Bakalar tmava Desitka
Tradiční pivovar v Rakovníku (Pivovar Rakovnik)

 

500ml bottle stamped 51153 into a large pokal.
L: Pours a very dark tobacco color with dark mahogany highlighted edges, a 1" light beige rocky head with a center cap that moves to froth, low carbo, medium-light spotty lacing with light banding lines, head recedes to edge froth.
S: A firm metallic note, cocoa, toasted caramelized malts, quite simple.
T: Gently sweet toasted malts, a light metallic bitterness (similar to bakers dark chocolate), cocoa and light bitterness lingers, a touch of paleness. Not much aftertaste.
F: Very lightly brisk medium bodied mouthfeel then a level center and a medium-fast lightly dry finish.
O: Lightly toasty, gentle elegant bitterness, a balanced and well-rounded flavor overall. A simple aroma, simple taste, great looking and very easy to drink. It is very good in its style.

500ml bottle. Poured out an opaque, dark dark brown color with a small, light brown head of foam. It left sudsy lacing. It smelled of roasted malt, coffee and toffee. Sweet chocolate taste with coffee and roasted malt.

Dark ruby color, nice beige head.Caramel malt and toasted bread in the aroma. Taste of coffee, roasted malt, and caramel. Slight bitterness in finish.

16.9 oz. bottle poured into tall mug
(42893 07:45 printed on label)

L: dark mahogany, lots of dark brown, lots of ruby red/amber highlights show through when held up to light; pushes up a 2-inch head of beige/tan foam that sticks like glue at the top; loads of activity in the glass with the carbonation releasing enough to keep a measurable skin of beige foam; all of that foam is lacing on the way down, too ... a true work of art

S: muted cocoa powder/milk chocolate powder (something chalky about it), slight woody note

T: baked bread, wheat toast, charred oak wood, hints of sweet malty notes of a dark bread pastry with earthy dirty balancing flavor in the finish; the flavor is drier and earthier than the nose, but it's in a good balance without growing into an unpleasant bitterness; if you take a big swallow, you get a big chunk of barrel char/toasted oak flavor that is smoothed out by just enough malt sweetness to keep it in check; as it warms, I'm getting chocolate notes ... dark chocolate, baker's chocolate, cacoa powder and even an occasional hint of milk chocolate

F: light but filled out well by a lot of carbonation; because of the huge activity in the glass, you often drink through a 1/4-inch thick skin of foam that gives it a fantastic fluffy feel

O: I bought this bottle as a single discounted at a local store for $1, so my expectations were about as low as it gets, but honestly it's my new favorite sub-4% bottled/canned beer ... for the price, it's fantastic, steal of the century kind of stuff, but I think even at normal Euro import prices, I would love this beer; it does everything I want from the style and it does it at a true session range of ABV

Appearance: Pours a completely black, dark color with a moderate light tan head. SRM of 23. (4.00)

Aroma: Strong aromas of dark grains, bittersweet cocoa. (4.00)

Flavor: Strong flavors of dark grains, bittersweet cocoa, light roast. Bittersweet on the finish. Smooth. (4.00)

Feel: Medium-body, strong carbonation. Smooth yet bitter. (4.25)

Compared to Half Acre Ridge Tree 5/25: Pours darker, milder head. Similar aromas. More bittersweet cocoa. Less cocoa and roast.

Overall: An authentic Czech dark lager with dark grains, and bittersweet notes. A definite bitterness here, yet drinks smooth. As real as it gets. (Rating: 4.08)

L – Dark brown not quite black.
S – Sweet, bread-like aroma, a little grassy or skunky, maybe a little chocolate. Very very appealing – smells like beer.
T – Sweet, a little nutty a little chocolatey, there is a very mild hop astringency. It tasted "dry" – has a faint tannic astringency which is nice.
F – thin bodied, very easy drinking.
O – very good beer especially at the price will drink again.

Poured from a pint bottle, body is a very dark brown with a light brown head and good lacing.

Aroma is malt and earthy hop. A bit skunky.

Taste is more malty than the nose. Notes of unsweetened chocolate and roasted malts. The hoppiness is lighter and in the background.

Mouthfeel is light and smooth. Carbonation is very good.

Easy drinking lager.

This one pours a dark black-ish color with red tints, with a small head, and lots of lacing.

This smells like pumpernickel, chocolate, and roast.

This has some solid flavor notes to it, but the flavor ends a bit watery on the finish – I’d want a more robust flavor profile here. There’s very little hop character outside of a vague bitterness, with chocolate, spice, and roast.

This is fairly light bodied, clean, and drinkable.

This is fairly plain and unremarkable, but I certainly didn’t hate it or anything.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poured from a green 16.9 oz. bottle. Has a damn near black color with a 1/2 inch head. Smell is of malts, grains, some sweetness. Taste is the same as the aroma minus the sweetness. Feels medium bodied in the mouth and overall is an easy drinking and decent beer.

 

(1454 Bakalar Dark Lager; 500 ml green bottle; purchased single off shelf at State Line two days ago... perfectly poured into my Human Robot Tubinger mug)

L: polished-clear, vinous-ruby colored liquid; rocky, creamy, pockmarked reddish-tan foam fits perfectly in the head space... the picturesque recede on the foam is to die for... the foam eventually dies, leaving behind a few broad rings of lace, bottomed with a stretched collar and thin, broken cap

S: caramelized dark grains, subtle cherry notes, with softly ashy-smoky highlights... dark bready, earthy maltiness at its base... it does end up becoming a bunch of floral aromatics with a toasty grain background... I can tell it's got some lovely character but, wow, is its potency subdued, expression fractured

T: what are they going for here?!... almost a dry stout soiled with dunkel lager... I mean, it's roasty and dry, with only minimal tones of a chocolate-infused dry red wine maybe... the aftertaste expresses a touch more nutty chocolate, with a woody, toasty mild bitterness... but it's overall rather dry, restrained, and severely lacking depth

F: gassy, light-er-bodied; briefly-rounded finish that thins out drier behind a hushed surge of smoked ethanol... really craving some roundness, roll to compliment the dark malt flavors; instead it's mildly parching

O: after two lackluster samplings in a row, was hoping this would save my drink day but, alas, nope... can't tell if this may have been oxidized (too much)... ugh, not digging this; just about bland af (1990)

16.9oz green bottle code: 5028LE22
Lots a flavor for a 3.8% ABV. some roast, a little chocolate, a Saaz hop spice like a Czech Pilsner.
Good beer for the money.