BEERS #2 - Beyond the Pale

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Happy to concur with Shoulders' report that the 13 from Vinohradsky Pinovar is very very very good indeed, enjoy :-)

Ah, great. Lovely beer. Available on Trembling Madness website. The 12 standard is pretty darn good too.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

https://untp.beer/nWLG3

Partner has discovered there's a Gulden Draak Smoked

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

OK, so the beers from Pivovar Monopol are here. Unexpected, as they had been in a warehouse somewhere near Prague airport since December 22nd! As soon as UPS lifted the deliveries on Monday it's arrived surprisingly quickly around lunchtime today, which happened to be perfect timing.

I got 5 different beers from their range, so I'll start with the 10 degree light lager, aka Desitka Vycepni (Translates as 10° Tapped)




Desítka 10° (4.4%) Svetly Lezak/Pale Lager
Pivovar Monopol, Teplice

So first disclosure: like the beers from Pivovar Cvikov and Pivovar Olesna I got in towards the end of last year, this beer is tapped by the brewery directly from tanks into 1.5l PET bottles (the Tramp Cider kind), unpasteurised and unfiltered. From my experience this is the closest I have come to drinking tapped pour beer, partly on account of the nature of the draft.

On the bottle there is a hand-drawn drink-by date of mid-February. These beers are not intended for storage, they are lively and fresh and best drunk at your earliest convenience.

In Czechia, desitka, or 10° usually denotes light lager, so this is usually between 3.5-4% abv. This one however is 4.4%, identical to Pilsner Urquell which is classed as a 12°. This shows the variances in the system. For reference, most 4.5% lager in Czechia would be a jedenactka, or 11°, so this is really at the high end of what you would call a 10°, more so than any other I've encountered.

Anyway, these light lagers are intended as thirst-quenchers. It's only fairly recently that more attention has been shone on the art of making these lagers as tasty, full flavoured and interesting without losing their drinkability. Traditionally, drinkability has been achieved simply by making a beer milder and lighter, perhaps with a certain hoppy crispness at the end. However with flavour potentially comes moreishness and more of these small breweries are toying with that balance, just as they have been in Franconia.

This one has a typical unfiltered haze. A close look at the glass shows there is an extremely fine sediment suspended in the glass. The colour is quite golden and wheaty. Unlike the Olesna beers this one does not produce much of a head, sadly, even with some real encouragement. There's a yeasty yet floral aroma which smells fresh (smell is a more reliable indicator of a fresh beer the more you take the time over it) and remains throughout.

There is a medium hoppiness and dryness which spreads across your tongue and lingers pleasant. There isn't a big hop attack but it's certain persistent with a slow decay, almost like a Zwickl bier, actually (any Czechs will hate the comparison, of course). The bitterness brings on just a hint of citrus at the front of your mouth but this is all anchored by a certain creaminess of texture and spice. The texture isn't absolutely spot on but it's pretty effective.

It would be interesting giving anyone relatively uninitiated the two lagers, one Pilsner Urquell, the other this one. Both the same strength, the same style and exhibiting just how different two pale lagers can be (both in good ways).

In summary: Buttery, tangy, slightly citric, tingly, hoppy and very pleasant unfiltered pale lager. A few minor constructive points would take it on another notch.

Rating: ****

[phes]

Im having a 'Guinness Original Extra Stout' from a 500ml bottle. No idea if this is the same as cans or draft, but this is delicious. It goes straight on the 'very good beers available at the desomarket' list

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Im having a 'Guinness Original Extra Stout' from a 500ml bottle. No idea if this is the same as cans or draft, but this is delicious. It goes straight on the 'very good beers available at the desomarket' list

Some interesting stuff on Untappd, it seems there is no one version of this (despite being called original)

For eg:

4.1% in Germany
4.2 or 4.3 (????) in Ireland and Europe
4.8% in Namibia or S.A
5% in "Continental Europe" (is Germany not on the continent?)
5% in US and Canada
6% in Australia and Japan.

[phes]

Yes, this is the 4.2. Not looked into it yet but I'm almost certain there are variants across the guinness range available on typical shelves and bars. The last pint of draft guinness I had was an ice cold watery nothing drink and this is very tasty, roasted, a touch of toffee and lingering bitterness. Very good.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Monopol Svetly Lezak (12° Svetly Lezak/Pale Lager) 5.2%
Pivovar Monopol, Teplice, Czechia

The 12° or dvanactka is the closest you can get to the gold standard in Czechia for lager brewing. A 12° pale lager is the flagship of most traditional Czech breweries and the marker in which all their brewing, like it or not, will be measured.

The difference between this beer and the last is a good reason why I will continue banging the drum for good lager. Distinct variations both subtle and not. The recipe for this a classic: pilsner malt, zatec/saaz hops, double-decocted. As with the last it's unfiltered and unpasteurised with a drink by date of late February, but really needs drinking asap to get the best out of it.

Immediately flying off the top of the beer is a lovely aroma of hop cones, yeast and harvest-time barley. The colour is hazy golden, and there is some fine sediment in the glass. In the mouth, you are struck by the bitter chewy Zatec hoppiness as well as some buttery diacetyl which creates a wonderful balance of creaminess, harvesty golden loveliness and lip-smacking bitterness. It isn't subtle, but it is very well-balanced, with neither element dominating. As you go along the hops become sparkling, tingling and seemingly ever present for minutes between mouthfuls. Keeping it unfiltered helps bridge both worlds somehow, the texture and tang wrapping them together.

Given the 5.2% strength is a little on the strong side for a 12°, it isn't surprising it has partial elements of 13° Special in its texture and overall experience.

