Continental Christmas

No, I didn't go to any of the lovely markets. I went to the German discount supermarkets and they didn't let me down the way overpriced glühwein always does.

Aldi had Schwaben Bräu WeihnachtsBier on the go. It's a rock-solid pale lager of 5.5% ABV in a jolly swingtop bottle. I couldn't tell you what the difference between this and Festbier is; they're both slightly more chewy than usual lagers. Here I get a veneer of honey on top of the spicy green hops. It all finishes cleanly, however, resulting in something big and satisfying but inhalable at the same time. Classically German, whatever the time of year.

Meanwhile, over in Lidl, something a bit less gemütlichkeit: a one litre can of Faxe Royal Export. It's not even a Christmas lager, they've just decorated the gigantocan. Well it worked on me. It looks very handsome: a medium amber shade. Though only 5.6% they've seen fit to boost it with sweetcorn and glucose. Presumably because of this, it's quite sweet and lacks a proper hop kick to balance the sugars. There's a crisp huskiness, grainy or corny, and then an artificial plasticky note in the finish, probably from whatever extract they're using instead of actual hops. It's not awful, by any means, and you get your €3 worth.

If you're restocking with easy-drinking cheapo lager over the festive period, the Schwaben one carries my seal of approval. Or Spaten, obviously. There's always Spaten.