For exceptional value, try this German lager
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Beer
With many craft beers costing around $7 for a single bottle and some even more I'm often asked to suggest some less expensive options.
This week I've taken that request on board and am reviewing a top-notch European import that retails for around $6 a litre.
The beer is Radeberger Pilsner, a pilsener-style golden lager from Radeberg, a small town to the northeast of Dresden in Saxony. The area is close to the Czech border and the region of Bohemia where, in 1842, in the town of Pilsen, the world's first clear, pale lager beer was brewed.
Thirty years later, in 1872, Conrad Brune's Aktienbrauerei Zum Bierkeller became the first brewery in Germany to produce a beer in the pilsner style. By 1907, news of the Radeberg beer had reached King Friedrich August von Sachsen, the king of Saxony, and he requested a visit to the brewery.
He must have been impressed because four years later Brune was made a Koniglichen Kommerzienrat, a "King's counsellor of commerce", an honorary title bestowed on merchants that met royal approval.
During the Communist era East Germany's brewers were protected from overseas competition and never came under pressure from accountants and marketing departments to cheapen their beers. As a result, when the country reunited West German drinkers often found East German beers were more robust and full flavoured than their local brews. Radeberger Pilsner emerged from 40 years of Communism almost unscathed.
Now part of Oetker, Germany's largest food and brewing group, Radeberger Exportbierbrauerei GmbH produces some 200 million litres of beer annually. Oetker is also responsible for Binding, Henninger, Clausthaler, DAB, and Schofferhofer beers, some of which make the trip to New Zealand.
A classic example of the style, Radeberger Pilsner (4.8 per cent) pours a bright yellow-golden hue beneath a tall, pillowy white head. It looks terrific, especially when presented in its traditional slender flute.
The aroma is sweet and honeyish, with an appetisingly fragrant, flowery hop note. In the mouth the beer is at first sweetish, with a honey-like maltiness, and there's a suggestion of salted cracker biscuits. The hops gradually emerge to provide an earthy dryness that balances the sweet malt in a lingering finish sheer class.
At around $3 for a 500ml can, Radeberger Pilsner works out about the same price per litre as New Zealand's Mac's and Monteith's beers and is cheaper than many other so-called premium lagers.
Worried about the can? Don't be. Although many believe bottled beers are invariably superior to their canned counterparts, when it comes to pale lagers, the reverse is true. Cans protect beer against light damage, so you'll never experience the awful cabbage-like off-flavours that blight so many green bottle lagers.
Given its pedigree and quality Radeberger Pilsner is an absolute bargain. Try it; I guarantee you'll be impressed. Cheers!
- The Marlborough Express
