Czech Dark Lager
Bellwoods Brewery
- From:
- Bellwoods Brewery
- Ontario, Canada
- Style:
- Czech Dark Lager
- ABV:
- 4.5%
- Score:
- +5 ratings needed
- Avg:
- 3.9 | pDev: 5.38%
- Ratings:
- | reviews: 3
- Status:
- Active
- Rated:
- Nov 11, 2025
- Added:
- Sep 19, 2025
- Wants:
- 0
- Gots:
- 0
NO SCORE
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-
You’ve had our Czech Lager, but how about a Czech Dark Lager?
Toasty, roasty, and steeped in tradition, this seasonal beer has dark malty flavours and a crisp minerality. Notes of sourdough crust and dark coffee are layered together to create a complex yet surprisingly approachable profile. Balanced by noble Tettnanger hops, it’s medium-bodied with a dry finish and just enough bitterness to keep each sip refreshing.
Toasty, roasty, and steeped in tradition, this seasonal beer has dark malty flavours and a crisp minerality. Notes of sourdough crust and dark coffee are layered together to create a complex yet surprisingly approachable profile. Balanced by noble Tettnanger hops, it’s medium-bodied with a dry finish and just enough bitterness to keep each sip refreshing.
Recent ratings and reviews.
Reviewed by thehyperduck from Canada (ON)
4.09/5 rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
4.09/5 rDev +4.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4
473 mL can from the brewery; no canning date. Served barely chilled.
Pours a deep cola brown colour; functionally opaque, though holding the glass to a bright light reveals glints of crimson red and chestnut. Two fingers of foamy, tan-coloured head gathers atop, fading over the next three or four minutes; the surviving remnants include a narrow ring of uneven lace, as well as a frothy collar. Great lace deposition over the course of the session. Sourdough on the nose, with hints of toasted grains, cocoa and a very light smokiness.
Starts off a little sweet, with flavours of roasted grains, toffee and sourdough; hints of cocoa and ash develop later on. Spicy, floral hops impart some baseline bitterness, with roasted malts and faint smoke fading into a dry-ish aftertaste. Fairly light in body, with moderately low carbonation and a smooth, somewhat creamy mouthfeel that makes for an exceptionally crushable lager.
Final Grade: 4.09, a splendid A-. This is just the sixth Czech-style dark lager I've reviewed, so you should definitely take my opinion with a grain of salt - but I think that Bellwoods' Czech Dark Lager is one of the best I've had yet. Extremely well-balanced, with an appealing, approachable flavour profile that is very close to what I expect & want from this style. I don't usually drink dark beers one after the other, but this would make for a great, low-abv changeup in between a couple of pilsners or pale ales. I'd love to see Bellwoods get this into the LCBO, because tmavý ležák is seriously underrepresented in Ontario.
Nov 11, 2025Pours a deep cola brown colour; functionally opaque, though holding the glass to a bright light reveals glints of crimson red and chestnut. Two fingers of foamy, tan-coloured head gathers atop, fading over the next three or four minutes; the surviving remnants include a narrow ring of uneven lace, as well as a frothy collar. Great lace deposition over the course of the session. Sourdough on the nose, with hints of toasted grains, cocoa and a very light smokiness.
Starts off a little sweet, with flavours of roasted grains, toffee and sourdough; hints of cocoa and ash develop later on. Spicy, floral hops impart some baseline bitterness, with roasted malts and faint smoke fading into a dry-ish aftertaste. Fairly light in body, with moderately low carbonation and a smooth, somewhat creamy mouthfeel that makes for an exceptionally crushable lager.
Final Grade: 4.09, a splendid A-. This is just the sixth Czech-style dark lager I've reviewed, so you should definitely take my opinion with a grain of salt - but I think that Bellwoods' Czech Dark Lager is one of the best I've had yet. Extremely well-balanced, with an appealing, approachable flavour profile that is very close to what I expect & want from this style. I don't usually drink dark beers one after the other, but this would make for a great, low-abv changeup in between a couple of pilsners or pale ales. I'd love to see Bellwoods get this into the LCBO, because tmavý ležák is seriously underrepresented in Ontario.
Reviewed by Sammy from Canada (ON)
3.5/5 rDev -10.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
3.5/5 rDev -10.3%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
S'OK, it's in the style, but on the sweet side, an easy corner to enter of this trending Czech lagers. Quaffable. Rather have the blond stuff which requires more discoverable skill.
Sep 28, 2025
Reviewed by taxandbeerguy from Canada (ON)
3.89/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
3.89/5 rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 4.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
473ml can served cold into a pint glass. Brewery purchase and canning date of September 17, 2025.
Appearance - Pours a dark brown color with a finger plus of loose and foamy tan head head with scattershot lacing.
Smell - Malts, dark chocolate, plenty of bread combined in a tight aromatic splendor.
Taste - Plenty of roasted malts, low bitterness, less bready than expected.
Mouthfeel - Medium-light body, good expressive carbonation. Watery and easy to drink.
Overall - A very solid Czech dark lager that is w worthy addition to any purchase from the brewery. I wish some of these more seasonal beers would get LCBO releases as well to heighten accessibility but C'est la vie!
Sep 27, 2025Appearance - Pours a dark brown color with a finger plus of loose and foamy tan head head with scattershot lacing.
Smell - Malts, dark chocolate, plenty of bread combined in a tight aromatic splendor.
Taste - Plenty of roasted malts, low bitterness, less bready than expected.
Mouthfeel - Medium-light body, good expressive carbonation. Watery and easy to drink.
Overall - A very solid Czech dark lager that is w worthy addition to any purchase from the brewery. I wish some of these more seasonal beers would get LCBO releases as well to heighten accessibility but C'est la vie!
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