Battle of the Brews; The Cooking Lagers

This weeks qualifying round sees a face off between the "Cooking Lagers." Also known as "Driving Lagers" and "Session Beers," because they lack the potency of other beers, they are also the most ubiquitous ales, and the cheapest. This is not always a bad thing, sometimes it is not conducive to be paralytic by eight p.m., and we are not a bunch of Rockerfeller's who can pay top dollar every round. Just about every pub you walk into will feature at least one of these varieties, and in most case at least two. So without further adieu, the nominations for "Best Cooking Lager" are as follows;

Carling
Formerly known as Carling Black Label, the last two words were apparently dropped to make a an easier call at the bar. This Canadian offering (I was just as surprised), is the UK's best selling brew, which is hardly surprising seeing as you would be hard pressed to find a boozer that didn't sell it. It has an ABV of 4.1, and in Weatherspoons can be bought for less than £2 a pint at certain times of the day. Yet I have to confess that this is far from my favourite choice of lager. It always tastes a bit wishy washy to me, and doesn't have any real knd of bite. Of course, a lot of pubs only carry Carling as their cooking lager, so it can be hard to avoid it at times. I tend to pick Guinness when given this choice. And another thing. What are those little ad things they show on ITV before a film all about?

Carlsberg
Probably the best lager in the world, so the advertising campaign would have you believe. A bold statement indeed. Of course this Copenhagen behemoth is one of the biggest selling beers in the world, and the 4th largest brewer of all ales. It's advertising is al;most as famous as the beer, and the in the world "Probably the best..." tag line has been in use since 1974. It has an ABV of 3.8, a little on the low side, and is usually priced the same as Carling. It has a clean, crisp taste, and is my favourite of the cooking lagers, due it's gentle hangover. There have been many times I have guzzled a gallon, and still functioned reasonably well the next day. Always keep a good fizz going, when bought in pint form. In fact I am off to have one now....

Fosters
G'day mate, this brew found form off the back of a Paul Hogan campaign in the early eighties, and has stuck around since. God knows why, it has little or no taste, has a hangover that truly fucks you up, and is as Australian as Michael Jackson. Yet is continues to be seen in loads of pubs. It is stronger than the other two, at 4.9, and almost qualifies as a premium, but it don't taste like one. If this one trumps the other brands in this section I will eat a wombat. Not even Aussies care for the stuff. And enough of the stupid gimmicks. A scuba can indeed....

Beck Vier
A very recent addition to the cooking lagers, it has gained a foothold quickly, and is gaining popularity to match at least Carlsberg, at least as a draught. It has great pedigree, the Becks brand is well respected, and it was the first of the premium brands to introduce a session variety. It has that crisp Becks taste, and after a skin full, the hangover is manageable. The main catch is the price, it is usually 20p more expensive than it similar strength rivals, and for this reason I only tend to drink it when Carlsberg is unavailable. It does have the coolest glass though, it's head keeper is in the shape of it's famous key logo. The success of it is already being copied, Stella Artois have recently launched a 4% version as well, and I can see other brewers following suit. Not bad if you fancy something different.

So these are your choices to represent the "Cooking Lagers." As usual, the poll can be found to your LEFT (thank you Dr Shotgun), in the top corner. Please register your vote before 21:00 next Thursday, the 2nd of April. Hopefully there will be more voters, but if not, C'est la vie. May the best brew win