Take the Lauterbach

It's like one of those ghosts that doesn't know it's dead. The Lauterbacher brewery claims a foundation date of 1889, with a history in Bavaria going further back to the mid-17th century. The website tells the story in the first person: "we at Lauterbach..." Except you don't have to dig too deep to discover it's a sub-brand of Riegele, centred around a pub in Augsburg but with no brewery of its own any more. Still, I like Riegele's beers so have no objection to the subterfuge.

I guess the "Natur" in Lauterbacher Natur Hell signifies that it's unfiltered, because there's a definite misting of murk through the otherwise golden lager. It's topped with a head of foam as generous as the one idealistically depicted on the label.  The aroma is highly enticing, with lots of the subtle spongecake sweetness of good Helles, spiced up slightly with spinach and rocket hops. The green side is to the fore in the flavour, dry and crisp, with predominant notes of fresh cabbage leaf and a sprinkle of fine-ground white pepper. This time the malt is doing the back-up balancing: not very sweet, just a hint of cookies and vanilla. 4.8% ABV is low but there's plenty of weighty substance to this, allied with a soft carbonation for easy drinkability. The hops provide an encore in the finish, ending on a rasp of zinc-like minerality. I think I prefer the more polished sort of Helles, but for a rustic take on it, this works very well indeed.

Good Helles is always a welcome find. Good weissbier is rarer. It's not a beer style I'm especially enthusiastic about. So here's Lauterbacher Natur Weizen. Even by weissbier standards it's frothy, and took an age to pour. It's quite a dark fellow as well: amber rather than yellow. Candied banana in the aroma put me on alert that it's a sweet one, which wouldn't be my preference, inasmuch as I have one. The flavour is cleaner and simpler, I'm happy to say. There's not very much in the foretaste and, again despite the generous head, the carbonation is gentle. That means you can take a lovely big refreshing pull from it without risking a palate clog of rotting fruit and hot toffee. I had to wait for the tail end for the taste to emerge properly: a gentle mix of winter spices, suggesting clove and nutmeg with a little raisin and prune thrown in. I could level an accusation of blandness at it, but with Weizen, that's preferable to the hot and headachey alternative. It'll do.

I'm glad I took a chance on these. Half litre bottles of Bavarian beer in staunchly traditional styles are far, far from beer fashion these days, but they still exist and can be quite rewarding. Step away from the cartoon cans once in a while, yeah?