions and clubs Looking for gift inspiration? Did you know we have a BBC Good Food Cheese Club? We’ve teamed up with cheesegeek to bring you some of the finest fromages produced in the UK. Delivered free and straight to your door, each box is guaranteed to bring the best of the season's cheeses. Read more about the BBC Good Food Cheese Club and discover how to order your first box.
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