Topvar Premium Lager
Topvar Brewery

Topvar Premium LagerTopvar Premium Lager
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From:
Topvar Brewery
 
Slovak Republic
Style:
American Adjunct Lager
ABV:
5%
Score:
81
Avg:
3.3 | pDev: 15.76%
Reviews:
12
Ratings:
13
Status:
Active
Rated:
Mar 05, 2013
Added:
Feb 09, 2004
Wants:
  1
Gots:
  0
No description / notes.
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Ratings by Zorro:
Photo of Zorro
Reviewed by Zorro from California

3.7/5  rDev +12.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Pours a clear light gold color.

Smells of malt and grain and flowery. Has a fresh biscuit aroma to it too. There is also a faint fruity wine smell to this.

Taste is of lots of grain and some malt with a nice bitter finish.

Mouthfeel is good.

Drinkable not as good as Pilsner Urquel, but better than many others.
Feb 21, 2004
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3 by jooj8 from Slovenia

Mar 05, 2013
Photo of connecticutpoet
Reviewed by connecticutpoet from Connecticut

2.21/5  rDev -33%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 2 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
Clear yellow brew with a head less than one finger. It subsided quickly.

Aroma was of hops. Slightly skunky, acrid hops, but hops nonetheless. Interesting quality there that was not appealing.

Taste was bitter at first, fading to slightly skunky. Not even a grain taste... where's the flavor?

Mouthfeel was thin and just somewhat lacking. Didn't like it.

Drinkability is low. I wouldn't go back for another, even if it were free. Too many good beers out there to waste another taste bud on this stuff.
May 05, 2009
Photo of atigerlife
Reviewed by atigerlife from Hawaii

3.77/5  rDev +14.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Poured from a 500ml can into a pint glass.

Poured a clear golden color with a small head which dissipated quickly. Medium carbonation can be seen. Spotty lacing. All of this was probably affected by the bar serving it too cold.

Aroma was of light hops and some sweet malts.

Taste was quite crisp, light hops at end and malty sweetness. Better than I was expecting.

Mouthfeel was light and lightly cleansing.

Overall, a nice, crisp, refreshing beer of the style. Certainly a decent session beer. A very straightforward beer.
Jun 25, 2006
Photo of ernie
Reviewed by ernie from Russian Federation

3.27/5  rDev -0.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
500 cl bottle. Light golden color, relatively high level of carbonation, big head that quickly dissipates, decent lace.

Aroma hoppy with a faint floral note.

Start spritzy, carbonation settles down quickly disclosing round body. Taste is malty, on the sweet side, mouthfeel a bit oily. Finish hoppy, aftertaste light, fruity.

Not bad for a lager but not the best from Slovakia.
Jun 21, 2006
Photo of Noxious26
Reviewed by Noxious26 from Canada (SK)

2.34/5  rDev -29.1%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2 | feel: 3 | overall: 2
500ml can poured in a pilsener glass. Best before date on the bottom of the can (18.06.2006).

Clear, pale gold in colour. Big 2 inch white head on the pour threatens to overtop my pilsener glass. However, it recedes to a thin ring fairly quickly. Sporadic spots of lace.

Aroma is pretty mild and a bit musty. Faint traces of hops.

Very sweet flavour. Almost like a non-alcoholic beer in sweetness. Skunky hops and sour grains. Cloying sweet aftertaste. Tastes like honey and stinkweed.

Medium bodied mouthfeel with little carbonation. Pasty feeling left in the mouth.

Not much else to be said about this one. Looks like a winner out of the can, but I wasn't a fan of the taste. Overly sweet and the hops don't cut through it enough. A bigger hop bite (like a pilsener) would tame down the sweetness and balance it out a bit. As it is, all you get from the hops is a skunky background without bite.
Mar 14, 2006
Photo of Bitterbill
Reviewed by Bitterbill from Wyoming

3.57/5  rDev +8.2%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Poured from bottle: small head that dissipated quickly leaving just a fine lacing around the glass.

Smell is all malt...very sweet in fact.

Taste is also all malt for me with only a slight hint of hops in the finish. All in all, I find that the lack of hops in this one works and the thirst quencher factor is right up there. I recommend it.
Oct 16, 2005
Photo of donnebaby
Reviewed by donnebaby from North Carolina

3.41/5  rDev +3.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
Lasting bleached white cream head that's thick and hazy. Thick-looking gold body. Smells like honey and chalk.

Taste mimics almost cider-like qualities, with crisp apples and lots of bread and powdery chalk. Hops are an afterthought, an echo of bitterness and a string of bite over the mellow, sweet taste.

Ample smooth and syrupy body. Carbonation is full-mouth and bit extreme perhaps.

Nice to have a lager for a change...
May 17, 2005
Photo of GClarkage
Reviewed by GClarkage from California

3.5/5  rDev +6.1%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
02/23/05- Purchased at Trader Joes in San Francisco, CA.

