Wenceslas
Art History Brewing

 

16oz, canned on 11/05/25
L: brown body; creamy tan head holds incredible retention
S: earthy & herbal Noble hops, dark grain, bread crust
T: bread crust, darkened grain, anise, caramel, earthy & herbal hops
F: medium body, moderate carbonation, balanced finish
O: this brewery does lagers so well

12/14/25 - (Can - Home) (Chicago, IL) Can Notes: Purchased can from Beer on the Wall at store temperature on December 10, 2025 for $4.55 including tax Refrigerated upon returning home before opening this morning. 16 oz, canned 11/5/25. 6.4% ABV Dark Bohemian Style Lager. Brewers Notes: Brewed with Czech Pilsner Malt, Dark Malt, CaraBohemian and Special W Malt. Zuper Saaz Hops. Keep refrigerated below 37 Degrees F. Brewed and packaged for Art History Brewing at Geneva Lager Works, Geneva, Illinois.

Appearance: Poured about 2/3 of the can into a large mug yielding a light tan brown white creamy bubbly head bear one inch. Nice somewhat generous thin tree ring lacing and a sustained creamy cover over a root beer like dark brown near black base. 4.25

Aroma: Bakers chocolate, caramel, malt and toffee. Medium plus strength, a bit higher in enjoyment. 4.25

Taste: Caramel and roast malt flavor, not nearly as strong as the aroma. Mellow, with some freshly baked pumpernickel for good measure. 3.75

Mouthfeel: About medium creamy body with sustained mostly gentle carbonation providing minimal further depth. Lightly sweet, nice hops presence helps to balance. Mellow caramel roast malt finish. 4.0

Overall: This is fresh but more mellow than suspected. Enjoyed the nose and feel best, wish the taste popped in similar fashion. Still a good offering. 3.75

 

Dark brown with a thick tan head. Aroma is roast and chocolate. Taste is roast, slightly sweet chocolate, and some toasty bread, but there's a prominent hop bite in the finish. Light-bodied and crisp. Overall, a very nice beer.

 

 

Appearance - The beer was a murky brown color with a generous head.

Smell - The nose had dry malts and notes of spice.

Taste - The beer had all of the elements of a dark lager including roasty malts, mild hops, and a dry finish. The beer took on Christmas notes with hints of nutmeg and molasses. The malts and nutmeg lingered.

Mouthfeel - The body had a bready thickness and moderate carbonation.

Overall - Really enjoyable!

 

Thanks to Robert for this one, canned 2023/11/15
Pours a creamy frothy 1 finger tan head with moderate retention, a bit of lacing, clear but dark mahogany to chestnut reddish-brown color

Nose brings some sweet malt characters, some caramel and molasses, hint of toffee, some dark fruits a little black cherry and plum, a bit of biscuity toasted malt

Taste brings more of the sweet malt characters, sweet bread crust, toasted bread and a bit of chocolate pastry, more caramel, a bit of toffee, into sweetened dried dark fruits like a black cherry, date, prune event, then hops kick in quickly with med bitterness up front, herbal spicy hops, that ramp on the dry finish to a higher spicy hop bitterness, almost distracting level of bitterness but that can be expected for a Czech lager

Mouth is med bod, med to higher frothy carb, soft lager

Overall pretty nice, base malt is quite nice, lagering is done well, hops come in nicely although maybe a bit too much for what I was expecting but then again not really out of line for a Czech style

 

 

 

 

Very pleasing dark lager that is just perfect for the season. Has all the right flavors, but not overpowered. Very subtle notes of dark chocolate, toasted malt, toasted caramel (very light), hints of coffee. Just very very good. Art History shines again and again with extremely well made interpretations of lager beers in the German tradition.

Canned 12/1/21; drank 12/14/21 @ the Yarchives.

Semi-opaque brown/orange appearance.

A rough pour yielded a huge khaki head; a thick curtain of tree-rung lace.

Rye bread, acorn, spring water & faint Euro hop notes in the nose.

Creamy, medium mouthfeel.

Fresh bread & cream flavors up front; mild acorn & faint hop bite notes on the finish.

Just a balanced, fantastic take on the style. Art History did it again.

 

 

2023-01-14
16oz can served in a little dimpled stein. Canned on 11/23/22. @FBarber sent it to me.

Pours dark brown, translucent with light behind it, about a finger and a half of dense head, just a little active carbonation. Smell is roast coffee or grain, maybe a bit of burnt toast, just a little bit of a grainy sweetness, a little bit of anise.

Taste is similar, but the sweetness and roastiness come together and makes me think of slightly burnt chocolate pudding. Anise comes through a little bit, maybe a bit of fig sweetness. Roastiness does provide a little bit of bitterness to balance out the sweetness.

Mouthfeel is medium bodied, smooth, maybe a bit still. Overall, nice beer.

Limited distro this year -- lucky to find it. Poured into a tall Becher.

L -- Clear, deep dark chestnut with ruby highlights and a dense, resilient, light tan head.

S -- Herbal hops up front, earthy malts back with mellow dark fruit notes of berry and black cherry.

T -- Roasted malts up front with a dark fruit tartness; earthy and cocoa characters in the finish with a peppery, herbal bitterness in the aftertaste. Roastiness makes an encore in the aftertaste with more warming.

F -- Mouthfeel is soft and smooth with a robust body.

O -- Not as roasty as a Schwarzbier, not as bready as a Munich Dunkel -- maybe a bit boozy for its own style, but I've read there are Czech breweries pushing the limits of ABV & bitterness. This one is a credit to its heritage.