An English lager? There’s something you don’t see everyday. Actually, English-brewed lagers are not all that unusual, though their brewers tend to produce far more ales. It’s just rare that we see them exported here to the Unites States. There are a few that come to mind (Samuel Smith’s Pure Brewed Lager being the most notable example), but only a few. So, you can imagine that I jumped on Charlie Wells Dry Hopped Lager with much alacrity when it was offered up at Taco Mac.

I’ve enjoyed a number of tasty ales from Wells in the past, as well as from the Youngs brewery with which they merged in 2006. Taco Mac announced the introduction of Charlie Wells Dry Hopped Lager as a special release at select locations on November 3rd:

Charlie Wells was an adventurer, a pioneer, a maverick. After two decades of exotic escapades at sea he came back to Bedford with a bang, splashing almost $18K of his father-in-law’s money on a brewery and thirty-two pubs at an auction. Not a bad day’s work…

In honor, we’re featuring Well’s Dry Hopped Lager on this day at select locations.

Luckily for me, Canton was one of them, and I enjoyed a mug on the day of release, pondering on the days when 18k could get you a brewery and 32 pubs….

From the brewery website:

Our Master Brewers have poured the company’s 139 year heritage into crafting a new lager, using its founder’s roots travelling the world in the Merchant Navy as inspiration. Charlie Wells Dry Hopped Lager is brewed with natural mineral water from a well sunk by Charles Wells himself in the early 1900s and the brewers combine several varieties of hops from around the world to create the beer’s slight bitterness, hoppy aroma and subtle maltiness with a deliciously smooth finish.

Brewed in true continental style, we use 100% malt in the mash and add in Target hops followed by a late addition of Styrian Goldings to add that really noble hop aroma. We ferment the beer cool with lager yeast for seven days, and what makes this beer really special is a two week cold conditioning stage with Australian Galaxy and Ella hops which brings out all that depth of flavour and dry hop character.

Charlie Wells Dry Hopped Lager has an alcohol content of 4.7% by volume and I paid $6.50 for a 20-ounce mug. It runs $11.99 a six-pack in cans, a little high but this is a specialty import.

My mug of Charlie Wells Dry Hopped Lager  arrived a brilliant golden color with a light fluffy head and an appetizing lemongrass nose from the interplay of grassy and lemony citric hops. Taking a sip, I get a smooth crisp biscuit maltiness, then deep herbal grassy hop notes in the palate mixed with more citrus, and the whole affair finishes dry with a lingering bright bitterness.

Truly excellent and a well-done pilsner style lager with a beautiful hop and malt collaboration. The English don’t send us lagers often but when they do, I hope they’re all as tasty as Charlie Wells Dry Hopped Lager.



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