Real Czech Staropramen available in Lidl

[theplayingmantis]

its almost as if the 1664 thread never existed. rinse repeat! is there a merge option?!

[-Cappo-]

Bradgate said:

Madri, a UK brewed ‘Spanish’ brand which was invented by a big brewer’s marketing department a few years ago seems to be what everyone is drinking at the moment. It doesn’t even exist is Spain.

I'm sure I read somewhere that Madri is nothing more than a rebrand of a hitherto-well known standard lager (ie Carling, Fosters, etc). Can't recall which one.

[theplayingmantis]

-Cappo- said:

Bradgate said:

Madri, a UK brewed ‘Spanish’ brand which was invented by a big brewer’s marketing department a few years ago seems to be what everyone is drinking at the moment. It doesn’t even exist is Spain.

I'm sure I read somewhere that Madri is nothing more than a rebrand of a hitherto-well known standard lager (ie Carling, Fosters, etc). Can't recall which one.

its not its a new brew but complete fake, the weekend papers supplements have various articled the phenon of its creation.

[NSNO]

nuyorican said:

I keep forgetting to start a thread on fake lager. Thanks for reminding me!

I used to drink lager in the 90's. Becks, Stella etc. But got into real ale and never really drank it again unless on holiday. Until this summer that is, when I decided I fancied some nice crisp, ice-cold lager. But to my dismay, and to the detriment of my wallet after wasting lots of money on all the usual suspects, it's all gone rubbish! Pish!

It all 'looks' the same as old, but if you turn it round and look at the small-print you'll see the dreaded BREWED IN UK. The ABV will also be suspiciously low... Never mind, I thought, I'll buy Becks, that won't have been tampered with, will it? Purity laws and all? But no, that's fake too now!

So what happened? And why? Seems to be a lager-specific problem, you can buy cracking beer/ale that's brewed in the UK all day long.

Companies penny pinching and selling respected branding to pish manufacturers perhaps? Nanny state in action? Brexit? Are beers like Stella and Becks now inferior products in Belgium and Germany too? Or is it a UK thing?

So after lots of disappointing lager buying, I did find a quality lager which I'll share here.

Behold, M&S Belgian Lager. Fantastic stuff.

Sounds like a similar story to me. I remember drinking Becks in my younger days, thinking that I was the bee's knees. However I never really liked it and eventually got into real ale and then craft beer and now I wouldn't go near a Becks, probably as bad as Heineken and that is saying something. However a good lager when done well is fantastic, especially on a hot day to quench the thirst and is actually a style that is hard to nail, as you have nowhere to hide the imperfections. Some of the American craft breweries do some amazing ones. I live in the Netherlands currently and my favourite of the mass produced Dutch lagers is Hertog Jan, not sure if it is available in the UK, I've never seen it when I've been back in the UK.

Edited by NSNO on Wednesday 3rd July 13:51

[Lotobear]

NSNO said:

nuyorican said:

I keep forgetting to start a thread on fake lager. Thanks for reminding me!

I used to drink lager in the 90's. Becks, Stella etc. But got into real ale and never really drank it again unless on holiday. Until this summer that is, when I decided I fancied some nice crisp, ice-cold lager. But to my dismay, and to the detriment of my wallet after wasting lots of money on all the usual suspects, it's all gone rubbish! Pish!

It all 'looks' the same as old, but if you turn it round and look at the small-print you'll see the dreaded BREWED IN UK. The ABV will also be suspiciously low... Never mind, I thought, I'll buy Becks, that won't have been tampered with, will it? Purity laws and all? But no, that's fake too now!

So what happened? And why? Seems to be a lager-specific problem, you can buy cracking beer/ale that's brewed in the UK all day long.

Companies penny pinching and selling respected branding to pish manufacturers perhaps? Nanny state in action? Brexit? Are beers like Stella and Becks now inferior products in Belgium and Germany too? Or is it a UK thing?

So after lots of disappointing lager buying, I did find a quality lager which I'll share here.

Behold, M&S Belgian Lager. Fantastic stuff.

Sounds like a similar story to me. I remember drinking Becks in my younger days, thinkin that I was the bee's knees. However I never really liked it and eventually got into real ale and then craft beer and now I wouldn't go near a Becks, probably as bad as Heineken and that is saying something. However a good lager when done well is fantastic, especially on a hot day to quench the thirst and is actually a style that is hard to nail, as you nowhere to hide the imperfections. Some of the American craft breweries do some amazing ones. I live in the Netherlands and my favourite of the mass produced Dutch lagers is Hertog Jan, not sure if it is available in the UK, I've never seen it when I've been back in the UK.

I seem to recall when first introduced in the 1980's, all Becks in the UK was imported from Germany - though never a lager drinker (I'm a staunch cask ale man) I used to like it.

There are actually some very nice 'real' Pilsners, Bocks and Lagers being brewed now by UK 'craft' (whatever that means!) brewers these days

[bolidemichael]

Picked some up this morning along with some imported 5.8% Victoria Malaga beer.

[eharding]

bolidemichael said:

Picked some up this morning along with some imported 5.8% Victoria Malaga beer.

No sign of it at either Tiverton or Wellington Lidl

I went to the lengths of filling out a query in their web contact form asking if it was likely to be stocked anywhere local, but the 'Submit' button just gets you a big red "Internal Error" message. Pants.

[popegregory]

Following this. I drink real ale but when it’s hot I just want a super cold delicious lager and the cooking ones like fosters and carling are just awful.

