To be honest, it's getting a bit hard to write my traditional "Beer of the Month" entry, which more than an award is a sort of recap of the most interesting Czech beers I tasted during the month.
It can be that I've become more demanding, or just that there isn't much more left for me to discover out there (which I seriously doubt). Whatever it is, each month the stuff that catches my attention seem to be fewer and fewer, and sometimes one tends to ignore the good ol' ones, regardless of how good they are. It can also be that I've become a bit saturated with all this lager, regardless of how good they are (something which I'll deal with soon).
So February pased by without much news. One of the few beers that stood out was Kocour's Samurai IPA (why it is called like that, I don't know, and forgot to ask). Strawish colour, with an interesting mix of pinapple and marihuana in the nose and tropical fruit and spice in the mouth, finishing bitter dry, almost citrusy. The big disappointment was Richter's Weissbier Polotmavé. I like their regular Weiss, so when I saw there was a polotmavé version I ordered it, expecting very ripe bananas, come cinnamon, etc, etc. They all failed to report in the glass. It wasn't bad, it just lacked the complexity I would have liked. A lost opportunity. On the other hand, the Tmavá 14° was very fine, indeed, with that strong contrast between caramel and roastness that I like so much in that beer.
It was also nice to taste again OldGott Barrique in good form, more so when it was tapped straight from the lagering barrel by its father.
But the winner was an ale. Pivovarský Dům's AIPA. It had reared its lovely head at the food paring event, and a few days later was tapped at the Klub. I liked it a lot there and then, but I liked it even more when I drank it in Ječná, from a hand pump. It was the same beer, but with a fuller, creamier body and an even more balanced flavour, partly thanks to the slightly higher temperature it was tapped. It's almost incredible how a beer can change so much just by modifying the way it's served. What a wonderful drink beer is! Oh! And the Stout, tapped in the same manner, wasn't too shabby either!.
Na Zdraví!
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It can be that I've become more demanding, or just that there isn't much more left for me to discover out there (which I seriously doubt). Whatever it is, each month the stuff that catches my attention seem to be fewer and fewer, and sometimes one tends to ignore the good ol' ones, regardless of how good they are. It can also be that I've become a bit saturated with all this lager, regardless of how good they are (something which I'll deal with soon).
So February pased by without much news. One of the few beers that stood out was Kocour's Samurai IPA (why it is called like that, I don't know, and forgot to ask). Strawish colour, with an interesting mix of pinapple and marihuana in the nose and tropical fruit and spice in the mouth, finishing bitter dry, almost citrusy. The big disappointment was Richter's Weissbier Polotmavé. I like their regular Weiss, so when I saw there was a polotmavé version I ordered it, expecting very ripe bananas, come cinnamon, etc, etc. They all failed to report in the glass. It wasn't bad, it just lacked the complexity I would have liked. A lost opportunity. On the other hand, the Tmavá 14° was very fine, indeed, with that strong contrast between caramel and roastness that I like so much in that beer.
It was also nice to taste again OldGott Barrique in good form, more so when it was tapped straight from the lagering barrel by its father.
But the winner was an ale. Pivovarský Dům's AIPA. It had reared its lovely head at the food paring event, and a few days later was tapped at the Klub. I liked it a lot there and then, but I liked it even more when I drank it in Ječná, from a hand pump. It was the same beer, but with a fuller, creamier body and an even more balanced flavour, partly thanks to the slightly higher temperature it was tapped. It's almost incredible how a beer can change so much just by modifying the way it's served. What a wonderful drink beer is! Oh! And the Stout, tapped in the same manner, wasn't too shabby either!.
Na Zdraví!
Choose your preferred Prague hotels and get free transport.
For me the 17 degree at basta was simply amazing, also liked the pineapple laden beer from Oslavany. Rambousek and Sentice Kvasar were great as always.
ReplyDeleteI missed those. I know Rambousek and Sentice, very fine beers indeed, but I can't remember if I've had the one from Oslavany.
ReplyDeleteI stopped by Bašta, but they had run out of the 17, they had kouřované, it wasn't as good as last time.
All this is to say that there you have why I doubt I have nothing left to discover out there.
The Samurai IPA is so called because it was brewed by a Japanese brewer in conjunction with Kocour.
ReplyDelete