Czech Dark Lager (2024)

Did two blind side by sides with Notch's Tmavé and Černé Pivo on separate days. Both 4.5% ABV, the former was canned 4/13 I think, the latter 3/13. They brew the latter for fall/winter, the former for spring/summer.

Round 1:

The first time I did this I hadn't eaten anything, so I had a cleaner palate. I've had both numerous times, so I figured I could possibly determine which is which. Had to pour each in a coffee cup because Tmavé is a lighter tan/black and Černé Pivo is black as night.

Poured the first can and even while pouring it it was starting to reveal itself due to the color. But nonetheless, it wasn't obvious since they're both still fairly dark. I picked it out as Černé Pivo fairly quickly due to the bitterness. This beer is more bitter than its brother to my palate, not as smooth in taste, but the mouthfeel was creamier.

Upon pouring more of it I accidentally saw the sticker on the bottom of the can, and it revealed itself as Černé Pivo. I had guessed right.

Tmavé is smoother, not as creamy in mouthfeel or bitter in taste. I've always preferred this one, but both are solid.

Round 2:

Did Round 2 last night. This time I poured each into a Steinkrug. Upon pouring I again started to notice the color, it was more tan. But again, they're close enough in color that you can't totally determine just from looking while pouring. You'd need to see the full pour in a glass. This one tasted more like Černé Pivo. I wasn't totally sure though.

Poured the other can into my Steinkrug, and it did taste very similar to the other can. I had just had dinner, so my palate wasn't as sharp. The reveal showed that I had it wrong this time. The first can was in fact Tmavé.

Since these were my last cans, I decided to blend the two. This was absolutely fantastic. Certainly quite dark, but a shade darker than Černé Pivo by itself. This blend was so incredibly smooth and malty. Loved it.

 

Awesome write up man!

 

This was a very interesting comparison. Wish I could have joined you!

Based on what I tasted in Prague, none of the tmavé ležák I drank had an obvious bitterness (I did not find any beers labeled exclusively as černé ležák -- the Černá Svině 13° is listed as tmavé silné pivo or tmavý speciál). The hops were very well integrated into the beer as a whole. The one exception might be U Tri Ruzi, and I would be very interested to hear your impression of that one when you get to Prague this summer.

@JackHorzempa, would you agree that tmavé pivo had, in general, a well-integrated hop character that did not particularly stand out?

 

Yes, I would agree with that.

I did not have a single tmavé/černé beer during my two week beercation which was hop 'forward'. All of those beers were balanced between the malt and hop flavors.

I had two dark lagers at the Staropramen Pub after the conclusion of tour of the brewery. One was labeled dark (Tmavý) and the other black (Černý) and I much preferred the Černý beer; from my article:

"The Dark Lager (Tmavý Ležák) had too much of a caramel flavor for my liking. My wife’s comment was: this is not nearly as good as the Tmavý Ležák you brew.

In addition to this ‘complementary’ sample pour I also ordered a small (33 cl) pour of their Černý (also a Dark Lager) which was on tap. I enjoyed drinking this beer – it had a more complex flavor profile and the caramel aspect was subtle compared to the other non-Pale beers I discussed above."

https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Czech_Beers

The Staropramen Černý beer is characterized as Černý ležák on the Untappd website:

https://untappd.com/b/pivovary-staropramen-dark-cerny-lezak/130017

Na Zdravi

 

1996 -2023 still true

 

Yes, as you well know, Pale Lagers 'rule' in the Czech Republic.

But it is nice that both polotmavý (amber, half-dark) and tmavé/černé (dark/black) lagers are an option at some (most?) pubs (at least that was my experience in Prague).

Also there is a burgeoning craft beer scene in Prague. My wife is a hop-head and we readily found beers like IPAs at several Prague craft beer bars (where lagers were available too).

Cheers!

P.S. When I was there is 2019 dark beer was the only option at U Fleku but apparently now they also serve a Pale Lager.

 

And for the pubs that serve both Pale Lagers and Dark Lagers a potential option is a half & half (Rezaný / Řezané).

"U Buldoka
A pub that is also a bit of a sports bar was just a few blocks from our hotel. I thought it would be interesting to see how the locals enjoy their sports. Needless to say soccer was the sport being shown on the several TVs in the bar. I am not a big soccer fan but they did have beer here so I was a happy camper. This pub was a Tankovna (Tank Pub) which means that they served beer (Pilsner Urquell) out of tanks within the pub. These beers are unpasteurized so one less step of processing for these specific beers. I did indeed have a 0.5 liter glass of Pilsner Urquell but I noticed that on the menu they had their version of a Half & Half which is half Pilsner Urquell and half Velkopopovický Kozel Černý. This was a tasty blend of beers and a highlight for me for this pub visit.



https://www.morebeer.com/articles/Czech_Beers

Na Zdravi

 

@falloutsnow @JackHorzempa

Just to clear things up, the Notch beer wasn't hop forward. Still a good beer, it was just more bitter in comparison to their other dark lager. More of a personal preference thing.

 

My wife and I met some friends at a local brewery: Von C.

