Czech Dark Lager (2024)

That beer does indeed read tasty!

I find it interesting that they named this beer Orloj which is the name for the astrological clock in the Prague town square. Below is a photo I took during my 2019 visit:



Every hour folks would gather to watch the moving figures during the top of the hour:



Na Zdravi

 

The other side of the label features the clock. And seriously, the beer (dated 0? Jan 2023) is definitely on my wishlist. I wonder if a fresh pour would be as pleasing. Knoxville is an easy stretch when visiting the folks. (He said he’d plaster me if I ever called him “my old man” HA! see if he reads THIS!)

 

Well, I can anecdotally tell you that my homebrewed Czech Dark Lagers hold up very, very well over time. My most recent batch was bottled 3/4/23 and I will save a six-pack (or two?) for Christmas time drinking. I personally do not perceive a 'drop off' in this brand of beer. Dark malts have a reputation of acting like antioxidants in beer and this definitely the case for my Czech Dark Lagers.

In another 5-10 minutes I will be bottling a batch of CAP (Classic American Pilsner) and I will make sure these beers are all consumed before Halloween (that is when they tail off).

Cheers!

 

I am out in Portland (OR) and had a couple good Czech-style dark lagers at breweries in the last couple days.
Fracture Brewing

Living Haüs Brewing

 

Now THAT’S a sexy looking beer.

 

Drinking a crowler of Tmave Pivo from Rockbridge Brewing in Virginia

 

My brewery opened in September of 2021. We brewed our first batch of Tmavé Pivo that November. We were thinking we’d brew it once a year and struggle to sell it. We serve it on a Lukr faucet in traditional mugs and it’s now our second best selling beer, right behind our house IPA. We brew it all year round and it sells nearly as well in the summer as it does in the winter. Made the final table at GABF last year but no medal.

It’s a wonderful style of beer that I’m excited to drink from the source at U Fleku in a few weeks.

 

And hopefully you will experience some warm weather so that you can enjoy drinking beer in their beer garden:



I visited in 2019 and I recently read that U Fleků now produces a Pale Lager as well.

Other Czech Dark Lagers I would recommend to you:

• Bernard Tmavý Ležák
• Cerna Svine 13° Tmavý Speciál
• Matuška Tmavé special

Na Zdravi

P.S. Just a couple of days ago my wife and I watched a Rick Steves episode about his visit to Prague. Brought back some fond memories of our visit.

 

Congrats on your brewery and the success of your tmave pivo. As a homebrewer and enjoyer-of-lagers, how did you develop the recipe for it?

Being in Prague right now, I'm sure you'll enjoy U Fleku. Just be prepared for a packed house and possibly having to wait (unless you go early or are by yourself, like me). Beer garden is still currently closed - I'm not sure when they will open it up.

 

The U Fleku pale lager is definitely enjoyable and worth drinking a few glasses of. Seems to lead more towards the fresh German helles side of things than, say, a typical svetly lezak. Maybe a bit like a mashup of the two styles?

I have been surprised that it's often the first thing people are being plied with upon entering (even before the sweetened Becherovka shots).

 

At this point, I believe I've tried every tmave lezak in Prague right now.
My high points were U Fleku, Cerna Svine 13°, a glass of the Brevnosky Monastery brewery's at the source after a tour (the one served at the Pivovarsky dum, though brewed at the same place, seemed like a pale imitation), and Hostomice's output Pivovarska Nalvearna at the northern part of the city.

U Tri Ruzi's version is interesting, probably the most roast-forward of the bunch, definitely pushing the acridity of roasted malt and hop bitterness more than others. Wasn't my favorite, though. Strahov Monastery's tmave is also quite good, similar in flavor to Hostomice's, but I found service there to be pretty bad (service everywhere in Prague is pretty rough) so I'd only recommend going there if you're a completist. Pivovarska Nalevarna on a nice Saturday afternoon had friendly service and laid-back atmosphere in a very neighborhood/quaint Czech pub style (also reminds me of hole-in-the-wall neighborhood English pubs).

I didn't find the Budvar or Staropramen tmaves compelling at all. They're definitely aiming for a very mild form of the style that may or may not actually use roast malt in it. If they do, it's very marginal or a small amount is added very very late in the mash.

I had Bernard's tmave on tap at a Bernard pub, but wasn't impressed. That seemed odd to me, as I have thought the Bernard svetly was quite good in bottles. I bought a bottle from the pub to try at the hotel, but haven't gotten around to opening it yet.

@JackHorzempa mentioned the Matuška Tmavé special, but I have not seen it around anywhere I've been, nor does it seem to be available through their e-shop. Maybe it is not being produced at the moment?

Kozel tmavy is readily available in cans and on draft. Still need to try that one!

 

FWIW I had this beer at the Zlý Časy pub.

Na Zdravi

 

Just had Moonlight Death & Taxes the other day on draft and was blown away. Been loving what Moonlight has been doing lately as they've single-handedly gotten me interested in lagers

 

Barrique out of Nashville makes killer Czech dark lagers...killer

 

Quiet Night was phenomenal.

 

The basic recipe for U Fleku’s dark lager can be found pretty easily online. On our present brewhouse we unfortunately can’t do Decoction, just step mash, so we don’t call it Tmavé Pivo, just Dark Lager with small print on the side that says “czech style”. I feel like in order to truly lean into the Czech styles you need to be able to do decoction. We don’t use a Czech yeast for it either but instead a more malt forward German strain that’s a little easier to work with.

 

My preferred yeast for making my Czech Dark Lager (and Bohemian Pilsner) is the Budweiser Budvar yeast (i.e., WLP802). Have you tried this yeast?

FWIW that yeast performs without issues in my brewery.

Na Zdravi

 

This is a good one. Fine Balance Smichov. Kingston, Ontario.

 

I agree totally.....An old friend years ago had a bumper sticker that read, The Few, the Proud, The Ramones. I've never been able to shake that memory...

 

Notch? Sacred Profane?

I had one from them about a month ago that might be my favorite (and I've had A LOT being in New England).

Karlův 13°



We have an embarrassment of Czech Dark Lagers here in the Northeast. Between Schilling, Notch, Jack's Abby, Von Trapp, Sacred Profane...it's insane. I've had a Czech Dark from all of them in my fridge just in the last two months alone (except Jack's Abby I think).

Right now I have Notch's Černé Pivo and Tmavý (did a blind side by side of these last weekend), and also Sacred Profane's Dark in my fridge. Of course Sacred Profane is owned by Notch's former head brewer, so makes sense!

I have to give a shout out to Notch for being one of the first (if not the first) brewery in the US to truly focus on Czech styles.

Thanks for this post! I'm heading there this summer!