From German Hops to London Lager: By Harley Williams

'One of my first acts as Head Brewer at Sambrook’s Brewery was to start brewing a lager. It is an underrated and often overlooked group of styles in the modern craft beer industry that is particularly close to my heart. Their supreme drinkability, and the technical skill and time required to brew them well and consistently is seen as the true test of a brewer’s ability.

Pagoda Pilsner is our take on a German-style pilsner lager, crisp and clean with a delicate bite from traditional noble hops that is just enough to keep you wanting more.

Although skill and technique is very important in brewing, it is also impossible to brew quality beer without quality ingredients, and that is something that we take very seriously at Sambrook’s Brewery. For this reason, we carefully choose where our malt and hops come from, and make time to visit these producers to ensure that we are getting the best that we can.

Therefore, in September, we jumped at the opportunity to visit three different hop growers in the Hallertau region of Germany, where we source the varieties that we use in Pagoda Pilsner, as well as Schlager, our Oktoberfest-style lager and others. We were lucky enough to catch the end of the harvest, as well as smelling and selecting the varieties that we use the most to ensure that they meet our standards.'