I was happy to see that still had a recent batch of Černé Speciál still available. It is a very tasty Czech Dark Lager. Served via a Lukr side-pull faucet:



And earlier this week Von C won a Gold Medal for their OG Pils in the American Pilsner category. This beer is what we homebrewers call a Classic Amercian Pilsner. Some more details about the medal:

"We have some of the biggest news we’ve ever shared…
On May 10th, our O.G Pils Legendary Philly Lager took home the GOLD medal at the 2023 World Beer Cup in the American Pilsner category!
Out of 104 entries in our category, we were ranked #1 by 272 judges - WOW! There were over 10,213 entries from 2,376 breweries in 51 countries in the whole competition making this one of the largest beer competitions in the world."

I ordered a glass of OG Pils to celebrate this recent win:



Cheers to Von C Brewing!

@rotsaruch @ESHBG

 

Triple Crossing Brewing (Richmond, VA) - Czech Dark Lager

 

Chainline Cerne (Kirkland, WA) was my favorite out of the PNW. Massive, smooth flavor and they had the 4pk/500ml cans, fairly cheap. All their beers are great.

 

Headed home from Munich today. Ended up spending one night in Prague and one night in Pilsen. Had three dark lagers while I was there. U Fleku, Kozel, I think the third was from Matuska but can’t quite remember. The U Fleku was great. Great depth of flavor but so easy to drink. Roast character that never lingers. The best of the three for sure. Very different than the Schwarzbier that I had in Bamburg. The rest of the lager in Czech Republic was borderline undrinkable for me, soooo much diacetyl. I knew going in that it was going to be there but I was blown away with how prevalent it was in seemingly everything. The Urquell off the barrel at the end of the tour was amazing. Bitter, floral, no D. There’s one bar in Pilsen, Šenk Na Parkánu, that serves that beer unfiltered/unpasteurized and it was also quite good. All the tank pubs we went to that was not the case. According to the tour guide the tank pubs all have unfiltered Urquell but not unpasteurized. Had one Budvar beer at the brewery with no D and one Matuska at Pult.

 

Do you understand the reason here? Why is the cellar brewed Pilsner Urquell low (below threshold) in diacetyl while the Pilsner Urquell at tankovna pubs have elevated levels of diacetyl?

The only brand that was problematic for me during my two week visit to the Czech Republic was Pilsner Urquell and principally at the tankovna pubs. On the train ride back from the brewery tour (Pilsen - Prague) I drank a can of Pilsner Urquell and there was no perceptible diacetyl in that particular beer.

Cheers!

P.S. I enjoyed my mug of cellar brewed Pilsner Urquell during my visit to the Na Parkánu Pub:

 

I’m not sure but I’d assume that there is a certain amount of the Diacetyl precursor, alpha-acetolactate, in the beer that hasn’t converted to diacetyl. When it goes through the pasteurization process it warms the beer up and converts into diacetyl. Since the beer is pasteurized the yeast doesn’t have the ability to uptake it. Only explanation that I could think of.

 

I learned during the tour is that at the brewery they flash pasteurize Pilsner Urquell. I suppose they do this since it permits pasteurization for all formats: bottled, canned, kegged and tanked.

Na Zdravi

 

I mean seriously, that is one beautiful beer! Look at the layers, from translucent white lace to blackish brown beer and then clear amber.

 

Yeah, that was indeed a beer of beauty. In English they call the beertenders in Czech Republic tapsters and there is saying along the lines of: The brewers brew the beer but the tapsters make the beer.

After my trip to the Czech Republic I tried to produce a half & half of my homebrewed Bohemian Pilsner and Czech Dark Lager:



Needless to say but I lack tapster skills.

Cheers!

 

This beer is incredible! Thank you, @GrumpyGas!

 

“You get [breweries] where they think buying [Weyermann Bohemian Pilsner Malt], and using Saaz, and using Urquell-derived yeast strains, and then dark-roasted something-something equals proper Czech dark lager…But I find them to be bigger misses than if you’re trying to make a schwarzbier when you don’t know what you’re doing” - Brett Taylor (WE)

• Czech Me Out! A Czech Dark Lager Primer • Hop Culture

 

A couple of extracts from the above article:

“Czech dark lager’s flavor profile, Matuška says, is supposed to be well-balanced. “It shouldn’t be too caramelly, too sweet, too bitter, too roasted or coffee-y,” he explains. “It can have a bit of everything, but in a reasonable and mainly balanced ratio. And that is hard to do.”

And:

“Czech lager, both dark and pale, is characterized by a full body and high drinkability,” says Adam Matuška, owner and brewmaster of the Czech brewery Pivovar Matuška, settled thirty minutes west of Prague in Broumy. “That’s exactly what the dark lager should have with a little higher body.”

As discussed above it can be challenging to achieve proper balance in producing a Czech Dark Lager. Particularly the aspect of full body yet high drinkability.

I am fortunate that a number of local craft breweries have achieved in producing Czech Dark Lagers with proper balance/attributes but unfortunately, they are typically only available on a rotating basis and via draft.

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