When it comes to craft brewing, brewers of mainstream lagers are often characterised as ‘the Devil’.  Lovers of craft beer lament a time when capitalism and corporate greed did not dominate the agenda in the brewing of beer in the world.  They look back fondly on a time when all brewing was local, and the range of styles and diversity in beers was as diverse as the wide range of breweries based in each locality of township. 

Mainstream lagers are put forward as the representative of this view of the ‘evil corporate brewer’, which leads to two questions – Are mainstream lagers evil? and Was there a time when lagers were wholesome and virtuous?

To-day, we are tasting two lagers that hearken back to the time when lagers were truly wholesome.  Lager styles are diverse, but because the rule of thumb is that craft breweries are more likely to focus on ales, and mainstream brewers are more likely to focus on lagers, this diversity in lager styles has been threatened.  Our two beers for to-day demonstrate some of the diversity that is possible in lager styles.

We will be tasting two German lagers to-day – both brewed to traditional styles.  Aktien Zwickl Kellerbier is a traditional unfiltered, unpasteurised lager, while Aktien Landbier Frankisch Dunkel is a traditional dark lager.

Are Mainstream Lagers Evil?

The battle between craft beer and mainstream beer continues, with mainstream beers clearly positioned as the ‘Darth Vader’ or ‘Evil Galactic Emperor’ to craft beers ‘Luke Skywalker’.  Some writers (such as Joel Bakan, writer of ‘The Corporation’) have argued that large companies, such as those behind mass market, mainstream beers, bear the same personality traits as does a sociopath.  When looking back at the more wholesome, traditional lager styles that seem to be in danger of being casualties of the pursuit of world dominance by mainstream lagers, I found myself asking myself the question ‘Are mainstream lagers evil?’ 

To answer this, I started to consider if mainstream lagers commit, or encourage the commitment of the Seven Deadly Sins.  Some things to consider –

Greed    -  Hard to ignore, when one looks at the way in which mass market brands try to dominate the shelf space in shops.  Why can’t every beer get similar space, and leave it up to the consumer to choose the beer that they want?  This can be taken a step further when one considers the disparity in price for the same mainstream lager in different packs in the same shop.  On one recent survey, I found that one could end up paying double for the same brand of mainstream lager depending on the pack type (can or bottle) and size (container size and multi-pack / case size) purchased.

Wrath and Envy  -  Just consider the competitive practices by some large breweries that have lead to the decimation of small breweries up to before the growth in craft beer.

Pride and Lust  -  Hard to look at the ads for mainstream brands and not think that they are based on encouraging these.  Most of these ads include sexy, seductive temptresses linked closely to the mainstream brands (or, bizarrely at the current time, a goat?!?!?)  And the goal seems to be to tempt beer drinkers away from the one perfect beer that might suit that person’s taste to a polygamous brand.

Gluttony  - I have always felt that the issue of excess alcohol consumption is just that – an issue of excess consumption.  People should be allowed enjoy a beer or two in limited quantities, rather than being encouraged to buy 20 or 40 bottles of beer at a time to be able to avail of a particularly low price.  Mainstream beers seem to delight in encouraging gluttony in the pack sizes in which they are marketed. 

Maybe the better way to consider this question is ‘how can we return to the more wholesome values associated with craft beer?’  The obvious way is to enjoy (in moderation) the range of styles that were under threat by mass marketing practices of large beer companies, but that are now valiantly fighting back.  When it comes to whether mass market brands of beer are evil or not, I will leave the final decision up to you!

Traditional Lager Styles – 

In the current time, most people think that a lager is a pilsner or helles style of beer.  In fact, most people would assume that ‘pilsner’ and ‘lager’ are interchangeable terms for the same thing, and if ‘helles’ was explained to them, they would probably assume that this was simply a further tautology – another word that doesn’t really add to the description of the beer in question.  To use an analogy, this would be like people thinking that ‘meat’ and ‘hamburger’ meant exactly the same thing.  To think that the people who are making this assumption are taking it a step further, and assuming that the only types of lagers that are available are mainstream lagers would be like extending this analogy to saying that ‘meat’ and ‘fast food hamburger’ mean exactly the same thing.  Things like this make me feel that the film ‘Wall-E’ is not a whimsical children’s animation about a cute robot, and instead it is a prophetic, Nostradamus-like vision of the future – Worrying stuff!

