Review: Tennent’s Lager
When I was in the UK, I was there to enjoy all the beers I couldn’t have back home. This meant sampling most everything from the unpronounceable to the standard “import” available at the local Tesco. The standard selections of beer included such favorites as Guinness, Stella Artois, Kronenberg 1664, Heineken, Fosters, and tonight’s focus, Tennent’s Lager. Now, the beer I had over there was much different from the one I found a few weeks ago. The Tennent’s I found in the UK was actually of the Strong Lager variety. There are a few differences I need to address. The Strong Lager came in a 500ml can at 9.0% ABV. This beer was 2-3 times stronger in alcohol than what everyone else had found, compounded with the fact Tennent’s came in a larger can and a 4-pack. You could hardly drink this beer without chasing it with a drink as sweet as Strongbow.
Now, if I may interject into my own review here, I would like to speak briefly upon the concept of UK units. Here in the US, we are used to reading the ABV (alcohol by volume) of our beer. In the UK, I had to quickly catch up on their measurements of UK units. The brilliant part of UK units is that the value is calculated based on volume. In the US you can have a can of beer at 8% or a bottle at 3.2% and never really know how much you had to drink. With UK units, you just add it all up. One UK unit is equal to 10ml of pure alcohol. It doesn’t get much more simple than that (easy calculations are always a nice thing after a few taste testings). I would love for the US to adopt this system, right after we move to metric. If you have experience with the UK unit system, or have further thoughts, please follow up with me in a comment for this post.
To get back with the review, you could say that I was eager to pick up the Tennent’s Lager not out of fondness for its taste, but more so for nostalgic reasons. I had forgotten, however, that the Tennent’s in the UK was the Super Strong Lager at 4.5 UK units (9%), whereas this imported Tennent’s Lager was at a much more palatable 5% ABV. Not to spoil the ending, but the lighter in ABV import was a much better tasting beer. Now, on to the review!
Appearance
As a European import, you could have guessed that Tennent’s Lager came in a light green glass bottle. Further, I probably won’t surprise you with the fact that this Scottish brew smelled a little skunky as I poured it into a glass. It wasn’t an offensive odor, but something all too familiar with these European lagers. The beer looked very crisp and golden as it fizzed away in its Pilsner glass. There was a small amount of head on top of the lager, and I was quite surprised at how well that amount of head was retained. When you put light through the back of the glass, you can see the carbonation in the beer and the large bubbles rising to the top.
Aroma
Once you get past the initial “probably a result of the green bottle” smell, the aroma of this beer is actually quite pleasant. Light, yet contained a distinct roasted characteristic. I can say I wasn’t expecting any sort of malt aroma, which was nice, so I pressed on to give the Tennent’s a taste.
Taste
Even though I picked it up purely for nostalgia, this beer was not nearly as dreadful as I remembered it. Again, I am reviewing the Tennent’s Lager, and not the Tennent’s Super Strong Lager which I had before. I would attribute the change in taste almost certainly to the drastic reduction of alcoholic content. Despite being such a light and golden beer, the lager had a surprisingly medium to heavy mouthfeel, which came off as rather creamy. There was nearly no aftertaste, which is fine for what I consider to be a light lager. One last note, don’t let this beer get too warm.
Overall Evaluation
I’m going to give this beer a very positive score. Tennent’s is not your standard run-of-the-mill lager, in fact, I think it is superior to most if not all American offerings of the same style. I’ve stated many times on the show that I am not a large fan of lagers, but I’ll stick up for a beer that dares to be different. I can’t say that Tennent’s Lager is a radical, but it certainly brings character to a style of beer I find to be traditionally bland in flavor. Forgetting my nostalgic fondness for this import, I find Tennent’s to be a great, light, refreshing beer that has also been particularly difficult for me to find. A great lager, but still a lager, deserves a 4/5.
