Review: St. Mungo – Aledvent Calendbeer 11
Beer: St. Mungo
Brewery: West Brewery
Type: German Lager
Served: Bottled
Alc: 4.9% Vol
Aledvent Calendbeer : 11
If Christmas time isn’t intrinsically associated with St. Nicolas then Ale to the King doesn’t know what is. When selecting the ales from the very fine off-license Cornelius one called St. Nick couldn’t be found, so St. Mungo seems good enough.
Its got an incredibly crisp, fresh nose and is highly reminiscent of chilled, new orange juice.
This fresh taste is carried through to the taste, which maintains a great freshness, even compared other craft lagers, and leagues ahead of the claggy, stale taste left by the likes of mass-produced lagers Stella Artois or Becks.
The taste is dominated by fresh, wet barley which is propelled nicely over the whole mouth by the naturally carbonated bubbles. The fizz is somewhat spikey and complements the slight undertones of nettle. On the after-taste the barley subsides and gives way to the nettle mixed with slight herbs and a little citrus flavour. Its certainly more of a summer drink than a winter one, but its certainly not out of place with the heating on full blast and the fairy lights shining away.
As a lager, its never going to have the depth and character of an ale. But it is a very nice lager and one that does its namesake, the patron saint of Glasgow and a brewer himself, proud.
Ale to the King. 