There are a range of different lager styles in existence.  Unfortunately, the diversity that is available in lager styles is eclipsed by two things.  Firstly, most craft brewers tend to brew more ale than lager for technical, stylistic and logistical reasons, which means that there is much less diversity available in lager styles to the average beer drinker.  Secondly, there is a scramble by big brewers to dominate the shelf space in licensed retailers with mass market lagers – which are all brewed to the same, relatively bland style, and which epitomise the demise of range perpetrated by big brewers and challenged by craft brewers.  In other words, there is a push by mainstream brewers to define lager as ‘relatively bland, golden liquid that is heavily marketed.’  When one sees the other styles of lager that are available, one understands the heresy that underpins this agenda.

As well as the pilsner style of lager (which, itself, has become largely homogenised, and many beers labelled as ‘pilsners’ are miles away from what would have been the standard for the style), there are a diverse range of other lager styles that are possible.  Marzen, Dortmunder, Vienna are but three examples of other possibilities in lager styles.  The third of these has morphed in the U.S. to ‘Pre-Prohibition-style lager’.  Each of these lager styles is stylistically different.  Each adds to diversity in beer.  This is always a good thing to those of us that believe that everybody is entitled to be able to find the perfect beer for them.

Books could be written about the different styles of lager that are available – indeed, books have been written about the different styles of lager that can and have been brewed.  In the space that I have here, I am just planning on touching on the essence of the styles behind the two lagers that we are tasting to-day.  But first, there is a need for a touch of background.

The commonly accepted distinction between ‘ale’ and ‘lager’ comes down to the type of yeast that is used in brewing the beer.  Top-fermenting yeasts are often called ‘ale’ yeasts, and (you guessed it) are used in brewing ales.  Bottom-fermenting (lager) lager yeasts are used in brewing lagers.  Furthermore, the term ‘lager’ came from the German word meaning ‘to store’ or ‘to age’ – lagers were beers that fermented and conditioned over a longer period of time.  They needed to be stored in a cellar for this time – the cellar being the basis for controlling the temperature at which the beer is stored.  However, yeasts have really only been understood since the time of Louis Pasteur.

Before the 1800’s, the ‘lees’ of a brew (the yeast and other substances that settled out of a brew) was automatically transferred to the next batch to encourage fermentation.  However, at that time the process of fermentation was not really understood – in fact, often it was misunderstood to be some kind of magical process, and records exist to suggest that brewers often engaged in superstitious practices to ensure that the fermentation would happen correctly and result in great tasting beer – not knowing how to control it, some brewers were known to throw a handful of malt over their shoulder at a particular point in the brewing process in the hope that this would mean that the fermentation would go to plan.

At that time, and going back before the 1800’s, the primary distinction was between ‘ale’ and ‘beer’.  Ales were fermented malt beverages that were brewed using herbs and spices – ‘gruit’ or ‘gruut’.  Beer was a fermented malt beverage brewed using hops.  Given that the brewer clearly understood whether he was adding herbs and spices or hops to his brew, it became quite easy for the brewer to understand and explain the distinction.  Rules on taxes further influenced this – historically, brewers often sought to brew beer using the ingredients that were taxed least.  However, over time, the suitability of hops as a brewing ingredient lead to it largely displacing herbs and spices, and this traditional distinction between ‘ale’ and ‘beer’ became a thing of history.  This time came about at roughly the same time that yeast and fermentation became better understood.  As a result, the definition of ‘ale’ changed from ‘fermented malt beverage made with herbs and spices’ to ‘fermented malt beverage made with top fermenting yeast’.  This definition lead to ‘lagers’ made from bottom fermenting yeasts and ‘lambics’ made from wild yeast and spontaneous fermentation rounding out the categories in question.

Why is all of this relevant to our consideration of different styles of lager?  Well, sometimes the distinction between different styles of lager does not apply only to lagers.  These styles emerged and developed at a time when people did not understand or apply a distinction between ales and lagers on the basis of yeast used.  Instead, styles of beer have emerged that now apply to specific lager styles.  However, these style principles can (and in some cases, do) also apply to ales.  For example, a ‘Dunkel’ can be a dark lager.  It can also be a dark ale, or to extend the logic further, a dark wheat beer.

Kellerbier / Zwickl – 

A Kellerbier is a traditional German style of beer.  By literal translation, ‘Kellerbier’ means ‘cellar beer’ – a reference to long fermentation and conditioning.  From this perspective, one could argue that there is no distinction between a ‘kellerbier’ and a ‘lager’ – given that ‘lager’ means to store or age for a period of time in a cellar, and a ‘kellerbier’ is a beer that has been stored or aged for a period of time in a cellar.  However, as with many beer styles, the term usually starts out as one thing, and over time, it becomes more specific and defined as to what the parameters of the style of beer actually are.

