BREWERS & Union is the brainchild of a pair of South African and Portuguese beer enthusiasts, who started a specialist beer bar under a church in Cape Town during the mid noughties.

In 2007 they decided to try to break into the European market, with beers commissioned from Belgian and German craft brewers.

Their amber lager featured in this column a few months ago.

This week we encounter B&U’s pilsner, an unfiltered lager produced exclusively for them by the Arco Brewery, founded in the Bavarian village of Moos in 1567.

As befits an unfiltered beer, it is hazy yellow in colour, and pours with a deep, foamy white head.

There is a note of honey on the nose, some lemon zest too, and a bread dough yeastiness, backed up by light, floral hops.

In the mouth, the first thing that strikes you is the very soft, almost foamy texture… a refreshing change from the aggressive fizziness of most mass-produced lagers.

The flavour combines light, sweet malt and banana with a dry, herbal hoppiness, and just a touch of woody sourness to add complexity. The finish is dry, grassy and herbal.

A truly excellent beer, fullflavoured and satisfying, yet at the same time, subtle and refreshing.