Let's Give Lagers Some Love (2025)

Schilling's Czech-style Dark Lager I don't drink this style very often to be able to judge it against the style guidelines, but I think it has just a tad too much roastiness for my taste. This beer has been in my fridge for a year so I can imagine the roast character has even mellowed since it was canned.

 

I had a number of Czech Dark Lager brands during my two week beercation in the Czech Republic a number of years ago and none of those beers had much roastiness. In contrast I have had more than a few American brewed Czech Dark Lagers that tasted more like a Stout/Porter due to notable roastiness, I was not a fan of those specific beers.

For completeness I have had a number of American brewed Czech Dark Lagers which had little to no roastiness and I enjoyed those beers. I discussed a Czech Dark Lager from Counterweight yesterday in the NBS thread which I thought was a 'winner':

"Silver Medal

Counterweight brought two beers to this festival which were both very good! I enjoyed their Czech Dark Lager (12° Tmavé) a little bit more so I awarded it the Silver Medal. A very well balanced Czech Dark Lager with a bit of chocolate (baker’s chocolate) and a hint of toasty.

My wife took a sip of my pour and said “Yum” and went on to state “Almost as good as Dark Angel” which is the brand name she gave my homebrewed Czech Dark Lager. My homebrewed version has a bit more of a luscious mouthfeel but this beer from Counterweight is no slouch. My wife went back for her own pour later in the day."


Na Zdravi

 

Lots of good reasons to love Prague. It is a beautiful city with lots of great places to see: the castle, beautiful churches, the open air market every Saturday, etc.

My wife loved the pork knuckle served at many of the pubs. I think she ordered it at least four times!!

Na Zdravi

 

This is not too shabby given its $7.99/4-pack. Biscuity, a touch of pepper on the back end.
Cheers!
Tom

 

Bright Path Brewing - Coalport

Very nice Tmavy Pivo style lager

 

My reading for next week while I'm on vacation.
@JackHorzempa

 

Don't forget to being your highlighter and post-it tabs. My book looks like a textbook from college.

Cheers!

P.S. I ran into Joe Connolly at the recent Logjammin' Lager beer festival and we 'reconnected' for a few minutes of conversation.

 

Gotcha. I've been known to do the same!

 

To me, one of the nice things about imported German Dopplebock is the age of them don't matter quite some much vs like a Kolsch. Optimator is always a good choice.

 

That's not bad at all for a Doppelbock.

 

Speaking of having not had in a while, had this one last night, first time in forever. Snagged a single of what may be the freshest import I've had, just shy of 2.5 months.

Hofbrau - Dunkel



Rich and full, yet so smooth and easy drinking, crusty and lightly toasted bread, lick of hops on the finish; a perfect example of how a darker beer can go down like water.

Can't believe how fresh this one was, I know it ages well and maybe it was knowing its freshness but this was a true treat last night.

 

All I know is my threshold tends to be 6-8 months for imports and I still thoroughly enjoyed this beer every time I’ve had it.