Cruzcampo

[Day]

I don't get the hype, tastes like festival lager, massively watered down with a weird after taste.

[Stive Pesley]

2 minutes ago, Day said:

I don't get the hype, tastes like festival lager, massively watered down with a weird after taste.

I have to say, it's one of my favourite Spanish lagers to drink on holiday but it's hard to differentiate it over here from the usual cooking lager that we get (I'm looking at you Carling Black Label)

I was surprised to see it appearing everywhere in the UK as it used to be a rare treat to find it here, but it looks like Heineken have done their usual. It's not Spanish lager at all. They did the same with Moretti

 

See also Madri - suddenly everywhere - brewed in the UK by Molson Coors with huge amounts of money spent on marketing, but the word on the street is that it's just the Carling recipe tweaked ever so slightly so no one can say it's "just Carling"

[Stive Pesley]

20 minutes ago, Day said:

massively watered down

Also - yes. In the UK they are brewing it to 4.4%, whereas the real stuff in Spain is 4.8%

 

[Srg]

2 minutes ago, Stive Pesley said:

I have to say, it's one of my favourite Spanish lagers to drink on holiday but it's hard to differentiate it over here from the usual cooking lager that we get (I'm looking at you Carling Black Label)

I was surprised to see it appearing everywhere in the UK as it used to be a rare treat to find it here, but it looks like Heineken have done their usual. It's not Spanish lager at all. They did the same with Moretti

 

See also Madri - suddenly everywhere - brewed in the UK by Molson Coors with huge amounts of money spent on marketing, but the word on the street is that it's just the Carling recipe tweaked ever so slightly so no one can say it's "just Carling"

I could bore you for a while on Madri working there, but can emphatically say it is not "just Carling".

The whole hyperbole of world lagers being brewed in the UK is just daft. It just makes far more financial sense. It doesn't change the ingredients. Scenes when people realise Fosters isn't Australian.

[AndyinLiverpool]

13 minutes ago, Srg said:

I could bore you for a while on Madri working there, but can emphatically say it is not "just Carling".

The whole hyperbole of world lagers being brewed in the UK is just daft. It just makes far more financial sense. It doesn't change the ingredients. Scenes when people realise Fosters isn't Australian.

The water must be different, though, right?

[Srg]

6 minutes ago, AndyinLiverpool said:

The water must be different, though, right?

Potentially, but there are processes to make hard water softer if necessary.

[Stive Pesley]

30 minutes ago, Srg said:

I could bore you for a while on Madri working there, but can emphatically say it is not "just Carling".

It's OK -my son bores me with this stuff all the time as he's a brewer by profession. And I did say that it's NOT "just Carling" - but a deliberately tweaked recipe to make it different enough to be it's own thing, whilst at the same time similar enough to not vastly increase the ingredient and production costs 

Since my operation I've become quite the connoisseur of Eurolager, as I can't drink craft nonsense anymore and pure filtered lager is the only thing that doesn't upset my stomach. There really isn't a great variation in taste as it's largely all made the same way and from very similar ingredients. I'd suggest that very few people would be able to accurately ID very many mass-produced lagers in a blind taste test

And don't get me started on "craft lager"

[Srg]

9 minutes ago, Stive Pesley said:

It's OK -my son bores me with this stuff all the time as he's a brewer by profession. And I did say that it's NOT "just Carling" - but a deliberately tweaked recipe to make it different enough to be it's own thing, whilst at the same time similar enough to not vastly increase the ingredient and production costs 

Since my operation I've become quite the connoisseur of Eurolager, as I can't drink craft nonsense anymore and pure filtered lager is the only thing that doesn't upset my stomach. There really isn't a great variation in taste as it's largely all made the same way and from very similar ingredients. I'd suggest that very few people would be able to accurately ID very many mass-produced lagers in a blind taste test

And don't get me started on "craft lager"

It was brewed as Madri by La Sagra brewery just outside of Madrid. Madri Excepcional was brewed in conjunction with Molson Coors, and is starting to gain a foothold in Spain too, both in Madrid and coastal areas. It is the fastest growing beer launch in history, which is pretty crazy considering it came out during Covid. It was really designed to compete with Moretti, which it has done. The irony of which is Heineken also own Moretti, so them introducing Cruzcampo has only really canibalised their own brand.

You're right in that a lot of lagers do taste similar to the average person. You can really dig into it with tasting through Aroma, Appearance, Mouthfeel, Taste and Finish in proper tasting, but the most simple way is through a 1-5 rating on both sweetness and bitterness. If you're putting the three mainstream lagers against each other, you're looking at Fosters being the sweetest and least bitter, Carlsberg being the most bitter and least sweet and Carling being balanced between the two. That is the reason for the popularity - it appeals to the widest range tastes.

