Decided to try a random lager each time I shop. The supermarket has been such an anxious & dispiriting experience I wanted to jazz it up somewhat! #LockdownLife I'm fairly sure I've had them all before but have no recollection - are they that bad or was I not paying attention?

I started with Super Bock for no other reason than it was the first on the shelf. It pours a handsome burnished gold with a fine head. Maltier than expected and not as sweet as I feared. Refreshing. Large bottle makes for good value. Can imagine it goes down well on the Algarve!

Only thing I remember about beer in India is that they'd never sell me as much as I wanted - it was easier to drink daiquiris in the Pune Hard Rock.
Kingfisher claims to be the country's No. 1. Don't let ingredients like glucose syrup & caramel colouring put you off - it's OK.

A rare trip to Asda bagged me a brace of continental budget lagers, and I mean budget: averaging 97p a bottle they're almost cheaper than milk, certainly cheaper than soda - in a more civilised country these would be kept chilled in a fridge offering cheap refreshment w/ lunch!

Initially I thought these were faux-continental Asda lagers but the first surprise is that both are made by mainstream macro brewers in their own right. You may encounter them in the wild - drinkers are checking them in all over Europe today.

The second surprise is that the German one is really French. Despite proclaiming its Dresdner origins, having a large castle-es que brewery in Germany, and claiming adherence to the Reinheitsgebot, it's brewed somewhere in France. Go figure. No surprise that it tastes meh.

The French one that doesn't disguise its Frenchness is better, but not by much. Cereal sweetness and a slightly bigger body belies its 5.5% strength. I daresay this is fine on the campsite with a wheel of brie and some crackers, but in rainy Belfast it's another meh from me!

Singapore was my fun, fascinating transit hub for a few months in '07 so I drank gallons of @TigerBeerSG. Ingredients like glucose syrup & hop extract didn't bother me then - are they're even used in the native version? Sweet; vaguely malty; no bitterness - needs more extract!

Maybe the best so far: hop bitterness in the finish which lingered somewhat. Ingredients list both hops & hop extract so perhaps that's the key to a good supermarket beer...The glass was an early addition to my collection but its odd top-heavy shape felt v precarious when full.

Good bitterness initially but it turns sweeter on warming. The promised head didn't last long at all; no lacing. Picked up this glass at an '02 World Cup party sponsored by the other Bud. By the time the next World Cup came around I was living in Korea where weak lager dominated.

Without doubt Heverlee is the most commonly recommended beer by my non-craft drinking mates. I'm sure I had it when it launched but don't remember & never went back to it. It's decent. Malty & sweet. If stuck I'd have it again which is more than can be said for most of the rest!

Had high hopes for Pilsner Urquell as it's highly rated even among the crafterati. I was pleasantly satisfied. Solid body with plenty of hop bitterness leading to a lasting finish. I'd have it again and will give it a go if I see it on tap (if I'm ever back in a pub again!).

A double helping from this evening's trip to @lidl_ireland Newbridge: I couldn't pass up such an exotic specimen as Bia Saigon Export, nor could I miss The Crafty Brewing Co Saison which I've never seen before.

I loved Vietnam. It was hot, sticky, exhausting - that made the beer taste awesome! Cold, dirt cheap, poured haphazardly at the side of the st. That's what this bottle of Saigon reminded me of: today was hot & muggy so it went well with my pizza & salad...but I poured carefully!

Meanwhile the Crafty Brewing Saison was terrific. Lively. Spicy. Well balanced. Hardly fair to include it in this thread of supermarket specials as it's clearly a cut above; yet it's from Lidl, at Lidl prices - I had much worse beers at twice the cost. Go get some.

Amstel was cheap & ubiquitous when I lived in Valencia and I must've drunk gallons of it to bother acquiring this glass. It really hit the spot after a long hot day at work but I can't imagine drinking it any other time. Dirt cheap here too.

Mrs Boon took one (blind) sip of Bavaria and said "tastes German" which is probably the highest compliment you can pay this bargain supermarket lager. £1 for this here bottle.

You may think the branded glass is an unconnected coincidence but in fact the Filipino San Miguel predates its Spanish namesake by 60+ años. Sweet & gassy like most Euro lagers.

You gotta love Lidl - where else count you count cheap Croatian lager among your impulse buys at the till?

This Mythos was actually pretty good. Bready, lingering. Pleasantly surprised.

Staropramen provides another quickly fading head; grassy aroma; grainy malty body with some bitterness. On a 3 for £5 with two other big bottle beers which will follow in due course.

Distinctly recall my 1st pint of Warsteiner 20+ yrs ago - t'was awful, put me off the brand for a long time until a cousin suggested perhaps I'd had a bad drop. I know marginally more about beer now than I did then! Fluffy head, softly carb'd, low bitterness. Easy-drinking Pils.

Back in the jour when The Globe was the place to be I drank pint bottles of Stella Artois, mostly I think because no one else did. I got a Proustian hit when I took my first sip of this, and it went down very easy, but it's quite sweet & this was quite enough. O 2 b young again!

Celebrating the selective Belfast lockdown with this large bottle of Corona. Picked up the hefty mug working for Habitat in Mexico #SweatEquity - Jimmy Carter would be so proud! - even though I drank more Victoria & Modelo than Corona. It's sharper than I remember. £2 for 710ml!

A ludicrously expensive & comically massive can of Asahi sat in my Seoul fridge for many months, it felt almost treasonous buying it! No such qualms about this bargain bottle from the supermarket. Not much to it, quick off the palate too.

Despite living in D4 for many years I didn't drink a lot of Heino, even when it garnered the ludicrous 007 endorsement! (Drank a lot of the superior Dark in Amsterdam tho). Were it not for this silly supermarket experiment it probably wouldn't have passed my lips ever again.

The beer that usually comes free with an Indian takeaway, this is actually pretty refreshing and there's a bit of a bite.