Strawberry Früli.

At: Lazia

Cost: $4.25

Lazia doesn't carry many of my usual selections, so I did what I always do in such situations.

Pepper the staff with annoying questions.

What's a Strawberry Früli?

"Well, it's a white beer that's flavoured with strawberries."

Fascinating! Now what's a Kronenbourg 1664?

"It's... French."

Well it looks like the Kronenbourg will wait for another day. My Früli came with a cheerful label and a big glass tankard into which I dutifully poured it, revealing in the process a beautiful pink colour that is, sadly, not done any justice in the photograph.

The scent is sweet and has a definite note of berry. The taste is... oddly divisive.

I, enjoying beer as a whole, found it a bit baffling. My mother, not being particularly fond of beer, quite liked it.

The undisputed point: the Früli does not taste like beer at all.

Not to say it tastes bad, oh no. It's smooth and flavourful (with 30% pure strawberry juice. I think that's more than most actual packaged fruit-juice.) and makes me think of a rather pleasant cocktail. I would recommend it highly.

Just, you know, not if you're looking to drink beer.