Czech Dark Lager
Farm Club

 

12oz can, $2.39 at Oryana West. Canned 01-27-26 and 4.9% ABV per the label.
Brewed with Czech malts and hopped with Czech Saaz. Collab brew with Out There in Sawyer, Mi.

Per Facebook from Corey (the brewer): "Czech Dark Lager, aka Tmavy Pivo, is a unique dark beer style. Like most other dark beers it’s characterized by malt depth and body, but unlike most other dark beers, it’s session strength, clean, and balanced by malt and hop bitterness. Brewed with Czech malt and hops. And in keeping with Czech style lagers, brewed to finish with more body and a touch of malt sweetness, all balanced by slightly more assertive hopping. Like all of our lagers, this beer undergoes a slow, cold fermentation, natural carbonation, and several weeks of cold conditioning/lagering. A rich dark beer that still drinks like a 4.5% abv lager." (Again, the can states 4.9% ABV)

Pours out to a quite clear deep dark chestnut, forming a modest off yellow head with poor retention and no lacing in a beer clean glass. Subtle aromas of medium roast coffee, dark chocolate, cola, freshly toasted dark bread crust and no off aromas. These notes are more subtle than a porter or stout, as they should be, but I could go for even a little more. Mouthfeel is medium bodied and pleasant. Carbonation is ~2.5 carbs or so. The taste is a recap of the nose...subtle roast, coffee, dark chocolate but smoother and milder than a porter or stout. I have some carafa and caramunich malts right here and I can taste these but they sit on top of a slightly grassy and nutty pils malt with an expertly balanced bitterness and a delicate sweetness than hangs around in the aftertaste. Bitterness is clean, spot on and has a nice touch of spicy late addition hops as well. No flaws like oxidation, diacetyl, acetaldehyde, DMS etc. Perhaps a little bit of caramel in the aftertaste, but I'm not convinced it's a decoction mash as I don't get what I would perceive to be melanoidins. Ferment is very clean. I know a lot of Czech beers have an acceptable level of diacetyl, but I'm not picking up any here, thankfully. The roast picks up a bit as it warms, which is quite welcome to my tastes.

This is a great beer. It's hard to find any Czech dark lagers around here and I've been itching to taste one to decide if I want to brew one or not as I've been reading alot about them over the last year or two, especially U Fleku. This convinces me to try to brew one. Highly recommended!