When beer is stored in a tank for a period of time it is for one of two reasons – the brewer wants the beer to ferment or to condition during this storage time.  Fermentation is the process by which the sugars in the unfermented wort are converted into alcohol, carbon dioxide and various other flavours according to the type of yeast used, the temperature and time over which the fermentation happens, and the environment in which the fermentation occurs.  Conditioning refers to a (usually more extended time) over which the subtleties of the flavours in the beer are resolved, and the balance of character in the final beer is achieved.

Yeasts tend to behave in different ways according to the strain of yeast.  One distinguishing characteristic of yeast is the yeast’s ‘floculance’ the tendency of the yeast to form groups of yeast cells and settle out of suspension in the beer.  The more floculant the yeast, the easier it is to separate the yeast from the beer.  The less floculant, the easier it is to keep the yeast in suspension, thereby allowing it to continue to do its job in the beer.

Kellerbiers are typically brewed with less floculant yeasts – this means that the yeast can continue to work to develop flavour and character in the beer over an extended period of time.  It also means that the final beer is likely to be cloudy in appearance – the unfiltered Kellerbier has left in it yeast which naturally wants to remain in suspension.

Stylistically a ‘kellerbier’ or a ‘zwickl’ is a beer (usually, but not always, a lager) that is both unfiltered and unpasteurised.  The reasons for both of these things are that the beer retains its yeast for character development during cellaring, and this yeast is the type of yeast that wants to remain in suspension – giving the beer its cloudy appearance.  Also, given that yeast is a feature of the beer, the yeast in suspension acts as a natural way of protecting the beer.  Pasteurising (which is an alternative to this) would act as an alternative way to help preserve the beer, but would also damage or kill the yeast in suspension – an undesireable outcome in an unfiltered beer!

Generally, a ‘zwickl’ is taken to be a ‘kellerbier’ that is slightly lighter in flavour.  However, in both cases, ‘kellerbiers’ and/or ‘zwickls’ will tend to have great depth of complexity relative to paler lagers.

Dunkel –

‘Dunkel’ is the German term for ‘dark’.  There are many styles of beer that are dark, but not all are referred to as ‘dunkels’.  In general, the term is reserved for styles that one might normally expect to be bright (golden to amber) in appearance.  So for example, wheat beers, which are more often than not golden to amber, are referred to as Dunkel (dunkelweiss) to distinguish the dark style of wheat beer from the more commonly known ‘hefeweiss’ (cloudy wheat beer with yeast) or ‘kristalweiss’ (bright wheat beer).

This distinction can also be applied to lagers.  Most styles of lagers (nowadays) are lighter in colour.  Helles lagers refer to a broad class of lagers that are bright / golden in colour (helles refers to ‘bright’).  As such, when a lager is dark in colour, this is the primary distinguishing feature of the style.  Such dark lagers are often referred to as ‘dunkels’.

In style terms, lagers tend to be cleaner tasting, and dark beers tend to have character associated with the dark malts used in their brewing.  As such, dunkel lagers tend to combine these two – giving a relatively clean, easy drinking beer, but with distinct character that is associated with dark malts.  As such, flavours of coffee, plain chocolate, smokiness or charcoal can come through.  However, typically these flavours will not be as robust as they might be in the case of (for example) an Imperial Porter.  The balance of flavour in the beer has to be retained, and so care is taken to ensure that the robust character of the dark malt does not overpower the more subtle character associated with a lager fermentation.

Dunkels can be an ideal style of beer for those who like stouts, but are thinking that they are in the mood to enjoy a lager, but don’t want to lose out on flavour.  Similar character to a stout, and both are relatively light bodied beers.  However, the dunkel does not forsake flavour in the same way that a mainstream lager does.

Aktien Zwickl –

Beer Syle                             -  Zwickl Kellerbier

Alcohol by Volume          -  5.3% a.b.v.

Brewed by                          -  Bayreuther Bierbrouwerei

Brewed in                           -  Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany

Pouring from a swing top bottle, this beer is likely to attract home brewers looking for a resealable bottle that they can empty by drinking, and use to hold their home brews.  There is a distinct possibility that, when doing this, these same home brewers will be returning for even more of these bottles, and might get distracted from their own hobby.  This is a distinctly tasty, and individual beer!

