Courtesy of the most gracious staff at Belmont Station, an under-rated and under-discovered gem, maybe the best lager out there. It shows that with just some aggressive hopping, you can have a top-notch session drink regardless of style.

Bottle picked up from a recommendation at Belmont Station. This must actually be one of the four or five "straight" lager brews I really enjoy. Straw as gold with a lovely white foamed head. Hopped up enough to give it some actual flavor alongside the grass malts, this one stands out with a bold, and still crisp flavor and finish. Somewhat spicy towards the finish as well. Really enjoyed this!

15-Jul-08 (500-ml bottle: Purchased 03-Apr-08 for $5.32 from liquidsolutions.biz) Coming off their mediocre Golden Ale, this Well-Hopped Lager is considerably more enjoyable. The malty, grainy and bready flavors are beautifully balanced by lemony and very grassy hops, with a moderate dusty character adding complexity and dryness in the finish. In this case, well-hopped means moderately bitter and balanced because the malt backbone is substantial compared to most pale-colored lagers. In fact, there’s a wonderful little earthy, toasty, almost smoky character in the finish that’s reminiscent of some Czech pilseners. Light-medium in body, dry on the palate, clean, satisfyingly crisp, refreshing, and a bit chalky after swallowing the beer. The nose is malty and grassy with a slight toasty quality. The golden-yellow beer pours rather cloudy at first, but it’s mostly just chill haze since it clears up to be moderately hazy. The whitish head builds to well over an inch on the pour before settling to a quarter-inch layer for the remainder of the session. A dense, moth-eaten blanket of foam sticks to the glass. Just a beautiful beer, one worth seeking out from time to time. Might cellar nicely for six to twelve months too.

Keg @ Stockholm Beer Festival 2005
Blonde lager with milky fudge aroma. Buttery though somewhat balanced in a countryside Czech way. Quite neat.

Draught at Bishop’s Arms, Malmö
Hazy blond color. Grassy aroma, with honey, cereals. Lean body, crispy malt, good hopping. Pleasant.