Urpiner Dark 11°
Banskobystricky Pivovar, a.s. (Brewery Urpin BB Ltd.)

 

 

500ml can - like Guinness before it, how can beer in a can be called 'draught'? It boggles the mind.

This beer pours a clear, very dark brown colour, with three fat fingers of puffy, finely foamy, and somewhat creamy beige head, which leaves a few wayward specks of mitochondrial lace around the glass as it quickly blows off.

It smells of slightly roasted and doughy caramel malt, bittersweet cocoa powder, a bit of buttered toastiness, some mild black fruitiness (prunes and raisins, mostly), a hint of free-agent ashiness, and some very plain earthy, weedy, and floral noble hop bitters. The taste is bready and doughy caramel malt, a lesser toffee sweetness, oily and buttery bar-top nuts, dry chocolate, an ethereal dark fruitiness, subtle coffee grounds, and more tame leafy, earthy, and musty hoppiness.

The carbonation is quite laid-back in its insouciant frothiness, the body a decent medium weight, and mostly smooth, with a nice airy creaminess arising as things warm up a tad. It finishes off-dry, the caramel, cocoa, and nutty esters mixing and mingling.

Overall, this is a serviceable dark lager, lots of flavour to go around, and only a bit of that buttery weirdness appearing as a flaw of sorts. Easy to drink, for the most part, and with an ABV that makes it highly sessionable, if you're into being faithful to yer brew, that is.

Pours dark brown color with a 1.5 finger tall thick beige head. Smells roasted malts, caramel, dough, coffee. The taste is faint but refreshing, some coffee. Rye bread crust finish. Light-bodied (as the name provides), perfect carbonation. Very good session dark lager.