Venom Beer Dry Lager

While they're not immune to flights of fancy – soft drink and cordial-inspired sours; tributes to founder Joel's favourite bands – for the most part Venom have focused on more broad appeal beers, centred around their flagship Golden Ale. Dry Lager sits very much in this camp too: a drinking not thinking beer.

It opens with straw / hay / floral hop aromas – don't go looking for anything fruity or tropical here – while malts are of the crisp, cracker type through which you'll pick up some lagery esters. It's lower-than-usual in terms of carbs although I'd challenge the claim of low bitterness, at least to suggest it's more a case of a low and slow earthy bitterness. Which is no bad thing as it merely aids in helping the beer live up to its name.

James Smith