Aktien Zwickl (Kellerbier) presents with a burnished gold, light amber colour and a white head that leaves light lacing down the glass as the beer is drunk.  True to style, the beer has a mildly cloudy appearance – yeast in suspension gives the beer this presentation, and there is evidence of small amounts of lees in the bottom of the bottle – yeast that has settled out from the beer.  Predominant in the aroma is a toasty maltiness combined with light fruit aromas (yellow apple).

‘Zwickl’ implies a beer that is toward the lighter end of the flavour spectrum that might sometimes be associated with German ‘kellerbier’.  Aktien Zwickl is most definitely an amazingly drinkable beer, but this is not to suggest that it lacks depth of complexity.  In flavour terms, toasty malt and yellow apple follows through, and combines with a mild yeasty breadiness.  A touch of raisin combines with a subtle white/black pepper spiciness – more evident as the beer warms slightly.  There is a dryness to the taste, which is balanced by the malt and fruit sweetness in the beer.

As I am writing these notes, I keep noticing that the aroma develops in complexity, and dark fruit and spiciness wafts over from the glass, bringing my attention back to it.  There is great depth of character in both aroma and taste in this beer, but in an understated, yet surprisingly persistent way.  In fact, with this beer, I find that the more that I try to analyse it and break it down, the more drinkable and refreshing I notice the beer to be.  In contrast, the more that I allow it to play at the back of my consciousness, the more I notice its depth of character and complexity.  Slightly odd that – usually it works the other way around!

It would be a disservice to this beer to suggest that it should be compared to mainstream lagers.  This beer belongs in a different class.  Aktien Zwickl demonstrates the diversity that is possible in lager styles, and how this diversity can still deliver an incredibly delicious and drinkable beer.  If you wonder what people lament when they complain about the prevelance of mainstream lagers, drinking a bottle of Aktien Zwickl will help you understand what is in danger of being lost by the prevalence of bland mass market lagers.

Aktien Landbier –

Beer Syle                             -  Dunkel (Dark) Lager

Alcohol by Volume          -  5.3% a.b.v.

Brewed by                          -  Bayreuther Bierbrouwerei

Brewed in                           -  Bayreuth, Bavaria, Germany

Aktien Landbier is a classic ‘dunkel’.  This beer is a dark lager, that presents with a colour ranging between dark ruby and rich red-brown.  Aktien Landbier’s head is off-white, influenced by the colour of the malt used in brewing the beer, as one tends to expect with darker beers.

The aroma in this beer immediately delivers the promise of the flavour to come.  Powdery cocoa, plain chocolate and hints of coffee come through on the nose.  When tasting this beer, the mouthfeel and texture of the beer enhances this suggestion of cocoa powder – the beer seems to leave a suggestion of dry powderiness on the palate.

This beer is all about the dark malts used in the brewing, and yet these flavours are balanced well with the more clean tasting flavours associated with lagers.  Plain chocolate and cocoa are most in evidence in the flavour.  Coffee is suggested in the background, as is a subtle smokiness.  However, these flavours are nowhere near as rich as might be the case with some dark ales, or with a rauchbier.  In all cases, the dark malt flavours are presented in a very pleasant way.  They combine with a background spiciness that is suggestive of subtle cinnamon character in the beer.

There is a danger in describing a dunkel that the flavour terms used to describe the beer give the impression that the beer is a rich, full bodied, and heavy dark beer.  The challenge, and key to success with a dunkel lager (or indeed a dunkel weiss) is to balance the refreshment associated with the mother style (lager or wheat beer) with the character associated with the dark malts used in brewing the dark beer.  This is something which is achieved superbly well in Aktien Landbier.  A perfect beer as we transition from the warmer days that require thirst quenching beers to the darker, colder winters that invite us to enjoy darker beers!

Beers Available In –

Centra, Main Street, Enfield, CountyMeath

Worldwide Wines, Waterford

The Abbott Ale House, CorkCity

Sweeney’s Wine Merchants, Phibsboro, Dublin

Jus de Vine, Portmarnock, Dublin

The Blue Bar, Harbour Road, Skerries

Bradley’s Supermarket, North Main Street, Cork City

McHugh’s Off-Licence, Malahide Road and Kilbarrack

Martin’s Off-Licence, Fairview, Dublin

John Rushe Eurospar, Dalkey, CountyDublin

Scholar’s Club, University of Limerick, Limerick

Gibney’s Off-Licence, Malahide, CountyDublin

Hole in the Wall, Blackhorse Avenue, Dublin 7

No. 21 Off-Licence, Ballinacurra, Midleton

Deveney’s Off-Licence, Dundrum

The Drink Store, Manor Street, Dublin

Coolers Off-Licence, Swords, CountyDublin