Your regular Gav is away this week, so beer-blogger and namesake GAVIN FROST steps in to his shoes.

HERE’S a word that some regular readers of Pints Of View may find offensive, but I make no apologies for using it – the word is “lager”.

Before CAMRA members lose immediate interest, I want to clarify a couple of things. I’m not talking about tasteless, mass-marketed, industrially produced fizz. I’m talking about good lager, flavoursome and easy-drinking lager. An oxymoron you ale drinkers say? Read on.

So first things first, what distinguishes lager from ale? Well, in a nutshell “lager” translates from German as “store” and, as such, the beer is fermented more slowly and for longer, with yeasts that sit at the bottom of the fermenting vessel, as opposed to at the top, as is the case with most ales.

One particular and popular style of lager is Pilsner, and it’s perhaps misunderstood by the real ale fraternity. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of real ale myself, but we’ve had a couple of barbecue weekends so far this year and sometimes a pint of real ale is a bit too cloying.

Sure, there are plenty of refreshing and hoppy blonde beers out there, but even if it’s served at perfect cellar temperature it still doesn’t quite refresh parts that lagers can reach.

Maybe after a long day’s labour, it’s instant refreshment that’s called for and that’s when a pint of Pilsner is perfect. For some time now I’ve been obsessed by one Pilsner in particular. It’s from the northern German town of Jever (pronounced Yay’ver) and funnily enough, that’s also what it’s called.

Jever Pilsner is a beer that even your average real ale fan could enjoy, with an open mind of course. It’s very dry, grassy and has a lasting bitter aftertaste – something you maybe wouldn’t associate with other more mainstream lagers. I happen to know that you can get it in Brigantes in Micklegate or at the House Of Trembling Madness in Stonegate on draught.

But it doesn’t stop there; another great lager is Pilsner Urquell, the first and the father of all Pilsners. Pilsner Urquell is delicious, caramel in colour with lovely caramel flavours too. A few of my “real ale only” friends who tasted it were quite surprised by it. “You know I think I could drink that,” one of them even said.

Thankfully, this brilliant pilsner is going through a bit of a renaissance and is becoming more widely available around York. Sure it’s owned by one of the big boys, but that doesn’t make it a bad beer. I sampled it in The Cross Keys in Goodramgate on a sunny Saturday afternoon and it really hit the spot.

Another lager I’d recommend is Bernard, which in York is dispensed in Pivní in Patrick Pool. They have three Bernard lagers actually. They usually have an easy drinking 3.8 per cent abv, one at a more premium strength and even a dark lager. I recommend a half of each next time you pass.

Some folks wouldn’t touch anything other than a cask-conditioned real ale but you know, I think it’s not just the beer that’s been conditioned; I think we’ve been conditioned too. Conditioned into thinking that a pint of lager is a pint of tasteless fizz – and, to be fair, in Britain it largely was and some still are.

But it really doesn’t have to be that way. Maybe I’ll never convince your hardcore CAMRA member, there was a time I wouldn’t have been so convinced myself. It’s just that no one had told me about the really great stuff. I’m delighted and grateful they did. Cheers!


Get in with the Inn crowd

IF you want some fun in the sun next weekend, then head to the Yorkshire Wolds.

The Gait Inn at Millington is holding its first beer festival, from July 1 to 3.

There will be ten beers and three ciders on offer and the bar is open from teatime on Friday and all day on Saturday and Sunday.