Moritz

What can you do with nitro-lager drinkers? Give them better lager to try, perhaps? When beermerchants.com wanted to know what I thought of Moritz, a Spanish lager, I thought it was only fair to round up a few willing swillers and ask them if they thought it could be a Stella-beater.


The Moritz brand has a proud history in Catalonia. Formed in 1856 by an Alsatian brewer, Louis Moritz Trautman, it enjoyed over a hundred years of success before financial problems brought about the brewery's closure in 1978. But old beers never die - they live on in fond memories. "The brand has stayed in people's brains," says Albert Castellón, general manager at Moritz. "This has helped us communicate our message."

That message seems to be that Moritz is a quality Barcelonean beer, compared to mass-market national brands such as San Miguel and Estrella. Back in production again since 2004, the beer wants to become synonymous with the city. Their iconic logo seems to get everywhere; on the side of classic Seat cars, on canary-yellow parasols and on promotional signage that's so coveted that it's stolen from bars if not nailed down.

So, Moritz has established heritage, impressive marketing... but does it taste any good? I gave away a dozen bottles to long-time lager drinkers and here's what they said:

"it reminded me of Molson Dry...I like my lager to be a bit more remarkable"

"better than Fosters, Kronenburg etc but I wouldn't buy it if a large bottle of Stella costs less"

"a nice brew, not what I'd expected, not flabby"

"a bit bland compared to ale but better than the likes of Black Label"

"it had a different taste to what I'd expect from a continental lager"

"I can see myself sitting on my patio in the summer enjoying a few bottles"

"quite dry and crisp"

"not as distinctive as Bud, Carslberg, but in a good way"

"not as much of an edge as other lagers"

"quite flavoursome and not too lagery "


Good to see that a fair few people found it surprising. If you're used to the torpor of common continental bottled lager brands, then Moritz will indeed taste different enough. It's a different beastie to Stella, reassuringly refreshing rather than unneccesarily expensive.

My take? It's clean, dry, a little butteryness up front, a little bitter finish. It's a lager that gets the job done in a soft Saazish way and does wonders to reclaim the style away from the usual metallic eurofizz. Goes well with sausage and chips on a cool February evening but probably goes down better in Barca with tapas at a pavement cafe watching microskirts and mopeds scuttle down boulevards as the evening heat wears away.

Thanks to my intrepid lager tasters for their input and to beermerchants for the samples.