Learn All About Frisby
Our second beer
When we first started brewing at Round Corner Brewing back in 2018, we knew we wanted to make beers that mattered, beers that were brewed with patience and finesse. Frisby Lager was the second beer we ever brewed, and it still holds a special place in our hearts.
Lager is by far the most consumed style of beer in the UK, but for a long time, it hasn’t really had the respect it deserves from British brewers. It’s often been treated as a basic, mass-produced, cold-and-fizzy afterthought. But we’ve always seen it differently.
A joy to drink
Yes, Frisby is incredibly smashable. Crisp, clean and refreshing, but that doesn’t mean it is simple. Behind that easy-drinking surface are nuanced flavours and gentle aromas built from carefully selected ingredients and a slow, considered brewing process. Lager, when done right, is a beer of precision and patience. It is clean, balanced, and leaves no room to hide. And that’s exactly what makes it such a joy to brew and to drink.
Frisby was our way of showing what a lager could be when you give it the love it deserves.
Frisby inspiration
When we started Round Corner Brewing, we built it on the foundation of solid brewing experience. This year marks 30 years of founder Colin Paige brewing commercially, with 17 years focused on brewing pale ales and lagers across Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia. Those are places where clean, crisp lager isn’t just popular, but part of the culture. That experience shaped how Frisby was developed, with respect for the style, a focus on balance and drinkability, and a no-compromise approach to quality.
Timeless and subtle
From day one, we set out to make something timeless. We use the finest German pilsner malt which not only delivers a clean malt base but also allows a medium malt body even though the beer is dry. A small proportion of English wheat malt adds a lovely softness and silky body. It’s subtle, but it makes a big difference.
Hop-wise, we use a blend of Perle, Hallertau Mittelfrüh, and Fuggles, which together give it a lovely grassy note, a touch of sweet spice, and that hint of lemony citrus, and a decent bitterness of 24 IBU*, more than most mainstream lagers, but still in the eminently drinkable range. Nothing flashy, just well-balanced and elegant.
Slower fermentation
Frisby is fermented cold at 11°C with a Lager yeast originating from Weihenstephan in Munich. This lager yeast is what is called a bottom fermenting yeast. What does this mean? Well - all brewers’ yeasts when they ferment produce alcohol and carbon dioxide. With an ale yeast, the yeast holds onto its Co2 and it becomes buoyant, floating to the top (a top fermenting yeast), these ale ferments tend to be faster and produce more fruity flavours due to increased mixing in the fermentor. As a lager yeast like ours releases its Co2 straight away, it tends to result in less mixing and a slower fermentation, which result in cleaner and crisper beers. Worth noting here that there are a few big brand lagers in the UK that have given up on this more traditional and time-consuming method of producing lagers, instead pushing beer though at 25°C in a couple of days. We don’t agree with this and see it as similar to the Chorleywood bread making process, where speed and efficiency are valued more than quality and flavour.
After fermentation is complete, we cold mature Frisby for extra smoothness first at 4oC and the dropping to 2oC because great beer needs time, and we don’t rush this one. We then chose not to filter it, meaning it’s not shiny bright but also not hazy, we believe the filtration strips out some of the character of a great lager. The result? A crisp, dry finish that keeps you coming back for more. It’s the kind of lager you can sip slowly or enjoy pint after pint without it ever getting boring.
Our awards shoe box.
We enter only big global awards. We prefer awards where there is only 1 x gold, silver and bronze per category, as they are more meaningful when we win. But we only enter for ourselves, it’s a pat on the back for our brewers doing an awesome job. More importantly we just wanted to make a lager we were proud of. That said Frisby has picked up over 12 international medals, and we’ve now been named UK Country Winner for Best Lager twice, which is pretty awesome.
One of the highlights was being recognised by the International Brewing Awards, which are judged by actual brewers. That really meant something to us. Getting that nod from people who live and breathe beer, who know how hard it is to make a lager this clean and balanced... yeah, that felt good.
You won’t find our certificates or medals or trophies though on show in a cabinet, they are currently tucked away in shoe boxes, because, well, we know!
It’s all in a name
If you’re local to Melton Mowbray, you’ll know Frisby-on-the-Wreake, a village just down the road from us. We loved the name, and it felt right to name our lager after somewhere close to home. There’s something comforting and solid about it, just like the beer itself. It’s also a bloody great bar-call.
Frisby Lager is our love letter to well-made, honest lager. No gimmicks. Just the best ingredients, brewed with skill, and given the time it needs to shine. It’s the beer all us Brewers love to drink.
Simply put – sometimes all you want is a lager that tastes good. One that’s smooth and crisp but still has character. One that’s brewed with intention. Frisby is all of that, and we’re proud to say it’s become one of the cleanest, most decorated lagers brewed in the UK today.
If you haven’t tried it yet, get stuck in. And if you have, cheers for being part of the journey.
*IBU short for International Bitterness Units. 1 IBU is equivalent to 1 part per million of isomerised alpha acid in the beer. This iso-alpha acid comes from the hops and creates the bitterness seen in most beers to some degree. Lager can start as low as about 8 IBU and range to 45 IBU for some bitter German Pilsners. Hops also add a lot of other aromatics and flavours as well as being bacteriostatic, acting as a natural preservative.
Colin Paige is a Master Brewer and Co-Founder of Round Corner Brewing Ltd.