[RichFN2]

Still have the Czech version in my local Lidl, they also have Budvar dark lager and normal Budvar in 5L kegs.

All the below is brewed in Czechia

[Don Veloci]

Bradgate said:

I believe Aldi’s Steinhauser lager is brewed in Germany. Don’t know about the rest of their brands, though.

All 6 gone in an evening sitting is too easy, and I'd not even call it a great German lager.

"Brewed in the UK under licence" seems to be 99% of labels these day unfortunately!

[some bloke]

RichFN2 said:

Still have the Czech version in my local Lidl, they also have Budvar dark lager and normal Budvar in 5L kegs.

All the below is brewed in Czechia

I discover the dark Budvar on a trip to the Czech Republic a few years ago, and loved it. Imagine my surprise when the local corner shop had it in stock when I got back home. It turns out the guys family run a bar round the corner with an enormous number of bottled beers and they put a few in the shop too.

[bolidemichael]

RichFN2 said:

Still have the Czech version in my local Lidl, they also have Budvar dark lager and normal Budvar in 5L kegs.

All the below is brewed in Czechia

I sampled my Staropramen on Sunday before the footy. It was very nice.

[Puggit]

Glad I'm not the only one who hates all the UK brewed copies. I refuse to buy them!

I didn't realise Becks has gone that way too - it was always my go-to safe option. Now I just bring 1664, Leffe etc back from France when I visit (multiple times each year).

[eharding]

bolidemichael said:

RichFN2 said:

Still have the Czech version in my local Lidl, they also have Budvar dark lager and normal Budvar in 5L kegs.

All the below is brewed in Czechia

I sampled my Staropramen on Sunday before the footy. It was very nice.

Finally managed to get a couple of bottles of the Czech Staropramen and the UK brewed stuff to compare side-by-side. Can absolutely tell the difference - the UK stuff has a faint, but discernible, metallic hint that the original doesn't, and the Czech-brewed beer seems more rounded in general - also keeps the head far longer than the UK version. Hopefully the local Lidl branches will start stocking it as the one in Lydney is a bit of a trek to get to from this part of Devon.

[snotrag]

Good heads up this, might have to get a couple in for post-bike-race cool down on Saturday in the sunshine.

As this has become a Lager discussion - I seem to recall that if you buy Heineken in the 330ml Coke Can size format, you also get the proper Dutch stuff and not the Tadcaster variant. It was definitely different (better!). Not sure if still the case, it was a Dutch bloke who showed me a few years ago.

[leef44]

snotrag said:

Good heads up this, might have to get a couple in for post-bike-race cool down on Saturday in the sunshine.

As this has become a Lager discussion - I seem to recall that if you buy Heineken in the 330ml Coke Can size format, you also get the proper Dutch stuff and not the Tadcaster variant. It was definitely different (better!). Not sure if still the case, it was a Dutch bloke who showed me a few years ago.

I didn't realise this so that's interesting to know.

I had a can in the fridge and drank it a couple of days ago and noted how good it taste like the old days.

I've been to Lidl and got a couple of bottles of the Czech stuff to try it out. Never had it before so can't compare.

[RichFN2]

eharding said:

bolidemichael said:

RichFN2 said:

Still have the Czech version in my local Lidl, they also have Budvar dark lager and normal Budvar in 5L kegs.

All the below is brewed in Czechia

I sampled my Staropramen on Sunday before the footy. It was very nice.

Finally managed to get a couple of bottles of the Czech Staropramen and the UK brewed stuff to compare side-by-side. Can absolutely tell the difference - the UK stuff has a faint, but discernible, metallic hint that the original doesn't, and the Czech-brewed beer seems more rounded in general - also keeps the head far longer than the UK version. Hopefully the local Lidl branches will start stocking it as the one in Lydney is a bit of a trek to get to from this part of Devon.

The Czech version will be brewed with local malt, hops and water. I'm almost certain it will be brewed in a similar manner to the German purity law Reinheitsgebot. Meaning only the 3 ingredients I listed can be used when making beer, it kills a craft beer scene but it allows untampered traditional beer to be produced.

Unfortunately in the UK there is no such law, and glucose and rice starch can be used as it's much cheaper than using 100% malt. The malt used will be the same type of pilsner malt but it's grown and harvested in the UK, same with the hops. The water will also be from Northampton and despite all the treatment and chemicals to get it to match the profile of the Czech water it's never quite the same. Oh and it will be the same with the yeast.

The end result is just not as good, and it's why I generally buy imported beer where possible.

If you ever get the chance, try Staropramen unfiltered. It's even better! Unfortunately it will be hard to get hold of here but it was about £1 a glass in Romania.

[vixen1700]

Just bought eight and am enjoying the first one in the garden right now.

[ChocolateFrog]

Bradgate said:

But I can still find excellent genuine Czech & German lager in supermarkets. Budvar & Pilsner Urquell are widely available. Sainsbury’s sell Warsteiner. Tesco stock Paulaner & Krombacher and I also saw some Bitburger there recently.

That takes me back to living in Germany.

"Wobbly" was our go to then, lovely.

[ChocolateFrog]

Got the last couple in my local LIDL.

Surely there's a market for a premium English Lager.

Why do we have to have poor imitations of European lager?

I mean Belgian and German copies atleast make sense but French and Spanish, really?

Does tax become prohibitive above 5%?.