…The story so far. Once upon a time there were some pubs in London which did not do the same beers as everywhere else. People scoffed, but we tried out the Happy Shopper lagers on offer and became quite enamored of the cooking lager: Ayingerbrau. This being difficult to pronounce (actually I am quite used to pronouncing it now) it was often referred to by the three dimensional Bavarian Beer Boy infront of its tap : THE MAN IN A BOX. This bounded homunculus was to us a mascot of good times, and a guarantee of a beer under two pounds.
And then they took the Man In A Box away.
And even though we were not men in boxes we spoke out.
And then they changed its name to Alpine Lager
And even though they have not changed our name to Alpine Lager, we are speaking out.
So since previous reports we have still spotted a few patches of Ayingerbrau activity in London, notably the Red Lion on Kingly Street. But sad news to report, HefeWeisse, the wheat beer of the batch, has been rebranded in Alpine Lager pubs as “Wheat Beer” – snappy name Mr Smith. As previously noted, Alpine Lager, not only being a lousy generic name is already the name of a Canadian lager. But what was not investigated was the well being of the Ayinger Brewery, the original creators of Ayingerbrau?
Well, as seen here, you’ll be pleased to know that they are still going and upholding the fine tradition of the man in the box. And so I shall write to them, to see exactly why their legendary link with Sam Smith’s seems to have fallen down, and how else we can see their fine products in the UK.