May 14, 2002 -- As I anxiously await the grudging but hopefully eventual arrival of spring, I'm reminded of some of the pleasingly refreshing Czech lagers I sampled a few months back. These seldom-seen rarities arrived on my doorstep courtesy of my Czech colleague, Honza Kocka. (For more Czech lager reviews, please see http://worldofbeer.com/ktt/cezch1.html)

Breznak is a 5.1% ABV medium gold lager from Drinks Union, a company Honza tells me owns three separate Czech breweries. There is a hint of buttery diacatyl in its fragrant and floral nose, and a sharp, metallic bitterness in the body. More successful, I thought, was Drinks Union's Zlatopramen, a much softer, 4.7% ABV lager with hints of green apple and caramel in the rounded aroma and a dry body holding notes of fresh-mowed grass and hay. There is a hint of alcohol on the dry, earthy finish.

From Policske Pivo came two lagers, the golden Zavis at 5% ABV and the slightly darker and less alcoholic (4.2% alcohol) Otakar. Unfortunately, the latter was quite oxidized, being well past its 'best before' date. But the Zavis proved to be a treat, with an earthy, leafy nose and a complex, floral, faintly tannic and highly quaffable taste.

Dacicky, a brassy-coloured lager from Kutna Hora, was also showing signs of oxidization, with sherry and cardboard notes on the nose and some off-flavours in the body. Even still, there was enough going on in this beer that I count it as one I would certainly like to taste again under better circumstances.

The unfiltered Krakonos from the brewery of the same name in Trutnov offered a well-balanced body with a hint of caramel sweetness in the nose and a faintly musty, 'old wood' character in the body, perhaps with even a hint of peatiness. My notes describe the overall flavour of this beer as 'muddy, but enjoyable,' perhaps an indication that this beer was past its prime and far better when sampled fresh.

The Moravian Hostan brewery delivered two beers, the 5.3% ABV Hostan Premium, with a peppery aroma and malty, lightly fruity body, and the slightly similar beer called simply Hostan. I found that I much preferred the latter's round, bready flavour to the former's fruitiness, and thought it up to a percentage point weaker, although no alcohol content was given.

Round One of the tasting was brought to a close with a trio of lagers from the Pivovar Hlinsko. Unfortunately, the Rychtar Premium was badly light-struck and unjudgable, but the 6.5% ABV Rychtar Special fared much better with thick malt and alcohol on the nose, a pleasing balance of hop, toasty malt and alcohol in the body and a dryish, bitter finish.

But the star of the trio, and the tasting,was the 88-year anniversary Rychtar 1913-2001, an 8.8% alcohol, brassy-coloured brew with a rich, toasty-roasty aroma and sweet, rounded body with notes of toasted caramel, almond and brown sugar, culminating in a robustly alcoholic finish. Certainly a very enjoyable way to end an afternoon's tasting.

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