Bakalář Tmavý Ležák 12° (Dark Lager)
Tradiční pivovar v Rakovníku (Pivovar Rakovnik)

A - Pours out a mostly opaque red tinted body, short light tan body, with thin line curtain lacing.

S - Sharp notes of acidity and smokiness, and earthy dustiness.

T - Follows the nose, with smoky roasted malts coming forward. A hint of caramel and coffee, toast and some grassy hop notes.

M - Thin, light weight, sharp carbonation, and a lingering presence after the close.

O - An interesting brew. I like a bit more sweetness, but nothing wrong with how this is done.

Look: It pours dark brown with reddish hues.

Smell: It has coffee, caramel and molasses aromas. Sweetness is evident with a low herbal quality.

Taste: The flavors is on the sweet side with caramel and coffee. There is a molasses type flavor with some herbal qualities.

Feel: It has a medium light body with a sweet aftertaste.

Overall, the flavors are quite in sync for me and it's a bit sweet.

 

Slight hint of coffee. Slight hint of coffee. Slight hint of coffee. Slight hint of coffee. Slight hint of coffee. Slight hint of coffee. Slight hint of coffee. Slight hint of coffee. Slight hint of coffee. Slight hint of coffee. Slight hint of coffee. Slight hint of coffee. Slight hint of coffee. Slight hint of coffee.

 

A: The beer is clear but very dark red in color and has a moderate amount of carbonation. It poured with a half finger high dense beige head that died down a bit but consistently left a thin head covering the surface and a coating of bubbles down the sides of the glass.
S: Light aromas of sweet nutty and caramel malts are present in the nose.
T: The taste has an interesting mix of sweet caramel flavors and light amounts of smoke. No bitterness is perceptible.
M: It feels medium-bodied and slightly smooth on the palate with a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: Although this beer is sweet and malty, it's rather easy to drink. I enjoyed the subtle flavors of smoke as they made the taste unique.

appearance: deep dark brown, lackig had retention badly. poured really rough, flat

smell: dark, carmael, chocolate

taste: dark malts, more chocolate, than caramel. lacked body.

mouthfeel: light bodied

drinkability: disappointed. beer was flat and had no body. date was fin on beer.

Picked up this random beer to try for $2 at a local store. Poured into a tall pilsner glass. Faded red colored body. Thin white head, yet tons of carbonation. Very watery looking body. The carbonation really disappears quickly, as it suddenly looked flat after a few minutes. Smell was skunky - not skunked, but surely skunky. Not appealing. A bit of malt in the flavor, along with a hint of prune taste. Mouthfeel was thin and lifeless. Drinkability was subpar, with a poor smell and a lack of substance. The only saving grace was that it didn't taste entirely disgusting. Not a great beer to say the least.

1 pint 0.9 oz bottle poured into a weizen glass.

A: Dark amber-red. No visually noticeable carbonation. Head pours nice, then fades to only a small presence.

S: Sweet. Raisins. Allspice. Banana chips.

T: Really nice bitter. Dark chocolate, dark fruit, sweet corn. Ugly metallic flavor (like another reviewer said, it is like sucking on a penny).

M: Weird. This with a strangely abrasive carbonation style.

D: Okay. Not great compared to many eastern bloc brews, but I personally have yet to find a great Czech beer.

A – Deep amber hue, nice two-finger head with lace

S – The smell is strongly bready and grassy. Quite inviting.

T – Mostly refreshingly clean, with a small amount of metallic hop flavor that intensifies into annoying territory on the finish and loiters about thereafter. Perhaps I am being too kind though, it sorta sucks throughout.

M – The flavor is fine when you are drinking it, but it leaves an aftertaste like you have been sucking on a penny.

D – This beer was the 2006 winner of the Moscow Big Beer Festival, according to the label. Ha! Apparently they must not have Russian Imperial Stout in Russia, nor Baltic Porter in the Baltics.

