Král Lager
Staropilsen

Pours a golden color with a medium head. Aroma is light sweet malt and mild hops, typical German beer. A little more hop bitterness in the taste, but still very good and flavorful.

Staropilsen "Král"
500 ml green glass bottle coded "F17 # L/PS".
$3.99 @ Total Wine & More, Claymont, DE

Notes via stream of consciousness: A rough pour brought up a massive head of foam that needed a moment to settle, and the subsequent top up left two thin finger's worth of head. It's now dropped to just a pinky finger's width. This has been the case with every beer that I've sampled from Staropilsen. It's not the worst head retention that I've ever seen but it's not great. In the nose I'm getting a fair amount of floral hops amidst sweetish malt. On to the taste - it's grainy, lightly sweetish, grassy, floral, and herbal. It's also solidly bitter, and perhaps the most bitter beer that I've tasted from Staropilsen so far. It finishes dry, bitter, floral, grassy, and herbal with the bitterness lingering for quite some time. In the mouth it's medium bodied and gently crisp, perhaps because I poured it so roughly. I say that because I poured some of their other beers more gently and they seemed crisper, so I must have released a fair amount of CO2. There's some decent lacing about the glass but it's not great, and that's what I'll say about the beer in general - it's decent, but not great.
Review #9,442

SO MUCH YES!!! The unmistakable aroma, color, and taste of a Plzen-made pale lager. Right there in the same category and family of World's Best Czech Pale Lagers with Pilsner Urquell.

Gorgeous rich gold color. Substantial foam and lacing. Magical summer grain aroma. And that PERFECT Czech lager taste with just enough elegantly bitter and sweet Saaz hop presence.

Can't get enough of this stuff.

Bought one bottle from Total in Petaluma and that was enough. Although, this is an enjoyable lager. Actually, this is how I like German Pils, just enough bitter hops to control the sweet malt.

As rated against other Euro lagers, I think Kral is better than most. In fact, Kral's sweet malt is well-contained by the hops throughout. This also is a very soft lager, on the fuller side of medium-mouthed. Kral even Looks appetising. slightly above average in a pretty style. Not sure why the ratings are so low for Kral.

My first from Staropilsen, I went on their website and it told me very little except that they are a regional macro that gets some broader distribution. Sorry, but average Overall Hugs from me for Staropilsen.

 

Poured into a Seattle Beer Week pint glass. Pours a medium golden amber with a two finger white head with good retention and solid lacing. Aroma is quite skunked over a lightly grainy lager malt, noble hops, vague citrus and grassy hay. Flavor is grainy and lightly bready lager malt, grassy noble hops, grapefruit, dry grass; mild skunking, particularly in the finish. Moderate grassy bitterness. Medium bodied with light to moderate creaminess. The green bottle lowered my expectations and the aroma fulfilled that outcome. Underneath is a somewhat grainy, but robust Euro lager with near pilsner level noble hop bitterness. Nothing very exciting, but drinkable. Would probably have scored higher if canned or sensibly bottled.

Pours a burnished golden color. Clear and lightly effervescent. Two finger frothy white head forms on the beer, lingers a brief moment, then dissipates leaving a thing residual layer of foam on the beer. Aroma has notes of sweet malt, sweet bread, grassy, spicy, herbal hops. Of the three today, this one has the least of that cheap euro pale lager aroma on the nose. As a result, it is easily my favorite of the three.

Taste has notes of sweet malts, sweet bread, some yeasty notes and honey giving way to spicy, herbal hops that have some dried grassiness to them as well. It's moderately sweet, but narrowly avoids being too sweet. Feel is a bit sticky, but still easy drinking. Semi-crisp. Moderately carbonated.

Overall its solid. I still would not pick it up again, but if it was on draft, I'd drink another pint.

Poured out of a 16oz bottle.
Pours a brassy yellow with a quickly fading head.
Smells of bready malts & hops. Well balanced.
Taste follows aroma.
I really like this one.
Hits the spot well.
I'd definitely get it again.