Czech beer: Starobrno Černé (Dark)

Well, considering the fact that the Czechs are the worlds #1 consumers of beer they must have a number of very good beers. Starobrno was a welcome change after the last Czech beer I reviewed here on this blog.

The city of Brno, Czech Republic, claims to have over 750 years of brewing tradition. dating back to 1243 when king Wencesclas I granted the town the right to brew beer. in 1872 the "old Brno Brewery" was founded and they began producing what became known as "old Brno beer". After WWII Starobrno underwent some changes, including modernization and management. Starobrno is now owned by Heineken, the fourth largest brewery group in the world. StarobrnoČerné (dark), produces various styles of beers including: Řezák – Mixed pale & dark beer, Ležák - Lager, Medium and Traditional.

Today I tried Starobrno's Černé (Dark) beer, which is a Munich Dunkel Lager style of beer containing 3.8% abv. Munich Dunkels are said to be smooth, rich and complex, with a ruby hue and a mild bitterness to balance any sweetness.

Now on to the review:

Presentation- Green 500 ml bottle with freshness date on the back label.

Appearance- Nice, thick, coarse tan head, leaves a little bit of lace. The color was dark deep brown. When held up to the light you see it is dark ruby red with a few streams of tiny bubbles.

Smell- Malty sweetness, Roasted nuts, fruity.

Taste- Sweet, rich, malty, dark chocolate, some hops, and a slightly bitter finish.

Mouth- Smooth, light-medium bodied, little carbonation.

The bottom line is that this is a pleasant and easy beer to enjoy.

*** (out of 5 *)

Czech Beer: Paka Pramen

Paka Paramen is a výčepní light beer brewed in the NovoPacké Pivo Brewery located in Nová Paka, Czech Republic. The ABV was only 3.7% and it came in a 1/2 liter brown glass bottle. Why do I stress glass? well if you go to their website you will see that they also sell some of their beers in a 1.5 liter plastic bottle. This struck me as strange, but hey, the Czech Republic is know for its heavy beer consumption and I guess putting beer in large plastic cola bottles helps facilitate this. I remember when visting Prague seeing advertisements for breakfast, brunch and lunch specials which included a beer, Gotta love 'em.

Appearance: yellow, golden, with lots o small bubbles. This beers retains its head only for a matter of seconds and then it quickly disappears.

Smell: very weak, sweet, hops, yeast, citrus.

Taste: It took a while until I could distinguish the flavors. The flavor was pretty weak, dominant bitterness, over ripeness and yeast.

Mouth: Over carbonated and watery.

The bottom line:

Although some of my favorite beers are Czech beers unfortunatly I did not enjoy this beer as much as Pilsner Urquell, Staropramen Premium Lager and Velkopopovický Kozel Pilsner. The smell and taste were dull/weak and there was a lot of yeasty bitterness as is expected from a Pilsner, but, not the kind which I enjoy. I don't believe that I will be trying this specific beer again anytime soon but I would like to try some of the different styles available from the NovoPacké Pivo Brewery.

* (out of 5 *)