This is a lager, this is a motherfucking Czech lager. For those brought up on lager imported to or brewed in the UK this is liquid kindling, it will set your world alight.

Hard to compare to the Cvikov Klic 12° a few pages back which was going for something slightly sweeter and Germanic. This is a true, legitimate and successful attempt at an unfiltered Pilsner.

Rating: *****

[Chedney Honks]

Sounds magnificent. I'll have a look. Need to get my fill before I go back to Wuhan.

I'm on a Hacker-Pschorr Keller. Pretty standard stuff within this wonderful style, malty, a little caramel, herbal, but refreshing. It's a really good beer and perfect Saturday afternoon fayre while watching Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart at the River Styx.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Yeah it's proof that exploring any area has the inevitable effect of turning one into a snob because I'd have taken Hacker Pschorr Kellerbier over a lot even 2 years ago, but now it's 'only' a quite interesting mainstream effort at a nearly forgotten style and if you provided me with a selection of Franconian beer I would spurn theirs like so much egg-strewn dogshit.

[Chedney Honks]

Haha, I don't disagree. I've toned its down a bit and enjoying the full range of the style. That said, just had a lovely Karmeliet Tripel and really enjoyed it as something quite different which over not had a in touch while. Extremely floral and honeyed, and more than a bit woofterish if that's OK to say.

[phes]

Brewdog doing a free 440ml fourpack of lost for the postage (1.95)

https://brewdog.queue-it.net/?c=brewdog&e=brewdoglostlager2021&ver=v3-javascript-3.6.3&cver=16&man=Free%20Lost%20Lager%20Launch&t=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.brewdog.com%2Fuk%2Fcustomer%2Faccount%2Flogout%2F&kupver=cloudflare-1.2.0

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Cheers, 15min queue wait. Lol, hardly Westvleteren. May as well do it though.

[phes]

Doesn't dispatch until late February by which time Brewdog will probably be the only beer you can buy trade your daughter for anyway

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Doesn't dispatch until late February by which time Brewdog will probably be the only beer you can buy anyway

So it's really just a gathering of personal data. Great.

[phes]

Undoubtedly. They have two sets of mine.

[Paul Calf]

Yeah it's proof that exploring any area has the inevitable effect of turning one into a snob because I'd have taken Hacker Pschorr Kellerbier over a lot even 2 years ago, but now it's 'only' a quite interesting mainstream effort at a nearly forgotten style and if you provided me with a selection of Franconian beer I would spurn theirs like so much egg-strewn dogshit.

Yeah, you're right. It's quite tedious.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Yeah, you're right. It's quite tedious.

No detection of someone playing to the gallery then...

[thugler]

So it's really just a gathering of personal data. Great.

How dare they have an ulterior motive for giving away free stuff eh

I will use a shit email address I use to fill with trash.

[JaDanketies]

more like queuedog, amirite

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

How dare they have an ulterior motive for giving away free stuff eh

I will use a shit email address I use to fill with trash.

It's a bit of a pisstake. Let's get half the population of Britain on our mailing list, take everyone's £1.95 upfront then don't send them any beer until the spring, and only then can they enjoy a very small amount of mediocre unsold lager we had bet would get drunk sooner.

[phes]

On the other hand I will get to enjoy sharing my cans of cheap ice cold slightly better than average English Scottish(?) lager with a friend and then carry on mostly ignoring their mostly inferior craft beers

I did enjoy their 'Jack Hammer' though. It had some bite at least compared to their other pongy swill

[Chedney Honks]

More like Brewdon't

[JaDanketies]

Gave em my personal details and the site kept crashing whenever I tried to pay so it was pointless. Should've kept up with my boycott of Brewdog

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Gave em my personal details and the site kept crashing whenever I tried to pay so it was pointless. Should've kept up with my boycott of Brewdog

At the end of February we will all get some grated cheese and tuna piled into money bags.

[MojoJojo]

I did the brewdog thing. What was a bit shit was I figured I might as well chuck some more stuff on the order since I was paying delivery anyway but that doesn't work and it wanted me to pay another £9 delivery for the other beer they order.

I quite like they're Elvis Juice in summer. The only grapefruit flavoured beer I've had that isn't rank.

[JaDanketies]

All that suing everyone who ever used the word 'punk' and 'beer' in the same sentence was enough to tick me off, but there were reports of BrewDog engaging marketers in long interview processes that involved developing campaigns, only to not hire them at the end of the day and then use the same marketing campaigns they'd got from exploiting the proles that were looking for jobs, and that was enough for me to decide to boycott them entirely.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

All that suing everyone who ever used the word 'punk' and 'beer' in the same sentence was enough to tick me off, but there were reports of BrewDog engaging marketers in long interview processes that involved developing campaigns, only to not hire them at the end of the day and then use the same marketing campaigns they'd got from exploiting the proles that were looking for jobs, and that was enough for me to decide to boycott them entirely.

Yeah they're a right set.

James Watt recently did a mea culpa, 10 things I regret, and while that's all well and good, as you go along you develop a picture of someone who isn't actually learning from his mistakes, but just expressing who he is.

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/my-10-biggest-mistakes-brewdogs-ceo-james-watt

[Paul Calf]

No detection of someone playing to the gallery then...

Yeah, sorry. I was being a knob.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Yeah, sorry. I was being a knob.

No worries mate

[Ferris]

Just realized I have shares in brewdog when they were a one-shop IPA lot in Edinburgh. Must dig them out, they must be worth something now. I bought like a quids worth so maybe... a fiver?