Craft lager is where you get the wider variants as there's more license I suppose to do something a bit different.

[The_Sheriff]

For the record I hate carling.  Love Madri.

Definitely tastes different 

[Foreveram]

1 minute ago, The_Sheriff said:

For the record I hate carling.  Love Madri.

Definitely tastes different 

I’ll drink to that 🍻

[Stive Pesley]

My bad - this was the article about Madri, and they said it was "rumoured by sources close to Molson Coors to be Coors Light with added hop extract." - Not Carling as I said

https://classbarmag.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/1000/Playing_the_Spain_game_-_how_beer_from_the_Med_became_big_business_.html

 

 

Edited May 8 by Stive Pesley

[Crewton]

Here you go - people with beards and pot bellies also drink lager.

http://www.camal.org.uk/index.php/about-us#:~:text=About Us&text=CAMAL was originally founded on,beer organisations within the UK.

[Day]

Madri is the best on tap lager down the pub these days. Hands down.

Was never a huge fan of Moretti, makes sense it’s Heineken and they are behind that and Cruzcampo.

Nice looking glass though, think that’s the lure as it can’t be the taste.

[Crewton]

A friend of mine loves Thornbridge Lukas, a Helles-style Lager, because it's gluten free (and tastes good too).

[Gaspode]

2 hours ago, Crewton said:

Here you go - people with beards and pot bellies also drink lager.

http://www.camal.org.uk/index.php/about-us#:~:text=About Us&text=CAMAL was originally founded on,beer organisations within the UK.

No I don't!!

[Grumpy Git]

I'll only drink lager when there's no decent bitter to be had (i.e. a lot of the time). 😬

Cruzcampo is total shyte.

Edited May 8 by Grumpy Git

[rynny]

5 hours ago, Day said:

I don't get the hype, tastes like festival lager, massively watered down with a weird after taste.

It isn't that good

[Boycie]

8 hours ago, Day said:

I don't get the hype, tastes like festival lager, massively watered down with a weird after taste.

Says the Madri fan boy, he even dresses like the guy on the bottle. #hipster

*Watch him deny it.

You shouldn’t even be drinking it! Wheat init, init!

They all taste the bloody same anyrode, and when I see a pint of Carling with a 2 inch head protruding above the glass I really do wonder what shites in it

Edited May 8 by Boycie
*Oh! David’s not had to deny it.

[GboroRam]

Well, what can I say? 

The Germans decided that proper beer should only contain hops, malted barley, and water. And they did a pretty decent job of it. 

So, ingredients aren't a massive issue. Water profiles can be changed by adding minerals. Hops have different flavours and can be used in different quantities. Malt can be 2 row or 6 row breeds, can be roasted for different flavours, and used in different quantities to add depth and mouthfeel. Some heretics throw some extra ingredients in, partly for taste and sometimes for wacky factor. I'm looking at you, mushy pea mild. 

But the one thing that the Germans forgot is in all their beer, is yeast. And this is the biggest game changer. Yeast makes beer. Brewers make wort (the sugary liquid that yeast turns to alcohol). 

Unfortunately my pocket won't stretch to it regularly, but the difference in quality from the little Belgian beers in the supermarket shows the Madris, the Morettis, the Stellas and the Budweisers for what they are - mass produced products designed to maximise profit by efficient use of materials to make a product that the masses can't take much offense at. 

[Boycie]

1 minute ago, GboroRam said:

Well, what can I say? 

The Germans decided that proper beer should only contain hops, malted barley, and water. And they did a pretty decent job of it. 

So, ingredients aren't a massive issue. Water profiles can be changed by adding minerals. Hops have different flavours and can be used in different quantities. Malt can be 2 row or 6 row breeds, can be roasted for different flavours, and used in different quantities to add depth and mouthfeel. Some heretics throw some extra ingredients in, partly for taste and sometimes for wacky factor. I'm looking at you, mushy pea mild. 

But the one thing that the Germans forgot is in all their beer, is yeast. And this is the biggest game changer. Yeast makes beer. Brewers make wort (the sugary liquid that yeast turns to alcohol). 

Unfortunately my pocket won't stretch to it regularly, but the difference in quality from the little Belgian beers in the supermarket shows the Madris, the Morettis, the Stellas and the Budweisers for what they are - mass produced products designed to maximise profit by efficient use of materials to make a product that the masses can't take much offense at. 

I agree, I can’t have wheat in my beers or lagers.  But some of the Belgium stuff does contain it.

Or some Tyskie!