Presentation- 11.15oz green bottle with no dates present. Poured into my 16 oz glass mug.

Appearance- Grainy yellow pour with a fair white head and light lacing.

Smell- Mostly a punch of malt in your face.

Taste- Decent sweet malty taste with a tad of hops coming through in the swallow.

Mouthfeel- Moderate to high carbonation.

Drinkability- Pretty refreshing actually. This would be a good lawnmover brew. Maybe even a good session beer while camping or something. Fairly impressed from what I thought was going to be a garbage beer.
Feb 24, 2005
Photo of Bighuge
Reviewed by Bighuge from Minnesota

3.17/5  rDev -3.9%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3
Light pale golden appearance with signs of light to moderate carbonation. Thin off white head. Lacing is minimal. Sweet, sweet aroma. A little corny, but not bad. Kind of a grainy taste to it. And dry. A little bit of a hop snap. Just a little. Corn sweetness is present. Mouthfeel is nice. Moderate carbonation and medium bodied.

Thanks to the main man from Long Beach.
Jan 06, 2005
Photo of TheLongBeachBum
Reviewed by TheLongBeachBum from California

3.8/5  rDev +15.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 4 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
Presentation: Another sampler from Trader Joes. This one comes in a 330ml (11.15 fl.oz) green glass bottle. Gold foil covers the crown cap and the upper 3” of the thin tall neck. A Red, White and Gold oval shaped obverse label looks impressive, the main features of which are the fact that it proudly states “500 years of beer brewing tradition” and that this has a strength of 5%alc/vol. No freshness date.

Appearance: Pure liquid gold, extremely clear with a humungous white head that quickly forms when poured into a billowing pillow like mass of clouds above the body of the beer. Looks pretty good in a straight sided 20oz handled Mug. But the head eventually breaks down to a thin 1/8” covering, but not before leaving some lacing on the sides.

Nose: Crisp and fresh with light pilsner malts and a nice hint of Saaz Hops. Light in nature, but nevertheless a very reasonable, almost character-like Pilsner aroma. The second bottle I opened had a “fruity Saaz” essence to it as well.

Taste: Nothing earth-shattering, this follows the classic tried and tested lines. A nice pilsner malt entrance, some grain and biscuit, a bitter middle that builds into a rather hoppy finish. Some lingering low brow bitterness. Above average and far from offensive. Quite Moorish after a few mouthfuls actually.

Mouthfeel: Surprisingly good, this is usually where most “Premium Lagers” loose it. But the Topvar has a distinctly focused body that is well supported by the Malts and Hops. Has a nice balance.

Drinkability: Not that bad, it’s a reasonably good Lager that is far from awful and one that pounds well, it was the first of the night, and I have to say I quickly opened a second to follow the first bottle. A solid Lager that is neither overpowering, nor too thin. Would make a very good session Lager on a hot day, or to accompany strong BBQ, or even spicy food. Easy going.

Overall: I get the impression that this was a very fresh sample, either that or the Spring Water used lends a very nice refreshing crispness to this Lager. An above average offering that makes a great “after work” beer, you don’t have to think about this one at all. For the price, this is clearly aimed at the economy end of the market, but this is far from an economy Lager. Indeed, at the price, I would certainly contemplate buying it again, and even stocking up on it for when I need a pounding thirst quencher as the evenings start to get warmer.
Mar 19, 2004
Photo of surfmeister
Reviewed by surfmeister from California

4/5  rDev +21.2%
look: 4 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4 | overall: 4
Appearance: yellow/gold, solid, durable, white head, attractive lacing
Smell: assertive malt with kick of floral hops, very fragrant for type
Taste: nice burst of malt off the bat, backed by firm hop bitterness, this beer had a complexity that brought it above many other pilsners
Mouthfeel: great balanced carbonation, slightly piquant from hops
Drinkability: I wanted more but only had one in the fridge :{
Mar 04, 2004
Photo of Boilermaker88
Reviewed by Boilermaker88 from California

3.13/5  rDev -5.2%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 4 | overall: 3
Found this brew born in the Slovak Republic while making a run through my neighborhood Trader Joe's yesterday. Presented in a green (not again!) 12oz. bottle with the neck and cap covered by gold foil with "Topvar" in red and black and the brewery's crest on display. The beer had the classic pale lager look: clear yellow/gold hue, large amounts of large bubbles feeding a frothy bright white head, and little lacing.
The smell had a prominant aroma of grassy malt, a nice nose of herbal hops, and (damn green glass) the hint of skunk loitering about. The taste was slightly sweet up front, with a push of grainy malt and lemongrass. A dry hoppy bite made for a clean finish. The feel was light, dry and clean.
Overall, not a bad brew. There was the light yet foreboding hint of skunk developing which made this beer take a hit but the taste was pretty much what I've come to expect from the style. Nothing bold or innovative here, but nothing terrible either.
Feb 09, 2004
Topvar Premium Lager from Topvar Brewery
Beer rating: 81 out of 100 with 13 ratings