This beer is pretty plain to look at. There is no much for the tan head and there was no lace. The smell was sort of weak as well. There were some nice sweet coffee/chocolate type aromas but just a bit over average. I have to give it some due the taste was good it is light roasty beer. There are no overpowering flavors. This slightly bitter (and when I say slight I mean it) has a good chocolate and sweet malt flavor. The body is thin with not much carbonation to speak off.

Consumed 9/6/09- from notes.

Green 500ml bottle poured into a pint glass.

A- Surprised me by pouring kind of a milk chocolate brown that you could still see through. Ruby highlights when held to the light. Topped off with a burly three finger head that eventually settled to a thin cap. Ok lacing.

S- Pretty weak, roasty caramel was about all that I could pick up.

T- Same as the nose but much stronger presence. Pretty crisp.

M- Medium bodied, carbination remains active through out the glass.

D- This could be a sessionable brew, I agree with BuckeyeNation that it could've been an attempt at a dopplebock.

"This brand is immediately intended for refreshing the humankind's neater half."

--Pivovar Rakovnik website

Chocolate brown that becomes black cherry when backlit with morning sunshine. The pale caramel colored head fills almost half the glass on the pour and melts very slowly. It looks good while doing so and isn't shy about laying down lace.

This might be one of the darkest Euro dark lagers that I've run across. Most of them smell like dark caramel, but this one adds quite a bit of cocoa as well. It's also earthy and nutty. A little more oomph and I'd be thinking doppelbock.

When compared to the EDL dreck that usually makes it to these shores, Bakalar Dark Lager is actually pretty decent beer. It's flavorful and feels a fraction bigger than most versions. Pretty impressive for a 4.8% ABV.

As the beer warms, cracks in the flavor profile begin to show. What was a slightly above average taste score in the top of the bottle fades to an average score in the bottom half. Carob is dominant, followed by steely caramel, baked nuts and a hint of bitter grasses. This is pretty drinkable stuff... considering.

Other than appearance, the mouthfeel is the beer's best feature. It's biggish for the ABV and is lagery smooth and soft. No hint of wateriness on the finish puts it well ahead of its competitors.

If you're a member of humankind's neater half and are in need of refreshing, why not pop open a bottle of Bakalar Dark Lager? If you're a fan of the style, you could do a helluva lot worse. How's that for a solid recommendation?

Got this bottle a couple of weeks ago at Sam's in Chicago. It's an ok beer, I guess. Poured with a small to medium light tan head that quickly went to none with no lace. Color is dark brownish amber. Aroma is dark and roasty malt. Flavor is molasses, toffee, malt; more sweet than bitter. Body's a touch on the thin side. A little boring. Guess it'd do if you wanted a darker beer and not much else was around. Finish is like the flavor.

This beer is amorphous on several levels. For starters, I don't know what a "Euro Dark Lager" should be like. This beer tastes like some American brown ales so I'm guessing that that's what they were shooting for. Pours a clear light brown with a small off-white head. Smells of nuttiness and slightly roasted malts. It's flavor is by far its best feature. Toasty malts with an earthy bitterness, neither of these qualities are overwhelming but instead are very easy on the palate. No shock and awe...just good. I like it. It's medium body has attractive jets of extremely fine carbonation. Flavors are mild enough that this beer goes well with brie and crackers.

Very dark beer, not much head. Quite sweet, a lot of malt, a little bit smoky, not much carbonation (which I liked).

The label lists as ingredients "drinking water from own well, Moravian malt, Bavarian malt, caramel malt, colored malt, Zhateski hops, hops extract."

Overall, a very enjoyable beer, that has a lot of what I was looking for in a Euro dark lager.

Pours out a dark brown with ruby highlights. Light head that dissipates quickly. Aroma is pretty light some caramel malt notes, but pretty weak nose. Taste is fairly crisp with a sweet caramel malty taste. Strong adjunct flavor as well, fairly refreshing, but slightly odd skunk to it. After a bit that sweetness lingers and gets a bit much. Pretty watery and not much carbonation. Kinda tastes like a less tasty schwarzbier. Better than other Czech dark lagers I've had, but not the best beer.