Style: Dark lager
Brewery: Budéjovický Budvar
Origin: Czech Republic
Size: 50cl
Alcohol: 4.7%
Price: 19kr
Systembolaget: 89300
Over the past year, I seem to have fallen in love with dark lagers. There’s just something about the balance between refreshing and roasted that has grown on me recently. Searching for dark beers, I thought this would be a great choice to showcase the style. Budweiser Budvar is a brewery in the Czech city of České Budějovice, best known for its original Budweiser Budvar pale lager brewed using Moravian barley and Saaz hops. They are the fourth-largest beer producer in the Czech Republic and the second-largest exporter of beer. This is brewed with Munich, caramel and roasted malts. Due to a trade dispute, Budweiser beer made by American brewery Anheuser-Buschmay only be sold as “Bud” in the EU. But did this dark lager hit the spot? It did indeed!
This was a deep, rich brown beer with ruby elements capped with a thin beige head. It had a medium to light bodied, which was true to style. A light roasted note was first present in the aroma along with coffee, biscuit and a hint of moss. A burnt tone hit the taste buds first, with some bitter chocolate, coffee grounds and cracker all found. The burnt note wasn’t overpowering, but balanced nicely with the lighter elements of the beer. It was well carbonated and filled the mouth nicely. The only slight downside I found was that the aftertaste was slightly watery, but it wasn’t a major issue, and it lingered for a fair amount of time pleasantly.
A very nice, easy to drink dark lager that I think would excel in a many different meal combinations. I could easily drink this again, and hopefully I will sometime soon.