Great British Lager: A Most Curious Brew

I've seen this beer before, but I'd never had the pleasure of tasting it until a trip to London International Wine Fair in May. Up until that fateful moment, my experience of English lager had been a fairly disappointing one. For a country that drinks so much of the blonde stuff, we don't actually make a great deal of it. Yes, there are microbreweries dotted all over this country, but the main focus is usually on real ale. Then on the other end of the spectrum there's Carling. No thanks.

Glorious winemakers, Chapel Down, have been making an absolute revelation known as Curious Brew, a lager which won International Beer Challenge gold last year.

Curious Brew get's it's name from it's rather unorthodox production methods. The beer is brewed as normal but then re-fermented using Champagne yeast before adding a 'dosage' of the rare Nelson Sauvin hop. It seems a little bit unusual but it certainly makes for an amaaaazing taste. It's beautifully malty and a nice aromatic flavour with hints of citrus followed up with a crisp, refreshing and slightly bitter finish.

This really is one of the main stand out lagers in Britain today. Curious Brew is available on tap in pubs, but I would definitely recommend getting a case from Majestic for £17.99.