Beer Styles

What makes Glasgow's lager special? Tennent's Lager belongs to the international pale lager style: golden, clear, with a white head, light and easy-drinking. It follows the Pilsner model but is more gently hopped and leaner.

WEST's Helles, St Mungo, takes its name from the city's patron saint. It comes in at 4.9 percent alcohol and, according to the brewery, is a true Helles in the Bavarian sense. A Helles is a mild, malt-forward lager with a soft body and only light bitterness.

The difference between the two lies in their models. Tennent's Lager follows the 1885 Pilsner-style blueprint, while WEST's beer follows the Munich school. Both ferment with bottom-fermenting yeast, and both are pale.

The third type belongs to ale, which ruled the pubs before lager arrived. Scottish Heavy is an amber-coloured, malt-forward beer with little hop character and modest alcohol, tasting of caramel and light roast notes. The British simply call it 'heavy.' The name says little about strength and even less about flavour, since Heavy is, in fact, a beer with low alcohol content.

The figures in the profile come from the BJCP 2021 guidelines, a competition reference. Individual beers may fall outside these ranges. The Tennent's brand also comes in several strengths and variants, so no single figure applies to all of them. For Tennent's Lager as an international pale lager, these ranges offer a solid point of reference.